Mongiardo eyes rematch with Sen. Bunning

Four years after coming a whisker away from scoring the
upset of the cycle, Kentucky Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo (D) is contemplating a rematch
against Sen. Jim Bunning (R).

In an interview with The Hill on Monday, Mongiardo said
time and money are factors.

“I’m considering the race. I think at this stage, being less
than two years away, anyone running against an incumbent will have to start the
fundraising process.”

{mosads}Mongiardo ran surprisingly close to Bunning in 2004,
leading on Election night in a Republican-friendly year in a Republican-heavy state
with still-popular President Bush atop the ticket. In the end, Bunning pulled
out a narrow 23,000-vote victory for a second term, but the tightness of the
contest put a target squarely on the Republican’s back.

Now, though he continues to mull a bid, Mongiardo sounds
like he wants a second shot at Bunning.

“I got involved in politics out of frustration for
where healthcare was headed. And that will largely determine what I do and
where I go,” Mongiardo said. “It’s interesting how the stars are
lining up right now with [President-elect] Obama and the incoming
administration talking about reforming healthcare.”

Mongiardo added he will consider whether he’s done all he
can to help improve Kentucky’s healthcare situation, but that his expertise
could help his party.

“I think the Democratic Party needs a
physician” in the Senate, he said. “We need more people that
understand healthcare from the inside to help change it.”

The only physician in the upper chamber is Sen. Tom
Coburn (R-Okla.).

In Mongiardo’s view, Bunning’s standing in the state has
changed little since the last election, largely because the Kentucky Republican
has stayed out of the spotlight.

“We haven’t seen him since the last election, and we
barely saw him then,” Mongiardo said.

“In the end, people in the state of Kentucky are
going to see there are two types of politicians: Those that do no harm, and
he’s been one of those, and those that do something, whether it’s harmful or beneficial,”
Mongiardo said of Bunning. “Much to his credit, he hasn’t done anything to
harm the state.”

Mongiardo is among a handful of Democrats who may try to
duplicate North Carolina Sen.-elect Kay Hagan’s (D) effort to paint her
opponent as out of touch and absent from the state. Hagan and national Democrats
made an issue of Sen. Elizabeth Dole’s (R) lack of attention to the state, and
though Mongiardo says Bunning isn’t doing any harm, the implication is clear:
In Mongiardo’s mind, Bunning isn’t doing much of anything.

After his close call in 2004, Mongiardo won election as
lieutenant governor alongside Gov. Steve Beshear (D). Mongiardo said he has discussed
the possibility of running for Senate with Beshear, though he has yet to talk
with incoming Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chairman Robert Menendez
(N.J.).

Menendez’s involvement in the race could be crucial to
avoiding a nasty primary. In addition to Mongiardo, Attorney General Jack
Conway (D) and Auditor Crit Luallen (D) have been mentioned as possible candidates.
All three have won statewide elections, though Mongiardo stresses the eventual
nominee will need to concentrate on fundraising.

“About the only thing I would change [from the 2004
race] is the ability to fundraise. In Kentucky, it’s just very difficult to
raise the money inside the borders of the state,” Mongiardo said.
“We’re just not a very wealthy state.”

Bunning’s office declined to comment for this article.