Attorney Colleen Davis is running to represent District 31 of the Kentucky House. She discussed her desire to serve, what she wants to bring to the legislature, the need for critical thinking, and working with those on the other side of the aisle...
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(00:00):
You're a news radio eight forty whs. Terry Miners here ed and I'll keep
up on the PGA and O.They're interviewing some of the the prominent golfers
today and some tomorrow. Kepka Brooks. Kepka's interview was moved from today to
tomorrow for some reason, but RoryMcElroy gets interviewed tomorrow as well, So
we'll have some of those clib storyon tomorrow afternoon show and in between our
(00:23):
sports segments on it. We're alsointroducing you to new people. And well,
she's not totally a new person,but I just met her a few
minutes ago. I've read about her. Her name's Colleen Davis, a practicing
attorney, a trial attorney who's runningfor state rep. And the primary is
coming up in about a week.Am I right about that? Colleen May
twenty, First, thanks for havingme. You've been working diligently as a
(00:46):
trial attorney, but also having todo some campaigning too. That's a lot
of door knocking, Is that whatthat is? It is? It's a
lot of door knocking, a lotof fundraising, and ye have full time
job in between. It has beena balance and it's been fun, but
it's been a lot. Yeah.I have a map phobia, so I
don't even know where District thirty oneis. Tell me help me. Yeah,
so I live in Hikes Point andthe district goes from hikes Point east
(01:11):
to Jaytown and just the western partof Jaytown and then up Hursborn all the
way to Middletown. You've done alot of work as an attorney. I
know you've done a lot of probono work too, So you see people
in some challenging times, and that'salways good. Benevolence is good. Yeah.
Yeah. You know a lot ofpeople go into law school, you
(01:32):
know, wanting to do the lord'swork, and I did too, and
then you get out of law schooland your six figures in debt and you
got to pay the bills. Soa lot of us, you know,
we have our like normal. Youknow, I'm in a defense firm,
and then you know, I giveback when I can through pro bono work.
Right, And your husband probably says, hey, let's don't dig the
hole that much deeper. Can youget can you get some billable hours?
(01:56):
Yeah? No, I mean Idon't know. Yeah, we do fine.
I'm just choking that's all. Tellme a little bit about you too.
I heard that there's a little coachingin your life as well. You're
a coach of some sort. Yeah, so I coached a Falls City soccer
team. It's twelve year old boys. It's a ton of fun. I
love boys. I kids at thisage because they're trying to find themselves.
(02:19):
They're trying to, you know,figure out who they are while also trying
to fit in. And I thinkcoaching is a good way to hang out
with them and kind of guide themthrough that process, and it's fun to
watch them grow. Did you playsoccer in high school or I did.
I played through my sophomore year ofhigh school and then I quit so that
I could run because I ended uprunning in college. Running the solitary pursuit
(02:44):
of running. We could talk aboutthis for days, but I know we're
going to talk about some other issues, but just for a minute. Sure,
what do you think about when you'rein mile twelve and there's another mile
and a half left or whatever,and you're like, what am I doing
here? It's six o'clock in themorning. Yeah. No, it's really
good therapy when it's just an easyrun, you know, when it's a
(03:07):
hard run, it's usually like justthe chorus of like an annoying song that's
gotten stuck in there? Do youwhen a song comes over? And this
is my problem with running two.When a song comes on, I already
know how long it is, usfour minutes and forty seconds a boy,
And then you're just trying to workyour way through it because you're not having
a good run, a challenging run. Yeah, you know, and you
(03:30):
got to just embrace the pain.There you go, all four minutes and
forty eight seconds of it. Whateverit is, all right. District thirty
one is the state rep job thatyou would like to get. I know
you're in a primary, a Democraticprimary, a week from today. What
would you bring to this job?Calling? Yeah, so one. I
think we need younger people in thelegislature. You introduced me as a new
(03:53):
person. I've been around for thirtysix whole years. Sorry about that.
I'm kidding, no offense, kidding, no. I think we need more
new faces in the legislature. Myopponent has only been there one term.
