From Kentucky Sports Radio to U.S. Congressman? Matt Jones is considering making such a jump.
When asked about the possibility, the founder and host of the website and radio show devoted to University of Kentucky athletics confirmed to the Lexington Herald-Leader that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has approached him about entering next year’s race in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District to run against incumbent Republican Andy Barr.
Lot of you are asking me about the Herald Leader story…I will talk about it on the show tomorrow. For now, I am working on a UK FB post
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) August 24, 2015
Jones added further credence to report by mentioning it on his radio show Monday morning.
“I went to DC and I met with them for a couple of days. It was a very cool experience, to be honest with you,” Jones said on the air, as quoted by Lexington’s CBS affiliate, WKYT.
“I think I can make a difference. I think, in a country where there are a whole segment of people that are completely forgotten about, I think I can make a difference. I think there are people Washington has totally forgotten, and most of them are the citizens of this state.”
Jones, a former lawyer, gained notice from the Washington campaign group for his tough questions during last year’s Kentucky Senate race between Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. This year, he’s followed that up by hosting a Republican gubernatorial debate on Kentucky Sports Radio and served as emcee for the Fancy Farm Picnic, an annual event in Western Kentucky that attracts statewide and national political candidates.
Barr easily won re-election last year, winning by 20 points over his opponent. But Jones’ name recognition and his passionate fan following is promising to Democrats looking to win that seat back. One sticking point to his candidacy is that he doesn’t currently live in the 6th Congressional District, but says he plans on moving back to Lexington regardless of whether or not he runs because he works there so often.
However, if Jones were to run, continuing to host and write at Kentucky Sports Radio would likely be a problem, providing him with an unfair advantage. He’d have to give up his current posts, but insists that the site and show would live on somehow.
“If we ran, I would keep this show going in some form,” Jones told his listeners. “I don’t know how we’d do it because there are rules that apply and I don’t know how we would do it, but we would try.”
Jones said he would make a decision about running for office before college basketball season begins.
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