House colleagues now rivals in Kentucky legislative primary

For state Reps. Jim Gooch Jr. and Lynn Bechler, getting to know their rival in this year’s election campaign was no problem. The Republicans are competing for the same House seat in Kentucky’s primary election.

After years as colleagues, one will cut short the other’s legislative career. A new House redistricting map based on 2020 U.S. census figures placed Bechler and Gooch in the same western Kentucky district.

Meanwhile, GOP Reps. Norma Kirk-McCormick and Bobby McCool are facing off in a newly drawn eastern Kentucky district. Republicans are poised to maintain their legislative supermajorities in the fall elections. Before then, several contested primaries will determine the GOP’s legislative lineup.