But in general, the makeup ofthe legislature is heavily skewed towards older people,
(04:14):
and I think we just need youngervoices. We're more in touch with
you know, what the median personin Kentucky wants and needs. Another thing
that I think I individually bring otherthan my demographics are. You know,
as an attorney, one of myjobs is to be thinking of the worst
case scenario and the unintended consequences ofeverything that my client or I might do
(04:39):
or not do, you know,And you have to make that whole decision
tree before you take any kind ofaction. And I think one problem that
our legislature has right now is thatthey're so single minded on a few handfuls
of issues that they're not thinking aboutthe unintended consequences. How does this piece
of legislation hurt people in a waythat we're not even thinking about. You
(05:02):
know, we've seen a lot oflegislation that, in my opinion, is
designed to hurt people. But youknow, and obviously, you know,
we can have a fight about thatall day long. But I think there's
a lot of legislation that is justnot thought through critically enough. And I'm
not saying we need more lawyers inthe legislature. I don't, but we
need more critical thinkers and people whoare going to be thinking of the unattended
(05:24):
consequences of any given piece of legislationand thinking about that before we pass the
bill because some interest group told usto. And some of the things that
were passed in the state legislature,of course, are just sizzle moments to
garner to get attention, and thatpeople are carrying back home without thinking about
consequences for a lot of folks,because we see them cry about what they've
(05:46):
seen go through. Sure so,but if you're going to run in the
state legislature, let's say you makeit into the state legislature, it's still
a super majority for the other party, how are you at working with others?
As they say in kindergarten. Yeah, yeah, that's a great question.
And you know, I'm not naiveabout you know, making sweeping change
(06:08):
day one that I you know,start serving. I think this effort to
make our legislature more representative of whatnormal people in Kentucky want is going to
be, you know, a decadelong statewide effort. I think progressive people
and Democrats have not ignored state legislatures, but as the Supreme Court in particular
(06:33):
is determining that more and more ofour civil rights are issues for the states.
You know, that makes our statelegislature even more important. And so
I think more and more people arepaying attention because they know that it's the
state legislatures that are going to affectyour everyday rights. So, to answer
your question, another thing that Ithink helps me as a lawyer is,
(06:56):
you know, I'm a trial lawyer, so I go to court and argue
motion and everything all the time.And the way it works, at least
in Kentucky is you know, youstand next to opposing council and you tell
the judge this is why their casesucks, this is why their position sucks.
And then the other side does thesame thing, and then on your
way out of the courtroom and you'relike, hey, how are the kids.
Hey, let's go to And soyou have this working relationship despite being
(07:21):
on opposite sides, and so I'malready completely used to that, like that's
my whole career, So I don'tthink I'll have any trouble, you know,
being able to put that aside whenwe can make a difference by working
together. And then I saw thatyou were endorsed by Morgan McGarvey, who
obviously he's in the House of Representativethose handling District three. Does how does
(07:43):
that work? Does he drive byyour house and shoot a confetti cannon and
let you know how does that work? Uh? No? So when I
was deciding to run, I wasasked to run by the House Democrats.
Like I alluded to earlier, Ididn't really seek out this opportunity. The
House Democrats called me and explained thesituation, like, look, we can
flip the seat if you run.So when I was deciding whether to run,
(08:05):
I called Morgan, who had servedas my state senator, and I
was like, look, I needto know can you actually run a law
practice and serve in the legislature andnot fail at both of them? And
he was very candid and was like, it is hard, but you can
do it. And so, youknow, getting to know him through those
(08:26):
conversations, we've developed a great relationship. I consider him a friend and so
you know, when I threw myhat in the ring, then you know,
the endorsement came pretty quick. Let'ssee if he lets you coach his
kids. Actually, so his kidsare a little bit better than the group
(08:48):
that I coached. They're the sameyear. But my kids have other things
going on. Soccer might not betheir priority all the time. A burgeoning
Ted Lasso's story. Colleen Davis.She's running for State rep and District thirty
one primaries a week from today's bestof luck, Thanks, thanks so much
much to me you come. Andwhat's your website, Colleen Davis? Four
(09:11):
ky dot com and the four isspelled out, not the number. We
always have to clarify on that,all right, Appreciate you, Colleen Davis.
