Blue Dot
Northern Kentucky’s premier Political Podcast.
This is your ultimate source for in-depth analysis, lively discussion, and comprehensive coverage of the political landscape in Northern Kentucky.
Brought to you by the Kenton County Democratic Executive Committee.
Blue Dot
Weekly Round Up: Primary Prep, Polls and: What You Need to Know
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In this week’s roundup, Natalie and Brian cover everything you need to know ahead of Kentucky’s May 19 primary, including early voting details and why local races matter more than ever. They also discuss a major $125M biomedical project planned for Covington, rising gas prices and inflation hitting Kenton County, and shifting dynamics in key primary races.
Plus, highlights from Governor Andy Beshear’s recent work—from breaking ground on the Brent Spence Bridge to investing in pediatric cancer research. Tune in for a quick, informative update—and don’t forget to make your plan to vote.
Welcome to the Blue Dot, Northern Kentucky's premier political podcast, brought to you by the Kent County Democratic Executive Committee. Welcome back to the Blue Dot Podcast for our weekly roundup, where we deliver you all the news you need to know in ten minutes or less. Thanks for joining. I'm Natalie McDonald.
SPEAKER_00And I'm Brian Cale. Well, Natalie, our dream of taking back some power in our local, state, and national governments gets one step closer in a few days when we go to the pools for the Kentucky primary.
SPEAKER_01Yes, just a few days until the Kentucky primary on May 19th. And then we'll know who our entire slate of candidates are for us in November. It's been quite a while since we've had this many candidates step up the run in so many primaries across the state. It's going to be a really fun night. Um, the Kenton Dems will be having a primary election night happy hour from 6 to 8 at Braxton's Brewery on Orphanage Road in Fort Mitchell. So join us if you want to watch those results roll in.
SPEAKER_00And if you want to vote before Tuesday, early voting is underway May 14th through 16th from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. And residents of Kenton County can visit any of the six early voting locations.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and those locations are the Covington and Latonia branches of the library, St. Barbara Event Center in Erlanger, the Kenton County Government Center, Lakeside Christian Church on Buttermilk Pike, and the Independence Senior Senator. And then on primary day, Tuesday, May 19th, polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. And you might even see Brian there when you get a vote.
SPEAKER_00Yes, I will be working, and so will my wife. We're both working the polls this year. And once again, for all of our listeners and viewers, you can catch all of our candidate interviews on our website, www.blue dotpodcast.com, our YouTube channel, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. So plenty of time still to get informed and make a plan to vote.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and local seats like these are becoming increasingly critical with major growth initiatives from data centers to large-scale development projects. Our community needs a voice at the decision-making table.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there's a lot going on. Uh, for example, a proposed seven-story biomedical education center was reviewed by the Kenton County Planning and Development Commission. This$125 million Commonwealth Center for Biomedical Excellence would sit on Covington's Riverfront and represents one of the most ambitious regional investments in recent years.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and this is a project that is a collaboration between Northern Kentucky University and the University of Kentucky, and it's designed to bring together the UK College of Medicine's Northern Kentucky campus and NKU's Chase College of Law under one roof, blending medical training, legal education, and research all in one single hub.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the center is expected to support roughly 600 faculty, staff, and students while also strengthening the region's growing life sciences sector. Companies like CTI Clinical Trials, Gravity Diagnostics, and Bexian Pharmaceuticals could benefit from the proximity and the collaboration opportunities.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, this project is backed by funding from the Kentucky General Assembly and managed through the Northern Kentucky Port Authority. And for those not familiar with the Northern Kentucky Port or NKY Port, it's a jointly formed economic development organization which brings together Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, lucky for us, we're going to uh do a deep dive into NKY Port with State Representative Matt Lehman in a couple of weeks. This represents such a huge economic impact on our region. And uh I think a lot of people aren't aware of what the port is, who the decision makers are, or what is being planned. So uh I'll be excited to hear more from Matt about that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, exactly. And again, uh that's why it's so important to have you know Dems at the table for for these decisions. And uh looking forward to hearing more about that for sure. And I saw some other Kenton County news that actually made national headlines this week. According to NBC News, gas prices are up across the country, as we all know. But nowhere are they up as much as in Kenton County. Kentucky saw one of the highest state level increases in the nation with an average increase of over 40% year over year by mid-April. And Kenton County got hit a little harder, where the average gallon of gas is costing upwards of four dollars and ninety-two cents a gallon, which is nearly double the price it was at the start of Trump's war.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that uh that cost of gas in uh Kenton County surpasses the state average of four twenty-three a gallon. And uh, we usually get hit a lot harder due to higher traffic and metro pricing. This has been just devastating to so many people, and has been part of the reason that this week we saw inflation spike to its highest level in three years as it hit three point eight percent. What's even more shocking is that this week Trump actually told the truth on camera when he said, quote, I don't think about Americans' financial situation, not even a little bit. I don't think about anybody. Boy. We finally heard the truth and it hurts.
SPEAKER_01We heard the truth.
SPEAKER_00Not surprising.
