Bevin Bell Factory Fueling Campaign Attack Ad in Kentucky Senate Race

After a devastating fire that burned to the ground the last bell factory in the United States, Gov. Dannel Malloy announced that the state would provide Bevin Brothers Manufacturing in East Hampton $200,000 in grants to help restart the business.

But what was considered a feel-good story about an American manufacturing business returning to work following a devastating fire has turned into a campaign issue for the factory owner, Matt Bevin.

Bevin, a Louisville, KY, resident and owner of Bevin Brothers Manufacturing, officially announced this week he is in the race for the U.S. Senate in Kentucky and is looking to challenge Sen. Mitch McConnell.

McConnell, the Senate Republican minority leader, issued an attack ad giving the East Hampton business owner the title "Bailout Bevin," citing the $200,000 state grants that he took to restart the bell factory business following a devastating fire in May 2012 that burned the factory to the ground.

The grants went to both Bevin and sister company PSI, which rented space in the factory building, and they were part of a Department of Economic and Community Development program offered for small businesses.

The ad also criticizes Bevin of having multiple liens placed on the Bevin Bros. business, referencing a 2011 Middletown Press story in which the bell factory owed over $110,000 in back taxes to East Hampton.

A campaign spokesman admitted in a Courier-Journal story that the factory had been behind taxes in the past, however she told the newspaper Bevin loaned the company his own money to pay off the debt before entering the race.

Online records indeed show that there are no major outstanding bills, like the $110,000 figure listed above, although the factory does own $4,084 this year.