Hadley Duvall, who gained statewide notoriety from being in Gov. Andy Beshear campaign advertisements last fall, is making waves nationwide now.
Duvall, who was in Henderson Tuesday taking part in the Kentucky Democratic Party’s Rural Listening Tour, will speak at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago Monday night. She said she’s scheduled to speak at some point in the 9 o’clock hour. She said Beshear will be there, as well.
Duvall was born in Henderson and grew up in Owensboro. Her mother is Henderson native Jennifer Adkins Miller, and her grandmother is Henderson resident Vickie Sheffer Adkins Fulton.
Duvall’s speech won’t be long, she said, and will focus on the same women’s reproductive rights talking points that were emphasized in the advertisements during the Beshear campaign.
She’s been working with a speech coach and is in regular contact with representatives of the Kamala Harris campaign, she said.
As was told in the advertisements, Duvall was raped by her stepfather when she was 12 years old, became pregnant and later miscarried. In the ads from last fall, Duvall says that Republican Daniel Cameron’s abortion policy would offer no options to girls in similar situations.
Local Democrats say they need a ‘war chest’
At Tuesday’s Rural Listening Tour, which took place at the International Union of Operating Engineers Hall on Elm Street, state Democratic Party officials came to listen to local Democrats to gather information to help tailor messaging for the November elections, they said.
Democrats want to “find a message that resonates with every corner in the commonwealth,” said Kentucky Democratic Party Executive Director Morgan Eaves. “We need to start building from the ground up.”
Some of the desires of local Democrats were for the state party to establish a “war chest” so that candidates can get funded to run, target specific audiences, recruit younger people and find better messaging.
“We’ve lost the messaging war,” said local Democrat Velvet Dowdy.
Henderson Democrats were also dismayed that no one from their party ran to fill the local state representative seat against Republican J.T. Payne. Payne, a newcomer to state politics, is running unopposed to fill the seat vacated by current state Rep. Jonathan Dixon.
Again, several in attendance blamed the party’s funding as a principle reason no one wanted to run.
Colmon Elridge, the state Democratic Party’s chair, said that when he came to his current position, the state Democratic party was in debt. Now it’s debt-free and in a place where it can raise money, he said.
Eaves said, “We will get candidates from Henderson next time.”
Statewide, both Eaves and Elridge said they believe Democrats can win back at least five seats in the upcoming General Assembly elections.
