Fancy Farm looks to sports talk radio host as its 2015 emcee

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The master of ceremonies for this year’s Fancy Farm picnic says he plans to hammer U.S. Sen. Rand Paul for skipping the event.

Kentucky Sports Radio host Matt Jones will host the often-rowdy Kentucky political gathering Saturday. It features speeches from Kentucky’s leading politicians while thousands of spectators heckle the candidates. Jones’ show is popular with fans of the University of Kentucky’s basketball team and airs on 35 stations across the state.

Paul will miss the event because he is campaigning for the Republican nomination for president. He is also running for re-election to his Senate seat. Jones called it "weak" for a sitting U.S. senator to skip the home-state picnic for an out-of-state event.

Paul’s spokesman Sergio Gor said the senator’s top priority is serving as Kentucky’s senator.

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