Secretary of State Trey Grayson (R-Richwood) is expected to be nominated for the presidency of the National Association of Secretaries of State during that organization's summer conference this weekend. With no competition for that post announced, Grayson should secure the position for a term that would begin in 2009.

"It's gratifying and humbling to think that my colleagues would ask me to lead this organization," Grayson told PolitickerKY.com.

NASS is a non-partisan organization which counts all 50 Secretaries of State as members. Grayson currently serves as the group's treasurer, a position that historically is a launching pad to the NASS presidency. He also co-chairs the groups' subcommittee on presidential primaries.

The NASS presidency rotates from a Democrat to a Republican each year. Assuming all goes according to plan this weekend, Grayson will assume the official title of "president-elect" from Pedro Cortes (D-Pa.) at the conclusion of the NASS conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Cortes will then take the reins as president from Todd Rokita (R-Ind.) until this time next year, when Grayson will assume that role.

WASHINGTON – Despite recent polls showing U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) with a solid lead over Democratic challenger Bruce Lunsford, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said today that Lunsford was in a strong position heading towards the fall.

Lunsford “is showing the ability to reach out to people on both sides of the aisle,” Schumer said at an afternoon press conference at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. “What we believe is that once people learn who Bruce Lunsford is…he’s going to beat Mitch McConnell. We think that this is a winnable race.”

Lunsford, a businessman who ran unsuccessful campaigns for governor in 2003 and 2007, is coming off a May 20 primary victory over businessman Greg Fischer. He faces an uphill battle in his challenge to McConnell, a fourth-term incumbent who is currently serving as Senate Minority Leader. A recent Republican-commissioned poll conducted after the primary showed McConnell with a 50 percent to 39 percent edge over Lunsford. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report currently categorizes the race as the “Likely Republican.”

Fayette County Democrats will have a candidate for the 75th state House district by Aug. 8 as the process to select a replacement for Rep. Kathy Stein (D-Lexington) will begin this week. Stein is expected to withdraw her name from the House race to seek a state Senate seat. With three candidates already expressing interest in Stein's seat, a nominee will be selected following a "preference vote" among precinct committee members at an Aug. 6 candidate forum.

According to party rules, an "executive committee" comprised of two Fayette County Democratic leaders is officially selected to set the process whereby a nominee for the vacancy is chosen. In this case, that committee is comprised of Fayette County Democratic Party Chairman David O'Neill and 75th Legislative District chairwoman Jennifer Miller.

O'Neill told PoltickerKY.com the committee has chosen to honor the result of the August 6 forum vote, in which the precinct committee members from precincts within the 75th can participate.

U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford: Politicker PhotoDemocratic U.S. Senate nominee Bruce Lunsford will release his energy plan at a press conference tomorrow in Louisville.

The plan, entitled "Do More, Talk Less: Bruce Lunsford's 8 Point Plan for Energy Independence," will be unveiled at a local Louisville UAW headquarters at 3pm.

Lunsford has been embroiled in a fight over energy policy with his opponent, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville), since the start of the general election campaign.

U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth's (D-Louisville) race for the 3rd Congressional District is still the only U.S. House campaign in Kentucky on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's list for targeted television ad buys, even after the list was expanded by 20 in recent days.

Yarmuth's re-election effort against former U.S. Rep Anne Northup (R-Louisville) was included in the DCCC's initial target list of 31 races, for which the organization aims to buy ad time in September and October. The DCCC reportedly allocated $659,000 for ad buys in the 3rd District.

The liberal news outlet Talking Points Memo reported yesterday that the DCCC had expanded their list to include 20 more races, but none of the additions are in Kentucky.

According to reports, the DCCC has now allocated a total of $53 million towards ad buys for the 51 targeted races.

U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Southgate): Getty Images PhotoU.S. Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Southgate) will appear on the Fox Business channel at 7pm ET this evening to discuss the proposed federal rescue plan for the troubled mortgage finance lenders, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Bunning has emerged as a chief critic of the bailout plan currently before Congress, recently classifying it as "socialism" because of the extensive proposed government investment in the lenders.

The two firms are the subject of considerable worry given well-publicized troubles in the mortgage market. In recent weeks, shares in the two have undergone significant fluctuation, leading to President Bush's proposal of a rescue plan.

The plan - supported principally by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson - would allow Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to borrow from the Treasury and also permits the government to buy equity in the lenders.

"The Treasury Secretary is now asking for a blank check to buy as much Fannie and Freddie debt, or equity, as he wants," said Bunning last week.

Three of Kentucky's four Republican U.S. Reps joined sixty-seven of their colleagues by signing a letter to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) asking her to work to allow floor votes on legislation they say would lower gas prices.

U.S. Reps Hal Rogers (R-Somerset), Geoff Davis (R-Ft. Mitchell), and Ed Whitfield (R-Hopkinsville) all signed the letter which calls for votes on bills that would allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the outer continental shelf, among other policies.

"Kentuckians know that in order to bring down record high fuel costs, we need to increase our domestic energy production," Whitfield said in a statement. "Yet, leaders in the House of Representatives continue to block consideration of any sensible, productive legislation that would aid American consumers trying to fill up their tanks this summer. The time for action is now."

Declaring that "the reviews are in," the campaign of Democratic Senate nominee Bruce Lunsford continued to respond to its opponent's recent television ad by circulating negative editorial responses to the spot.

Sampling from one editorial each from today's editions of the Commonwealth's two largest newspapers, Lunsford's camp again derided the attack ad from the campaign of Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) as a "political smokescreen."

"Mitch McConnell's first ad in this year's Senate campaign in Kentucky is so silly and pointless that it seems like a spoof from a political satirist," reads an editorial cited by Lunsford's campaign from today's Louisville Courier-Journal.

A new public poll of Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District race shows former U.S. Rep Anne Northup (R-Louisville) digging into U.S. Rep John Yarmuth's (D-Louisville) advantage. While an early June poll gave Yarmuth a seventeen point cushion in the race, the newest numbers from SurveyUSA/WHAS find the incumbent's lead cut to ten points.

Yarmuth leads 53 to 43 percent over Northup among 621 "likely voters" according to the poll conducted from July 18 to July 20. Three percent of respondents indicated they were "undecided."

The margin of error on the new poll is plus or minus four percent.

Northup's numbers have boosted upwards since a poll conducted from June 6 to June 8 found her down to Yarmuth, 57 to 40 percent. Three percent were "undecided" then as well.