Three Lexington council races will have a primary. See who’s running for city government.
Three Lexington council districts will have a primary come May.
The 12 council races are nonpartisan. Races with more than two candidates have primaries. The top two vote-getters then move on to the November General Election.
Council members serve two-year terms. Pay for council district member is $38,407 plus health insurance and other benefits.
The filing deadline to run was 4 p.m. Friday.
District Four
Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilwoman Brenda Monarrez, who was first elected in 2022, will face her former opponent Brack Marquette and Emma Curtis, a transgender advocate, in the race for the 4th Council District seat.
The 4th District includes neighborhoods south of New Circle Road between Nicholasville and Tates Creek roads.
Monarrez, a small business owner and political newcomer, squeaked out a victory against Marquette, a former government public relations official, in 2022. Curtis sought the Democratic Party’s nomination for the open Kentucky 93rd House District seat earlier this year, but the nomination went to Adrielle Camuel, who eventually won the Fayette County house seat.
Curtis has been outspoken critic of Senate Bill 150, which restricts medical treatments for transgender youth. If elected, Curtis will become the first transgender person to be elected to the 15-member council.
District 1
In the 1st District, incumbent Tayna Fogle, a community activist, will face two opponents in the May primary: Tyler Morton, her former council aide, and Darnell Tagaloa.
District Seven
Another race with a primary is the 7th Council District, which is an open seat. Councilman Preston Worley announced he will not run again for the seat which includes neighborhoods in the Richmond Road corridor. Five people have filed to run in that crowded race:
Joseph Hale, who works in emergency response for the Kentucky Department of Public Health and also runs a mentoring program. Hale ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2022 against incumbent Worley.
David C. Osborne, an engineer
William Matthew Housh, a local government employee
Frank Cannavo, former U.S. Army officer and business representative
Heather Hadi, immigration attorney.
Contested races in the 2nd, 5th and 12th Districts.
There will be other races come the November general election.
A race to watch is the district that includes all of Fayette County’s rural area. The city will be developing a new master plan for more than 2,800 acres that was recently added to the city’s growth boundary. The addition of those acres and how those acres are used will have long-term impacts for the rural area in the next 20 years.
Two political newcomers will face off for the open seat. Hilary “Hil” Boone, a small business owner and farm owner, will face Chad Walker of Walker Properties, which owns several properties including those along National Avenue. Walker also has two farms in the city’s purchase of development rights program. Incumbent Kathy Plomin announced earlier this year she would not run for re-election.
Boone said as a horse farmer and business owner, he wants to ensure that growth in the new expansion area does not destroy valuable green space and agricultural land in the 12th District.
Walker said he wants to see rural areas preserved but also wants to make it easier for infill and redevelopment to occur.
“The preservation part is near and dear to my heart. I think we need to preserve farmland. The infill part is something that I truly believe in,” Walker said.
In the 5th District, incumbent Liz Sheehan will face Meredith Price, a real estate agent, in the district that includes Chevy Chase and many downtown neighborhoods.
In the 2nd District, incumbent Shayla Lynch, who was first elected in 2022, will face Jacques Wiggington, a former council member and minister, for the seat that includes neighborhoods in the Georgetown Street corridor.
Six districts will have no contested races
Five incumbent council members have no opposition come November.
They are:
Hannah Legris, 3rd District
Denise Gray, 6th District
Whitney Elliott Baxter, 9th District
David Sevigny, 10th District
Jennifer Reynolds, 11th District
One open seat attracted only one candidate.
In the 8th District, Amy Beasley, who previously ran unsuccessfully for Fayette County School Board in 2020 and also for the 8th District seat in 2014, has filed to run in the district that includes neighborhoods around Centre Parkway near the Tates Creek school campus. Councilman Fred Brown, who is in his fifth term on council, announced he would not run for re-election.
