Weddle, Weaver to face off in mayoral race in November; Laurel County primary election results

May 18—With just less than 22% of registered voters turning out for Tuesday's primary election, there were few surprises, as most incumbents for various offices on the local level retained their seats.

In the Mayor's race, Randall Weddle and Judd Weaver will face off in the November general election. Weddle was the high vote getter in that race with 829 votes to Weaver's 583. Jacob Michael Kirby, a late runner in the Mayoral race, received 134 votes.

The city council race hosted 16 candidates vying for a seat. The sole incumbents seeking re-election — Kelly Greene and Kip Jervis — were also the top vote getters. Jervis had 726 votes to Greene's 643. In the third spot, Holly Little came in with 598 votes, followed closely by Donnie Lee Philpot with 551. Justin Young netted 511 votes; Mary Huff logged in 466, followed closely by Stacy Benge with 449. In the eighth spot was Sherrie Mays with 416 to Wes Benge's 412 votes. Stewart Walker received 374 votes, with Joshua Samples taking 345. Chase Carson rounded out the top 12, with 319 votes. Rodney Johnson logged in 201 votes, with Tom Thompson receiving 197, Eric "E.C." Lancaster with 191 and Jerry Smiroldo with 143 votes.

In November, the top 12 vote getters will face off once more, with the six candidates receiving the most votes taking the seats on London City Council.

Both the Mayor and London City Council races are non-Partisan races, meaning all registered voters of any party who reside within the city limits can cast their vote in those races.

County Clerk

In the county races, Joe "Tony" Brown retained his position of County Clerk, garnering 6,664 votes over opponent, Roger Wattenbarger's 2,634 votes.

Coroner

Doug Bowling will remain as Laurel County Coroner, defeating Mike Masters by 887 votes. Bowing netted 5,191 votes to Masters' 4,304.

Property Valuation Administrator (PVA)

The retirement of long-time PVA, Joyce Parker, at the end of her term in December brought out several candidates in the PVA race. With all being Republican candidates, voters had the choice between Don McFadden, Neil Warren, Christina McCreary and Michael "Mickey" Adams.

McFadden received the most votes with 3,448, although McCreary and Warren made a strong showing with McCreary netting 2,830 and Warren with 2,323. Adams rounded out the candidate list with 603 votes.

Magistrate and Constables

There were no changes in the magistrate races as all incumbents retained their seats on the county government against their opponents, although the constable race did see one incumbent unseated.

District 1

Magistrate John Crawford took a big lead with 960 votes, over twice as many votes as the nearest opponent, Guy Williams, with 465. Albert Yaden received 217 votes to Wesley Douglas Hampton's 115 votes.

In the Constable race, Justin A. Williams brought in 994 votes for a sound defeat over Dawn Renee Hearn with 465 votes.

District 2

Magistrate Danny Smith was unopposed in this race, retaining his seat. In the Constable race, Steven D. Cornn won over opponent Kenneth Hutton, by a margin of 613 to Hutton's 335 votes.

District 3

Incumbent Magistrate Bobby Overbay made a resounding victory over opponent Teddy Benge, garnering 1,292 votes to Benge's 594. There was not a contested race for constable.

District 4

In the magistrate race, Jeff Book received more than twice the votes of the other three opponents combined, with a total of 1,111 votes. Delbert Burkhart logged in 209 votes, followed in third place by Ryan Blake Gay with 180 and Edward Tincher winding down the list with 144 votes.

The Constable race was much closer, with Travis Gregory retaining his position by defeating Jimmy Durham by only 111 votes. Gregory received 577 votes to Durham's 466. Garry W. Long had 56 votes, while Carl R. Cheek brought in 294 and Kenneth Wayne Ellington winding it down with 127 votes.

District 5

With a total of 1,720 votes cast in the Magistrate race, Billy B. Oakley pulled out a victory with 882 votes to Chantz McPeek's 708. The third candidate in this race, Christopher Shane Brewer, netted 130 votes. There was no contested constable race in District 5.

District 6

Incumbent Magistrate Richard Bales had no competition in this year's race, although the Constable race had three candidates. Robert Smith took the position by nearly 600 votes, winning over incumbent David O. Griffith with 250 votes and Bobby "Bubba" Hall bringing in 210 votes.

U.S. Senate (Democrat)

The Democrats chose Charles Booker, who received 606 votes — over twice as many as his opponents combined, as the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate race. The closest competition was Joshua Wesley Blanton Sr., with 133 votes, with John Merrill showing 57 votes and Ruth Gao receiving 47. Booker will face Rand Paul in November.

U.S. Senate (Republican)

Rand Paul got the Republican nominee with a victory over five other candidates. Paul totaled 7,920 votes, with the other five totals in the 200's. Paul V. Hamilton and Valerie "Dr. Val" Fredrick tied with 280 votes each, followed by Arnold Blankenship with 254. Tami L. Stainfield came in next with 220 votes, with John Schiess netting 201 votes. Paul will face Charles Booker in November.

U.S. Congressman

There was little surprise that long-time Congressman Harold "Hal" Rogers retained his seat, winning by a huge margin over his competitors. Rogers received 7,193 votes, with Gerardo Serrano placing 2nd with 865 votes. Brandon Russell Monhollen netted 721 votes, with Jeannette Andrews bringing in 388 votes and Rich Van Dam getting 146 votes.

State Representative

85th District

Although two people initially opposing incumbent Shane Baker withdrew prior to Election Day, their names remained on the ballot — with both receiving votes during the primary voting. Locally, Daniel Carmack took the lead votes with 1,329. Baker received 864 votes to John P. Alexander's 291. However, that district covers few Laurel County precincts with the majority lying in Pulaski County.

86th District

Tom O'Dell Smith retained his seat in Frankfort, winning with 743 votes over opponent Keith Dinsmore with 375.