And we're back in if you onnews Radio eight forty whas
You're a news radio eight forty whs. Terry Miners here ed and I'll keep
up on the PGA and O.They're interviewing some of the the prominent golfers
today and some tomorrow. Kepka Brooks. Kepka's interview was moved from today to
tomorrow for some reason, but RoryMcElroy gets interviewed tomorrow as well, So
we'll have some of those clib storyon tomorrow afternoon show and in between our
(00:23):
sports segments on it. We're alsointroducing you to new people. And well,
she's not totally a new person,but I just met her a few
minutes ago. I've read about her. Her name's Colleen Davis, a practicing
attorney, a trial attorney who's runningfor state rep. And the primary is
coming up in about a week.Am I right about that? Colleen May
twenty, First, thanks for havingme. You've been working diligently as a
(00:46):
trial attorney, but also having todo some campaigning too. That's a lot
of door knocking, Is that whatthat is? It is? It's a
lot of door knocking, a lotof fundraising, and ye have full time
job in between. It has beena balance and it's been fun, but
it's been a lot. Yeah.I have a map phobia, so I
don't even know where District thirty oneis. Tell me help me. Yeah,
so I live in Hikes Point andthe district goes from hikes Point east
(01:11):
to Jaytown and just the western partof Jaytown and then up Hursborn all the
way to Middletown. You've done alot of work as an attorney. I
know you've done a lot of probono work too, So you see people
in some challenging times, and that'salways good. Benevolence is good. Yeah.
Yeah. You know a lot ofpeople go into law school, you
(01:32):
know, wanting to do the lord'swork, and I did too, and
then you get out of law schooland your six figures in debt and you
got to pay the bills. Soa lot of us, you know,
we have our like normal. Youknow, I'm in a defense firm,
and then you know, I giveback when I can through pro bono work.
Right, And your husband probably says, hey, let's don't dig the
hole that much deeper. Can youget can you get some billable hours?
(01:56):
Yeah? No, I mean Idon't know. Yeah, we do fine.
I'm just choking that's all. Tellme a little bit about you too.
I heard that there's a little coachingin your life as well. You're
a coach of some sort. Yeah, so I coached a Falls City soccer
team. It's twelve year old boys. It's a ton of fun. I
love boys. I kids at thisage because they're trying to find themselves.
(02:19):
They're trying to, you know,figure out who they are while also trying
to fit in. And I thinkcoaching is a good way to hang out
with them and kind of guide themthrough that process, and it's fun to
watch them grow. Did you playsoccer in high school or I did.
I played through my sophomore year ofhigh school and then I quit so that
I could run because I ended uprunning in college. Running the solitary pursuit
(02:44):
of running. We could talk aboutthis for days, but I know we're
going to talk about some other issues, but just for a minute. Sure,
what do you think about when you'rein mile twelve and there's another mile
and a half left or whatever,and you're like, what am I doing
here? It's six o'clock in themorning. Yeah. No, it's really
good therapy when it's just an easyrun, you know, when it's a
(03:07):
hard run, it's usually like justthe chorus of like an annoying song that's
gotten stuck in there? Do youwhen a song comes over? And this
is my problem with running two.When a song comes on, I already
know how long it is, usfour minutes and forty seconds a boy,
And then you're just trying to workyour way through it because you're not having
a good run, a challenging run. Yeah, you know, and you
(03:30):
got to just embrace the pain.There you go, all four minutes and
forty eight seconds of it. Whateverit is, all right. District thirty
one is the state rep job thatyou would like to get. I know
you're in a primary, a Democraticprimary, a week from today. What
would you bring to this job?Calling? Yeah, so one. I
think we need younger people in thelegislature. You introduced me as a new
(03:53):
person. I've been around for thirtysix whole years. Sorry about that.
I'm kidding, no offense, kidding, no. I think we need more
new faces in the legislature. Myopponent has only been there one term.
