Courting Tea Party support, Louisville businessman Phil Moffett formally announced his Republican candidacy for governor of Kentucky today, along with running mate state Rep. Mike Harmon of Junction City. Moffett-Harmon is the first GOP ticket to be announced in Kentucky’s 2011 governor’s race and I was there covering the announcement.
Moffett has never run for public office before and hopes to elicit support from the Tea Party movement. David Adams, who served as Rand Paul’s campaign manager during the 2010 Kentucky Senate primary, is running Moffett’s campaign.
Approximately two dozen supporters and media turned out for today’s press conference outside Clear Channel’s Lexington studios. The press conference followed Moffett’s official announcement on Leland Conway’s conservative talk radio program on WLAP-AM 630.
Lexington Tea Party organizer and blogger Mica Sims was also on-hand for the announcement.
Moffett is a University of Kentucky graduate and managing partner of CCS Partners, a Louisville-based telecommunications management firm he founded. Moffett also founded School Choice Scholarships in 1998, Kentucky’s first private school voucher program.
Harmon is an Eastern Kentucky University graduate and current Kentucky state representative, serving House District 54 (Boyle and Washington counties) since 2003. A Danville resident, Harmon also works as a loan officer for First Mortgage Company.
