Louisville elections for mayor, Metro Council could become nonpartisan

FRANKFORT — A bill that would strip candidates' party affiliations from the ballot for Louisville's local elections advanced on Tuesday in the Kentucky legislature.

House Bill 388, which would make elections including Louisville mayor and Metro Council nonpartisan, passed in the House of Representatives on a 70-20 party line vote.

The GOP has not held the mayor's office since the 1960s, decades before Jefferson County and the old city of Louisville merged.

Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Middletown, one of the bill's sponsors, said during a hearing last week that nonpartisan elections would force mayoral candidates to reach out into more areas of the county.

"We want the mayor, whoever it is, to have to hunt votes all around the county," said Nemes, whose district includes part of Jefferson.

Rep. Ken Fleming, R-Louisville, is another one of the bill's sponsors that spoke in support of nonpartisan elections because of his experience as a Louisville Metro Council member.

Fleming said he was told by another council member during one of his terms that they "were going to tell the R's what to do."

"That's not what I signed up for, because I was there to represent the people no matter if they're Democrat (or) Republican," Fleming said.

Bonnie Jung, mayor of Douglass Hills in Jefferson County, also spoke in support of the bill because she believes partisanship creates a barrier for local government to take care of its services. She also said that the mayor and council members should be able to represent everyone, despite their political parties.

Some representatives raised concern over transparency and whether the community wants nonpartisan elections. Rep. Matt Lockett, R-Nicholasville, said voters deserve to know with which party a candidate is affiliated.

"It's about transparency, and every voter knowing all that they can know about the person that they're voting for," Lockett said. He also mentioned that since counties have partisan elections, it wouldn't make sense for city elections like the mayor's race to be nonpartisan.

Rep. Pamela Stevenson, D-Louisville, also spoke out against the bill and said that the community outside the urban district was adamant about not having a nonpartisan election.

There are other provisions in the bill that come from recommendations made by the Comprehensive Review Commission. The commission was created last year to assess the merger of the city of Louisville and Jefferson County in 2003.

The other provisions in the bill include:

• Requiring Louisville Metro to reimburse suburban fire departments when they respond to an EMS call within the boundaries of the Urban Services District.

• Making it easier for communities to form new independent cities.

• Ensuring geographic and political diversity on city boards and commissions.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville elections would become nonpartisan under House Bill 388