But in general, the makeup ofthe legislature is heavily skewed towards older people,
(04:14):
and I think we just need youngervoices. We're more in touch with
you know, what the median personin Kentucky wants and needs. Another thing
that I think I individually bring otherthan my demographics are. You know,
as an attorney, one of myjobs is to be thinking of the worst
case scenario and the unintended consequences ofeverything that my client or I might do
(04:39):
or not do, you know,And you have to make that whole decision
tree before you take any kind ofaction. And I think one problem that
our legislature has right now is thatthey're so single minded on a few handfuls
of issues that they're not thinking aboutthe unintended consequences. How does this piece
of legislation hurt people in a waythat we're not even thinking about. You
(05:02):
know, we've seen a lot oflegislation that, in my opinion, is
designed to hurt people. But youknow, and obviously, you know,
we can have a fight about thatall day long. But I think there's
a lot of legislation that is justnot thought through critically enough. And I'm
not saying we need more lawyers inthe legislature. I don't, but we
need more critical thinkers and people whoare going to be thinking of the unattended
(05:24):
consequences of any given piece of legislationand thinking about that before we pass the
bill because some interest group told usto. And some of the things that
were passed in the state legislature,of course, are just sizzle moments to
garner to get attention, and thatpeople are carrying back home without thinking about
consequences for a lot of folks,because we see them cry about what they've
(05:46):
seen go through. Sure so,but if you're going to run in the
state legislature, let's say you makeit into the state legislature, it's still
a super majority for the other party, how are you at working with others?
As they say in kindergarten. Yeah, yeah, that's a great question.
And you know, I'm not naiveabout you know, making sweeping change
(06:08):
day one that I you know,start serving. I think this effort to
make our legislature more representative of whatnormal people in Kentucky want is going to
be, you know, a decadelong statewide effort. I think progressive people
and Democrats have not ignored state legislatures, but as the Supreme Court in particular
(06:33):
is determining that more and more ofour civil rights are issues for the states.
You know, that makes our statelegislature even more important. And so
I think more and more people arepaying attention because they know that it's the
state legislatures that are going to affectyour everyday rights. So, to answer
your question, another thing that Ithink helps me as a lawyer is,
(06:56):
you know, I'm a trial lawyer, so I go to court and argue
motion and everything all the time.And the way it works, at least
in Kentucky is you know, youstand next to opposing council and you tell
the judge this is why their casesucks, this is why their position sucks.
And then the other side does thesame thing, and then on your
way out of the courtroom and you'relike, hey, how are the kids.
Hey, let's go to And soyou have this working relationship despite being
(07:21):
on opposite sides, and so I'malready completely used to that, like that's
my whole career, So I don'tthink I'll have any trouble, you know,
being able to put that aside whenwe can make a difference by working
together. And then I saw thatyou were endorsed by Morgan McGarvey, who
obviously he's in the House of Representativethose handling District three. Does how does
(07:43):
that work? Does he drive byyour house and shoot a confetti cannon and
let you know how does that work? Uh? No? So when I
was deciding to run, I wasasked to run by the House Democrats.
Like I alluded to earlier, Ididn't really seek out this opportunity. The
House Democrats called me and explained thesituation, like, look, we can
flip the seat if you run.So when I was deciding whether to run,
(08:05):
I called Morgan, who had servedas my state senator, and I
was like, look, I needto know can you actually run a law
practice and serve in the legislature andnot fail at both of them? And
he was very candid and was like, it is hard, but you can
do it. And so, youknow, getting to know him through those
(08:26):
conversations, we've developed a great relationship. I consider him a friend and so
you know, when I threw myhat in the ring, then you know,
the endorsement came pretty quick. Let'ssee if he lets you coach his
kids. Actually, so his kidsare a little bit better than the group
(08:48):
that I coached. They're the sameyear. But my kids have other things
going on. Soccer might not betheir priority all the time. A burgeoning
Ted Lasso's story. Colleen Davis.She's running for State rep and District thirty
one primaries a week from today's bestof luck, Thanks, thanks so much
much to me you come. Andwhat's your website, Colleen Davis? Four
(09:11):
ky dot com and the four isspelled out, not the number. We
always have to clarify on that,all right, Appreciate you, Colleen Davis.
And we're back in if you onnews Radio eight forty whas
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