SPEAKER_01Good God. And hours after that stunning admission, the wholesale inflation, which is measured by the producer price index, just a one point nine for percent in April. And that doubles what it was in March, marking a six percent increase year over year, which is the highest we've seen since December of 2022.
SPEAKER_00You sure can't say that we weren't warned. I mean, Trump only cares about himself and the six billion dollars in net worth he has accumulated. In fact, he saw the most lucrative year of his life last year, accumulating over three billion dollars in net worth from his presidential gifts and grifts. And the only thing more extraordinary about that than the amount of money he and his family have hauled in is that no one, nowhere is even attempting to charge him with violating the presidential emoluments clause, which clearly prohibits the president from receiving any compensation, gifts, or benefits beyond the fixed salary while serving as president.
SPEAKER_01It's absolutely astonishing. And both Massey and Galrine are battling to align with this guy, which is crazy. You know? And this week, I don't know if you saw Brian, but polling just came out that showed Galrine pulling ahead of Massey in the primary race. So um I don't know. We'll see what happens.
SPEAKER_00I would have sworn, you know, a few months back that Galrine had no chance and Massey was, you know, had it cold, but man, it is getting getting close. It'll be a really interesting uh primary night. Um I don't want to give, you know, uh Trump, the grifter in charge, any more my breath than I need to. So hey, let's talk about some good stuff.
SPEAKER_01Let's do that.
SPEAKER_00Thankfully, we yeah. Thankfully, we have an amazing leader right here in Kentucky. Last week we talked about how Governor Bashir signed an executive order to lower gas prices. And on Friday of last week, he was on site in Northern Kentucky to break ground on the new Brent Spence Bridge.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and he was joined by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and other local officials. And a couple years ago, I was lucky enough to be at an event at the same location where they secured funding for the bridge. It was a really great collaboration between Governor Bashir and Governor DeWine. They play really nice in the sandbox together, which is it's good to see. And that event had uh Senator Mitch McConnell and President Biden on hand. Um, I actually got to meet uh and talk to President Biden that day, so it was it was it was really fun. So it's great to see all of this come full circle to the groundbreaking, finally.
SPEAKER_00Finally, yes, it's much needed, and uh, we're really excited about that project. Not so excited about all the construction, but you know, uh I've seen some of the uh renditions of uh what it's gonna look like and and uh it's gonna be great for the city. Um in other real positive news, Governor Bashir has been addressing cancer and cancer research in the state by awarding grants all across the state. This funding is allocated through the Kentucky Pediatric Cancer Research Trust Fund to support innovative research initiatives and provide financial assistance to families, and it comes from the record$14 million for pediatric cancer research and support that Governor Bashir secured in the 2024-26 state budget.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and gosh, this is so vitally important, especially due to the fact that scientific research, especially for cancer, has been slashed by the Trump administration, you know, all part of the attack on science by this authoritarian regime. So this is this is so important.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's right. The attack on science and expertise. The consequences of the funding cuts by Trump and his administration are devastating. So these grants are vital. I mean, this is something the governor has been focused on for some time. And on Tuesday, he signed a proclamation on a raising awareness for DIPG, a rare aggressive brain cancer. This happened as state health officials continue investigating an unusually high number of brain tumor diagnoses in children in southeastern Kentucky.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, this is something that hasn't gotten uh a lot of traction, but I think it's really important. And according to the St. Jude Children's Hospital, there are about 300 DIPG cases diagnosed across the entire country each year. And Kentucky officials say that at least five cases have been diagnosed in southeastern Kentucky, prompting state officials to start looking into this and seeing if there's a cause.
SPEAKER_00I mean, I'm just so proud that we have a governor who cares about these issues, and we need to continue to elect people to state and local positions that we can continue to support health care, education, and affordability across the state.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we we sure do. And the Republicans are doing everything they can to stop us. We discussed last week how they're desperately redistricting and taking away black political power at the same time because they know they cannot win otherwise. It's obvious. Uh their policies are just so bad, and they have to distract with cries of wokeism and diversity and all of that nonsense because they just simply don't support the things their constituents actually want.
SPEAKER_00And that uh redistricting fight may just make its way to Kentucky. TJ Roberts, the Republican representative from Burlington, who is one of those anti-woke voices, has also expressed his support for redrawing the state's map to eliminate Congressman Morgan McGarvey's district, saying it is a quote, blatant partisan gerrymander that doesn't support the quote values of Kentucky. Although the 2026 legislative session is over, Robert said he hopes to uh have conversations around redistricting next year.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I'm sure they're eyeing it because Representative Morgan McGarvey is Kentucky's only Democrat in Congress right now.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and uh he's doing a great job, by the way. I've seen him in some of the uh legislative sessions. Um yeah, that may be true for now, but uh we the people can change that, get more Democrats out there. So get out there and vote. A strong voter turnout will show how motivated and dedicated Democrats are to flipping these seats and taking back some control.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Get out there and vote. And if you do it early, maybe you can get it done in less than 10 minutes like this roundup.
SPEAKER_00Or close to that.
SPEAKER_01We'll catch you next week, uh, where we'll be talking about who we'll have running in the general. Until next time, stay curious, keep the facts in focus, and never stop fighting for what matters. Peace out, everybody.