Political ambitions become deadly

MANCHESTER, Ky. -- Two candidates for sheriff were shot to death, a county clerk narrowly escaped a barrage of gunfire, and absentee voting in one county had to be suspended after the crowds became rowdy and the sheriff suspected vote-buying.

It has been a bloody campaign season in the hills of eastern Kentucky -- one that has voters wondering whether it's safe to go to the polls on Tuesday.

"This makes Kentucky seem like some kind of banana republic," said Paul Blanchard, director of the Center for Kentucky History and Politics at Eastern Kentucky University. "We tend to think we've gotten beyond this. Clearly that is not the case."

Clay County Clerk Jennings White was on the campaign trail Sunday when a barrage of bullets began hitting his van. He leapt out and over a 50-foot embankment, then crawled into thick brush and trees to escape uninjured. He hasn't spoken publicly about the incident.

"I counted 33 bullet holes in his vehicle," said Sheriff Edd Jordan. "It was politically motivated."

The same night, a private investigator working for White's opponent survived being shot six times as he drove on a highway. No one has been arrested in either attack.

Harlan County sheriff's candidate Paul Browning Jr. was also out campaigning when he disappeared in March. Several days later, his body was found inside his burned out pickup truck on a mountain road. He had been shot in the head.

In Pulaski County the following month, a sniper shot and killed Sheriff Sam Catron as he walked away from a political rally. The alleged gunman was caught when he ditched a motorcycle, which was registered to one of Catron's opponents. That opponent, Jeff Morris, is charged with conspiracy to murder.

Police believe Catron's killing and the shootings in Clay County were related to Tuesday's primary, but Jordan still urged voters not to fear going the polls.

"I'm sure some people won't vote on account of this, but I can assure them that the election will be monitored by my department and other departments," Jordan said.

State and FBI officials will also be watching several polling sites throughout the day Tuesday, said state Attorney General's spokeswoman Barbara Hadley Smith.

'I closed it down'

Already, there have already been election troubles.

Absentee voting in Clay County -- where the clerk was shot at-- has been halted twice, the first time earlier this month when long lines of rowdy voters showed up to cast ballots. Jordan, the sheriff, suspected a vote-buying scheme was afoot.

"I was hearing comments about people carrying guns, and when I saw the crowd, I closed it down," Jordan said. "I saw this stuff all coming to a head, and I knew somebody was going to get hurt."

Officials had to halt the absentee voting again for about 30 minutes Wednesday after a crowd waiting to vote became unruly.