 No Republican had been elected to any of those offices since 1967.Farmer waited until three weeks before the primary election to begin seriously campaigning and focused on population centers such as Lexington, Louisville, Bowling Green, and the Northern Kentucky area, where Republican voters were more concentrated.At that time, campaign finance reports showed that Farmer had spent about half of the $36,055 raised for his campaign, while his opponent, Leonard "Buck" Beasley, had raised only $450 and spent nothing.