Director, Commonwealth Policy Center

Secretary of State Allison Grimes has dominated headlines in recent weeks. The executive director of the State Board of Elections, Jared Dearing, accused Grimes of improperly using voter data to screen job applicants. Grimes father was indicted on federal charges of illegal campaign donations to her 2014 Senate bid. Now the executive branch ethics commission issued an advisory opinion saying that she shouldn’t run for statewide office while serving as the chair of the state election board. Grimes bristled at the opinion and said it is “completely and transparently politically motivated… I will take this opinion as just that — the opinion of a board comprised entirely of Republicans hand-selected by Gov. Bevin.” This makes one wonder; how would she know what their party affiliation is if she wasn't improperly using voter data?