3 vying for GOP nomination for Kentucky treasurer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Two Republicans campaigning for the chance to serve as Kentucky’s next treasurer see value in the job as an independent watchdog of state finances.

The third candidate in the GOP primary has a much different objective — to help lead the push to close the office.

Jon Larson, a Lexington attorney, says he supports putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would seek to abolish the treasurer’s office. Larson says the treasurer’s duties can be folded into the state Finance and Administration Cabinet.

Larson’s opponents are state Rep. Kenneth Imes of Murray and attorney Allison Ball of Prestonsburg. They say the treasurer’s office plays an important oversight role that would be diminished if it were consolidated into an executive cabinet agency.

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