The primary election is May 21, and there are several candidates seeking their party's nomination. The Pure Politics team has contacted each candidate with a primary opponent to find out who they are, and what they stand for. 

Sheri Donahue is a Democrat running for State Auditor of Public Accounts.

Donahue grew up in Pleasure Ridge Park, and obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from Purdue. After graduation she came back to Louisville and worked with the U.S. Navy for 20 years as a civilian engineer.

“I audited multimillion dollar weapon systems and I managed classified intelligence contracts,” she said. “So I was responsible for making sure our taxpayers got their money’s worth, and also making sure our men and women in uniform have safe and effective equipment to protect our nation.”

She also has worked with the FBI on cyber security and infrastructure protection. She is now working at Humana in cybersecurity.

She is running for auditor because people are losing faith in government.

“I am uniquely qualified to help restore that faith in our commonwealth and our country,” she said. “I know under my leadership that the auditor’s office will search out waste, fraud, and abuse wherever it is, and whoever is responsible for it.”

Donahue says with her background as an engineer, she is a problem solver, a skill that is crucial for the auditor’s office.

“The idea that you come in there and you have your regulations, and you have what’s actually being done, and you need to make sure that there’ compliance, “she said. “Additionally, what I want to do is expand the IT security audits. The auditor’s office does 600 statutory audits every year throughout the state; they also are responsible for the IT office audits, because all of our information now is on computer systems.”

Donahue also believes her background will serve well when it comes to conducting special audits. She says her time with Navy she was required to oversee projects that were very timely.

If elected, Donahue says she wants to be open about what areas of government may need special attention.

“I want to be responsive to what the state employees are bringing up,” she said. “But, the other thing, I don’t want to say exactly that I’m going after any particular department ahead of time, because once we get in there and we do an audit, if for some reason we do find that there are issues,  I don’t want it to ever be that I went in prejudging anything.”

Despite that, she says its clear more attention needs to be given  to IT and making sure all programs are effective, and efficient.  She also says she wants to audit the electronic voting machines.

“Our voting machines, we need to make sure our votes are counted, and that our adversaries aren’t tampering with our elections,” she said. “And with the IT, I want to expand and modernize those audits. Just take what our responsibility is and give it more meat.”

To audit the voting machines, Donahue would work with county clerks and the Secretary of State’s Office.

Voter registration in Kentucky is becoming increasingly Republican, and more Republicans are holding office. Donahue says she can combat this trend, because to her the office isn’t political.

“It doesn’t matter who is responsible, or where the issues are, we are going to go after it,” she said. “I have worked through a lot of different problems and as an engineer I approach things more mathematically if you will, scientifically, and not emotionally. So I do know how to work with people across party lines.”

Donahue says she is the best candidate because she isn’t afraid to standup to powerful people or organizations.

“I have stood up to billion dollar defense contractors, the military industrial complex, and I’ve always won,” she said. “So bureaucrats in Frankfort, and Matt Bevin, don’t scare me. I’m hopeful that we will have a Democratic governor this time next year, but if not it’s that much more important that we have an auditor that will stand up to Matt Bevin or a Republican governor if that’s the case. I am experienced, I have accomplishments, and I am ready on day one.”

Donahue is running against Kelsey Hayes Coots and Chris Tobe in the primary.