By Charles Wolfe
The Associated Press

FRANKFORT - Jefferson County Commissioner Russ Maple on Thursday filed to run for secretary of state.

Mr. Maple, 64, is the first Democrat in the race. A Republican, Trey Grayson of Fort Mitchell, filed Dec. 17.

The incumbent, John Y. Brown III, is in his second term and is constitutionally barred from seeking a third.

Mr. Maple has been one of Jefferson County's three commissioners since 1995. His term expires after midnight Sunday, as does the commission itself. The separate Louisville and Jefferson County governments give way Monday to a merged government.

The secretary of state is Kentucky's top election officer. Mr. Maple said that, if elected, reviewing the state's system of voter registration and vote counting would be a high priority. He said he supported harsher penalties for vote fraud.

He also said he would do nothing without consulting the state's 120 county clerks. "If you're going to have any kind of election reform, you could not even consider it unless they are at the table," Mr. Maple said.

Mr. Maple began organizing a campaign two years ago. He said he has raised about $285,000 to date, including a $20,000 personal loan. His most recent campaign report at the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance showed a balance of $237,000 as of Sept. 30.

Others recently filing for statewide offices:

Jack D. Wood, of Valley Station, as a Republican for attorney general.

Mr. Wood, 51, is a former assistant Jefferson County attorney. He ran for a district court judgeship and for a seat on the newly created Metro Council in Louisville.

Mr. Wood was a district judge in the early 1980s in Monroe County, which Mr. Wood said is his family's ancestral home. The district also included Adair, Casey and Cumberland counties.

Incumbent Attorney General Ben Chandler is running for governor but was term-limited, anyway. Mr. Wood was the only Republican candidate for the office through Thursday.

Three Democrats have filed - House Majority Leader Greg Stumbo of Prestonsburg, state Auditor Ed Hatchett of Glasgow and former Attorney General Chris Gorman of Louisville.

Glen D. Holbrook, of West Liberty, as a Democrat for commissioner of agriculture.

Mr. Holbrook ran for the same office in 1995 but lost to the incumbent, Billy Ray Smith, by 23,000 votes in the Democratic primary. Mr. Holbrook got 45 percent of the vote. He could not be reached Thursday.

Mr. Holbrook would have at least one opponent in a Democratic primary. Roy Massey, a longtime state official who has been deputy agriculture commissioner on three occasions, filed for the office on Dec. 10.