Local Republicans are running in every local race on May’s primary ballot with several of the races being the final determination of who will serve the next term, an occurrence that the local GOP party chair described as “unheard of” in Henderson County.
“It’s unique for Henderson—it’s a bit of a Democratic town—to have so many Republicans running,” said local Republican Party Chair Dwight Williams.
To get the word out, the local party is hosting a Republican candidate forum at 6 p.m. Thursday night at the Pittsburg Tank and Tower Suite in the Henderson County Public Library.
Williams said 23 Republicans are running for a seat this election year, several of them unopposed. Unopposed Republicans are Andrew Powell for property valuation administrator; Chip Stauffer for sheriff; Robby Mills for state senator; Carrie Smith for county clerk; and Joe McGarrh, for school board, which is a non-partisan seat. (There is still time to file for a school board seat, though. District 1 and 2 school board seats have a 4 p.m. June 2 application deadline.)
Additionally, Republican winners in the May 19 primary for coroner, jailer and the district two magistrate will serve the next term of those seats because there aren’t Democratic challengers in those races.
In the coroner race, current Coroner Shelia Patterson will take on Dewayne Reneer. In the jailer race, Eddie Vaught is opposing Anthony Willett. And in the district two magistrate race, incumbent Taylor Tompkins faces off against challenger James Franks.
Williams said the whole situation is “kind of unheard of for us.”
It’s a scenario that is similar to much of the rest of Kentucky, which for many years had many more registered Democrats than Republicans, but in the past couple decades has seen that shift.
In Henderson County, though, Democrats still hold the numbers lead, but Republicans are gaining, according to Williams’ numbers.
In 2017, there were more than 22,850 Democrats and 9,558 Republicans. In March of this year, that gap had tightened with 17,325 Democrats and 12,647 Republicans, Williams said.
“I’m excited in that we’ve come a long way,” Williams said.
Williams said the local Republican party doesn’t make endorsements in the primary races, though individual members can endorse who they want.
In addition to the aforementioned candidates, the forum will include candidates for county judge-executive: Randall Heath Green, incumbent Brad Schneider and Timmy Dunn. And Republican candidates for district one and district four magistrate seats will also be present. In district one, J.R. Stanley is challenging incumbent Keith Berry while in district four Jay Randolph is challenging Kevin Morgan.
Williams also said registered Republicans who have filed to run in the non-partisan Henderson City Commission race have also been invited to the forum. They include Kristie Randolph and Chris Thomas.
Williams said candidates will be asked four questions.
- Who you are and why are you running?
- What are the top three challenges for your office and how will you fix them?
- If elected, what other changes would you like to make?
- Why should people vote for you?
Another forum, Audubon Kids Zone’s Candidate Q & A, will be 4-7 p.m. April 25 in the Henderson County High School auditorium. Candidates from both parties will participate in this forum.
