Steve Beshear

State Rep. Larry Belcher (D-Sheperdsville) died last night in an auto accident near Smith's Grove, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

Belcher's pick-up truck reportedly struck the back of a tractor trailer that was stopped on Interstate 65 in south central Kentucky. He died at the scene of the accident.

Belcher had served as a member of the state House for a total of six years, including a stint from 1998 to 2002, and from 2006 to present. He lost a bid to win a state Senate seat in 2002.

Before his service in Frankfort, Belcher was a long-time teacher and principal. In Frankfort, Belcher was vice chair of the House Education committee.

Belcher was married with two children.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of my friend Larry Belcher,” said Governor Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) in a release last night. “He loved his home and his state and he represented them both with great pride and commitment.”

Between pushing for the wildy unpopular bailout bill in the Senate and potentially troubling poll numbers back home, Mitch McConnell did not have one of his better weeks. Find out who else made this week's Winners & Losers. | CLICK HERE

Gov. Steve Beshear: Campaign PhotoWhile numbers and measurements vary, new polls collecting approval ratings for Gov. Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) all show a boost for the first-term Democrat.

In addition to last week's Courier-Journal's Bluegrass Poll that found 60 percent of respondents "approving" of Beshear, Rasmussen Reports is out with new figures today finding 37 percent of 500 "likely" voters in the general election - in which Beshear is not on the ballot - give Beshear's job performance an "excellent" or "good" rating. That figure is up four percent from a July poll by the same firm.

Rasmussen also finds 42 percent of those polled rate Beshear's performance as "fair," a nine percent boost from the July numbers.

Only 17 percent rate Beshear as "poor," down from 28 percent in July.

Gov. Steve BeshearApproval ratings for Gov. Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) raised substantially in the last two months, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal's Bluegrass poll. Sixty percent of respondents to that poll said they approve of the job Beshear is doing as Governor - a dramatic reversal from approval numbers released in late July.

The Bluegrass poll finds only 23 percent of those 800 surveyed statewide disapprove of Beshear's job performance.

A Rasmussen Reports survey from July 29 found just 33 percent of those polled rated Beshear's performance as "excellent" or "good," while 33 percent rated Beshear's work as "fair" and 28 percent as "poor."

As reports abound of gas prices rocketing upwards overnight in the state, Governor Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) declared a state of emergency this afternoon in an effort to stop price gouging.

"I am outraged by the voracious practices of price gouging we are seeing," said Beshear in a statement. "Today, I have taken an extraordinary step to protect the consumers of the commonwealth from these predators."

Beshear is said to be partnering with Attorney General Jack Conway (D-Louisville) in the effort, which comes in advance of the expected spike in prices following the landfall of Hurricane Ike in Texas.

"We have received an overwhelming influx of reports from across Kentucky regarding gasoline price spikes and even rationing," said Conway. "I felt it was important to get the price gouging protections in place as soon as possible to protect the commonwealth's consumers and businesses."

Following Beshear's order, Conway will be able to investigate and prosecute claims of predatory pricing amid the expected weather emergency in the Gulf Coast.

Organized labor interests in Kentucky are continuing their push for their endorsed candidates this week with a planned rally tomorrow in western Kentucky at the Kentucky Dam Village park in Gilbertsville.

Democratic Senate candidate Bruce Lunsford is among the confirmed guests for the rally, according to a spokesperson from the AFL-CIO. He will be joined by several state and regional labor leaders, including Maurice Davidson of the United Auto Workers, Billy Thompson of the United Steel Workers, and Bill Londrigan, President of the Kentucky AFL-CIO.

The rally is said to be "in support of candidates who will work to build an economy that works for all."

DENVER – Governor Steve Beshear’s speech to Kentucky’s Democratic National Convention delegates in Denver on Wednesday framed the potential election of his party’s presidential nominee in no uncertain terms.

“I don’t think, since Brown v. Board of Education, in 1954, will there be one singular moment that will make a bigger difference in race relations in this country than when on November the 4th we elect Barack Obama,” said Beshear, referencing the Supreme Court decision that laid the framework for school desegregation.

Beshear said the convention this year was of “historic” proportions due to the heavy involvement of the Democratic presidential primary’s foremost two candidates – Obama and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.).

“Those two people in one single year are going to make a bigger difference for our country in what they have done, in what they have gone through in these campaigns, in how they have debated these issues, in how they are going to lead us to a great victory,” said Beshear.

DENVER – Appearing at his first state delegation breakfast of the convention, Governor Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) addressed the crowd this morning in Denver. He was part of a line-up that included former state party chair Terry McBrayer and presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) environmental advisor, professor Dan Esty.

Most of the Kentucky delegation then went several blocks east from their downtown Denver hotel to a restaurant for a luncheon featuring a little non-political star power. Actress Ashley Judd, who grew up in the Bluegrass state, joined the delegates for a meal.

Judd also sat with the delegation in the Pepsi Center last night.

The Kentucky delegation was offered the opportunity to bike from their hotel to the luncheon by the “Freewheelin’” program – an organization providing free bikes at the convention as part of an effort to make the event more environmentally-friendly.

When asked how by party chair Jennifer Moore how many would bike from the morning breakfast, at least a dozen Kentuckians raised their hands.

More from Denver coming shortly on PolitickerKY.com.

DENVER – Gov. Steve Beshear (D-Lexington) arrived in Denver yesterday in time to hear U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) speech before the Democratic National Convention in which she advocated for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

Although Kentucky went heavily for Clinton during the May 20 primary -- making the constitution of the state’s delegation lean toward Clinton -- Beshear says the state’s Democratic delegates will be ready to support Obama’s candidacy in the general election.

“This delegation is going to be unified for Obama this fall,” Beshear told PolitickerKY.com. “We had a hard-fought contest in Kentucky like we did all across the country and people feel very passionate about their candidates, but everybody I think is ready to come together now and get behind our ticket in the fall and really go after this election and push him across the finish line.”

Aside from rallying the delegation for the party’s nominee, Beshear said the convention gave key Democrats the chance to get excited about other Kentucky races.