While growing interest in the 2016 presidential contest has captured the nation's fancy, a slate of five upcoming governor's races promises to turn political heads,
The Washington Post reports.
Most watched may be a primary contest in Kentucky where Bluegrass voters must choose between three candidates on Tuesday — state Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, former Louisville councilman Hal Heiner, and businessman Matt Bevin — in a race described by the Post as "neck and neck" and also nasty.
That race has not been drama free, the Post notes. Comer faced allegations from a former college girlfriend who claimed he had physically and mentally abused her during her co-ed days, the Post said, citing coverage from the Louisville Courier-Journal.
The accuser, Marilyn Thomas,
wrote the paper a four-page letter, alleging that Comer, while the two were students at Western Kentucky University, hit her when she used his name on a form she had filled out during a visit to abortion clinic.
Comer's camp has threatened the paper with legal action and has said he strongly denies her allegations,
the Courier Journal noted of the scandal, which emerged just two weeks ahead of the tight primary.
Other key gubernatorial contests to watch are in New Hampshire, North Carolina, Missouri, and West Virginia, which earns the Post's No. 1 governor's race designation — and where popular former governor and U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin declined to make another bid, the Post said.
The Democratic state that has leaned red if not purple in recent years now becomes "the GOP's No. 1 pickup opportunity," with the popular Manchin out of the picture, according to the Post.
Manchin dashed some Mountaineer hopes in April when he told
CBS News' Bob Schieffer that he would not seek his former job as governor, noting his desire to continue hard work in Washington.
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