McConnell was behind kicking Jenean Hampton off Bevin's reelection ticket, fired aide says

ELIZABETHTOWN — Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jenean Hampton's fired aide told conservative activists on Saturday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was behind booting her boss from the 2019 gubernatorial ticket.

Republican Gov. Matt Bevin chose state Sen. Ralph Alvarado, of Winchester, to be his new running mate, much to the chagrin of Hampton's supporters in the tea party movement.

Adrienne Southworth, who was sacked as Hampton's deputy chief of staff in May, said national GOP figures wanted Alvarado on the ticket. She said after Alvarado spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2016, GOP leaders pushed for him to take Hampton's place.

"He's going to put Ralph on stage to get Ralph national exposure and you all know who he is: the person who wants the Republican Party to do whatever he wants them to do," Southworth said.

Bevin's chief of staff:I fired Jenean Hampton's aide. Here's why

Southworth later told the Courier Journal the person she had been referring to was McConnell. She said she based the assertion on conversations with the lieutenant governor.

"(McConnell) put him on the stage at the RNC, Alvarado speaks and that went kind of flat," she told about five-dozen members of Take Back Kentucky, a conservative activist group. "I'm not sure we heard anything from him after that, but now we have to resurrect him and we've finally found a spot for him because we have to move him forward. Why do we have to move him forward?"

Earlier:Hampton's aide was investigating Bevin's authority before she was fired

McConnell spokeswoman Stephanie Penn said that the senator has "never discussed" replacing the lieutenant governor on the ticket with Bevin. She bypassed a question on whether McConnell thought Hampton was being treated fairly by the administration.

The Bevin campaign did not immediately responded to a request for comment on Saturday.

Southworth told the Courier Journal she doesn't think Hampton will run against McConnell for U.S. Senate in 2020 in retaliation. But the Take Back Kentucky crowd applauded when she was asked about that possibility.

"I don't want to say no," Southworth said. "I know her heart, and I would love to see somebody good in that position, but I think she would die if she was in that position. She's got a real heart for a lot of things and one of them is not the U.S. Senate."

Southworth mainly used her two-hour conservation with group, which she belonged to before joining Hampton's staff, to describe the Bevin administration as a massive mess of unknown bureaucrats who haven't fulfilled their promises to conservatives to shrink the size of state government or reduce spending.

"They don't have the values of customer service, they have the values of me, me, me," Southworth said.

Southworth said finding out who is behind the firing of Hampton's staff, including her own, is part of a larger debate about establishing true transparency in government.

"What we have always stood for is correct government," she said. "We wanted to take back Kentucky because some of the government process weren't in favor of the people and we are the ones on top."

Southworth was terminated from her $81,000-a-year job by the Bevin administration on May 30. Hampton drew attention to the firing with a May 31 tweet that asked Kentuckians for prayers against unknown "dark forces" in the administration who were behind the decision.

The administration's split is becoming a concerning distraction for Kentucky Republicans ahead of the 2019 governor's race against Democrat Andy Beshear. 

Previously:Hampton says fired aide will 'continue to assist' expecting back pay

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul told reporters this week he isn't familiar with all the details, but stated that Hampton was an early supporter and friend who isn't being treated right.

"It's perplexing to me and I wish it were better," he said. "I think she deserves to be treated with respect and that's all I would say is that I hope she's treated with respect in the future."

The Courier Journal reported this week that Southworth, whom Bevin said he recommended for the job in 2015, had been investigating the circumstances behind the dismissal of the office's chief of staff, Steve Knipper, at the time of her termination.

Southworth filed an open records request asking to know who Bevin had designated as the person who could fire the lieutenant governor's staff. She also asked for records showing if that authority had been granted to a finance official.

The Feb. 10 records request came less than a month after the Bevin administration sacked Knipper, who filed to run for secretary of state in January, for breaking an administration policy that forbids state workers from running for office.

Those who attended the meeting said they support Southworth, and want answers about why she was let go.

"It's a big mystery as to why she was dismissed from her position and that's what we hope to find out is why," said Rick Treitz, a member of the group.

Activist Johnny Embry, who attended Saturday's meeting, said he has known Southworth for about a decade and that he believes her when she said McConnell is behind Hampton being dropped from the 2019 ticket.

"Lt. Gov. Hampton isn't someone who likes to wheel and deal," Embry said. "She doesn't like to play politics. She likes to be honest and stick to constitutional values, and that's someone the Republicans don't particularly like in that position."

Background:Ex-Hampton staffer looking for answers on 'dark forces' after firing

Embry said Bevin needs to tell conservative supporters why Hampton's staff has been fired. "I worked Matt's campaign, and we would appreciate it and it would put an end to all of this," he said.

Gerardo Serrano, a Take Back Kentucky member who ran for Congress last year, said he remembers Bevin praising Southworth personally at a group meeting when he was running for U.S. Senate in 2014.

"The governor needs to get back to when he was campaigning and understanding how liberty people feel," Serrano said. "He's forgetting everything he promised."

Southworth, a nonmerit employee who could be fired without cause, was terminated by way of a May 30 letter from Finance Cabinet official Troy Robinson. She told the Courier Journal, in her only media interview, that she wasn't sure why she was let go.

Southworth told the Courier Journal this week that the documents she received showed Bevin gave appointing authority to a handful of people, including Robinson, who fired her and Knipper.

Bevin has said he recommended Southworth for the job but on numerous occasions added that doesn't know the circumstances behind her firing. But the governor also has said no one is let go for no reason.

Democrats have pounced on the fracture between Bevin and Hampton, and described it as a "cover-up" as a way to agitate GOP voters further.

"What is Matt Bevin hiding," Democratic spokeswoman Marisa McNee said in a statement, "and why is he firing his own lieutenant governor’s staff without her knowledge?"

Opinion: Bevin's reelection chances uncertain after Hampton aide controversy

Reporter Phillip M. Bailey can be reached at 502-582-4475 or pbailey@courierjournal.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/philb.