Drew Curtis, the Versailles-based Internet entrepreneur and technologist who founded the news aggregation site Fark.com more than a dozen years ago, has announced a surprise, independent candidacy to become Kentucky’s next governor.
In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with Business Lexington, Curtis cast himself as a “citizen candidate” and talked about his plans and goals in joining the fray. He cited influence-peddling, party gridlock and “this sinking feeling that nobody is doing their damn jobs at the political level” as major factors influencing his decision.
Curtis said he filed his campaign papers Friday and planned to make a formal announcement Monday on his website. His wife, Heather, will serve as his running mate.
“I have no idea what I’m in for,” said Curtis. “But that’s kind of the thing about being an entrepreneur, is you jump off a cliff and you build the plane on the way down.”
Curtis said he hopes to win but also to produce a “blueprint” for independent candidates. He offered, “No experiments. Leave people alone. And don’t spend money that you don’t have,” as the bumper-sticker for his campaign. The fiscal issues and concerns about influence buying are central to many of his concerns.
“As an unaligned executive, you’re in a really good spot because, if they can’t buy influence from you, who do they buy it from?” he said. “I mean, they can go ahead and spend money on the legislature all day but it doesn’t matter if they can’t reach me.”
Curtis said he would also be against adopting any ideas that didn’t have a track record. He pointed to right-to-work legislation that has been adopted or debated in many statehouses in recent years as an example. He said after considerable study on the issue “it turns out that whole decision exists in a gray area where you can’t really tell what the hell is going on.” On this and other issues, Curtis pointed to his expertise and argued for data-driven analysis.
Curtis joins a robust roster of candidates seeking to succeed current Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, who is prevented by term limits from seeking a third stint in the office.
Agricultural Commissioner James R. Comer was out of the gate early for Republicans. He and his running mate — state Sen. Chris McDaniel — have been campaigning hard and racking up key endorsements since early September of last year. Comer is being challenged for the GOP nod by former Louisville councilman Hal Heiner and former Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Will T. Scott.
On the Democratic side, Attorney General Jack Conway is seeking the office along with his running mate, state Rep. Sannie Overly. The pair recently received the endorsement of the Kentucky State AFL-CIO union. Geoff Young also is in the race.
Curtis is best known as the creator and administrator of the website Fark.com, a curated news aggregator with a focus on the funniest and most off-beat offerings of the day. It also functions as a social network for dedicated users. Curtis is also author of the 2007 book “It’s Not News, It’s FARK: How Mass Media Tries to Pass Off Crap as News.” In his spare time he also dabbles in craft brewing with the actor Wil Wheaton and fighting off patent trolls.
Perhaps unsurprisingly for a new media leader, Curtis is planning an unconventional campaign with a heavy emphasis on technology. He said he is using some of his own money to get things started but that he’s betting on general enthusiasm and social media-enhanced funding to take him to November.
“Part of the deal with my wife in order for her to allow me to do this is that I can’t spend us into bankruptcy,” Curtis said. “Seems fair.”
He concedes that a good portion of any good scenario for him includes lots of funding from out of state, much of it fueled by his Internet celebrity and savvy. Indeed, by Friday evening a electronic campaign seeking donations and recruiting volunteers was making the rounds. Curtis says he’s unconcerned other candidates might knock his out-of-state support.
“With the Citizens United b.s. going on, we can easily draw a line back to them in the same way,” he said.
Curtis touched on more hot-button issues, calling coal “a dying industry,” gay marriage “done” and global warming caused by humans “absolutely happening.”
He chalked it up to a status quo he says he’s hoping to shake up.
“Early on in the formulation people of course will start asking: what do you think about this issue and that issue. In my opinion most of these are just strawman things meant to distract you from the stuff that really matters. Like jobs, basically; because it’s jobs and nothing.”