Sunday, February 28, 1999
N.Ky. rivals constantly crossing paths
Guilfoyle, Cetrulo political partisans
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Politics, so the saying goes, makes for strange bedfellows. But this pairing is so weird it belongs on the X-Files.
In the world of Northern Kentucky politics, two people almost always on opposite sides are Walton attorney Mark Guilfoyle, a Democratic strategist and local kingmaker, and Covington attorney Robert C. Cetrulo, a GOP boss and president of the politically active Northern Kentucky Right to Life.
Most recently, the two butted heads as big behind-the-scenes players in last year's 4th District U.S. House race between Ken Lucas, the Democratic winner, and Republican Gex “Jay” Williams.
Mr. Guilfoyle basically ran the Lucas campaign, while Mr. Cetrulo was a big backer of Mr. Williams, even defending the candidate when he was investigated — and cleared — by the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission.
Who can forget the great church festival battle during the 1996 state Senate campaign, when Mr. Guilfoyle was working for incumbent Democrat Sen. Joe Meyer and Mr. Cetrulo was supporting Republican upstart — and eventual upset winner — Jack Westwood of Erlanger.
The two clashed at St. Benedict's in Covington, when Mr. Cetrulo told Mr. Guilfoyle, “You're dead meat” in the election.
At the time, Mr. Guilfoyle told The Enquirer he was eating dinner with his family when Mr. Cetrulo approached him in St. Benedict's cafeteria “and started going off on me” about the election.
Mr. Guilfoyle is also close to Gov. Paul Patton, who picked Mr. Guilfoyle to run his re-election exploratory committee. It was Mr. Cetrulo and the local anti-abortion gang that blew a gasket last year when Mr. Patton was scheduled to speak at a dinner for the Catholic Diocesan Children's Home.
What had Mr. Cetrulo so hot was Mr. Patton's veto of an anti-abortion bill passed by the General Assembly in 1998 that Northern Kentucky Right to Life heavily supported.
The so-called informed consent bill, sponsored by Fort Thomas Republican legislator Katie Stine, requires a woman to receive information from the state on fetal development and alternatives to abortion, and then wait 24 hours before undergoing an abortion.
The American Civil Liberties Union has challenged the law in U.S. District Court in Louisville. And guess who's defending the state in the suit?
With Attorney General Ben Chandler saying he's too busy to take the case, the Patton administration has hired Mr. Guilfoyle's law firm — Deters, Benzinger and LaVelle — to defend the state.
And Mr. Guilfoyle is on the team litigating the case.
There's probably a little bit of political payback or patronage in Mr. Guilfoyle's firm landing the gig, but Mr. Guilfoyle does have experience in defending the state in an abortion-related case.
While a member of former Gov. Brereton Jones' administration, Mr. Guilfoyle was on a legal team of state attorneys that went up against the ACLU over using tax money to pay for abortions for women whose health was threatened by the birth of a child.
Medicaid money can be used to pay when a women's life is threatened, but not her health.
The state won that case, Mr. Guilfoyle said.
Mr. Guilfoyle, the father of four and a Roman Catholic, is also against abortion. And even though Mr. Cetrulo helped get the bill passed and he is an attorney, it's doubtful the paths of Mr. Cetrulo and Mr. Guilfoyle will cross during the case.
But it would be fun if they did.
Is Walker running? Villa Hills Republican Lawson Walker said he is close to making a decision about jumping in the 2000 race to challenge Mr. Lucas in the 4th District.
Republican Party officials from Washington, as well as GOP players and office holders, are trying to persuade Mr. Walker to get into the race.
“I'm still thinking about it. I'm still analyzing what the race will do to me and my family, economically and personally,” said Mr. Walker, an attorney.
“I'm going to decide soon, but it has just taken longer than I thought to make a decision.”
Mr. Walker won't give a date for his decision “because I did that once.”
“But that date passed, I didn't decide — and I don't want to do that again.”
Mr. Walker is a former state lawmaker and Republican Party official. GOP leaders are eager to get a candidate because even though the race is almost two years away — Mr. Lucas was elected just four months ago — it's going to take a lot of bucks, probably a million of them or more, to run against an incumbent.
But some Republicans may be a little spooked by the tough campaign Mr. Lucas ran against Mr. Williams, who was hammered hard by Lucas forces almost daily from July through Election Day.
Republicans rule. The Republicans have finally taken over as the majority party in Boone County based on some new voter registration numbers from the secretary of state's office.
As of Feb. 15, there were 19,960 Republicans and 19,741 Democrats, making Boone County the state's largest Republican county based on population.
Just a few years ago, it was unusual for a Republican to even run for county office, let alone win an election. But today the GOP holds almost all of the courthouse offices, including all four fiscal court seats.
“For the first time in history we're the majority party, and it feels wonderful,” said Boone County Republican Chairman Jay Hall, 27, the next chairman of the 4th District GOP.
“This is something I wanted to see and I worked for since I was in high school,” he said. “And it's a legacy that will live on long after I'm gone as chairman of the county Republican Party.”
Patrick Crowley covers Kentucky politics for The Kentucky Enquirer. H
Patrick Crowley covers Kentucky politics for the Enquirer. He can be reached at 578-5581, or (502) 875-7526 in Frankfort.
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