Women dominate Jefferson County judge races in 2022 election

Andrew Wolfson, Louisville Courier Journal
·3 min read
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Women continued to dominate judicial elections on Tuesday in Jefferson County, where candidates vied in 16 contested races.

Men won only one of the five races in which a male faced a female − with Anthony Jones defeating Emily Monarch.

That continues a trend in which men are “pretty close to extinction” as one judge proclaimed after elections four years ago left only eight men – out of 40 − on the bench.

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.Here are the other results from Tuesday, in which four of five incumbents retained their seats.

In one of two Court of Appeals contests, District Judge Annette Karem, who was trying to jump up two notches on the court ladder, defeated McKenzie Cantrell, a state representative.

In the other appellate contest, Circuit Judge Audra Eckerle defeated Tricia Lister, who had less name recognition. 

None of the four candidates were endorsed by Citizens for Better Judges (CBJ), while the local chapter of Showing up for Racial Justice (SURJ) backed Cantrell and Lister.

In an intriguing race for circuit court, District Judge Julie Kaelin, a progressive who opposes cash bail and was backed by SURJ, handily beat Ebert Haegele, an assistant commonwealth’s attorney who was endorsed by CBJ.

More:Kentucky judge, hit with 45 ethics violations in July, is ordered removed from the bench

In another circuit contest that was followed closely, incumbent Mary Shaw, who signed the warrant for the police search that led to Breonna Taylor’s death, was defeated by Tracy Evette Davis, despite a recent report that she had a conviction in 2019 for reckless and drunken driving.

In the three other circuit races:

  • Ted Shouse, an outspoken criminal defense lawyer, lost to Melissa Bellows, who practices civil and criminal law.

  • Sarah Clay, who was endorsed by both CBJ and SURJ, defeated Nichole Compton, who has both JD and MBA degrees.

  • Patricia “Tish” Morris, who was trying to follow in the footsteps of her late father, Geoffrey Morris, a former circuit court judge, beat Dorislee Gilbert, a former assistant commonwealth's attorney and an advocate for domestic violence victims.

In district court races:

  • Anthony Jones, a former assistant public advocate in Henderson and an assistant county attorney in Jefferson County, beat the male jinx by defeating Emily Monarch.

More:KY judge dismisses lawsuit blaming Louisville Bail Project in 17-year-old girl's death

  • Kristina Garvey, the incumbent, beat Kelly Bowles, who in a campaign bio described herself as a public school teacher and a “proud member of the LGTBQ+ community.”

  • Yvette de la Guardia, a former public defender, defeated Lora Holman, who has been a solo practitioner and who grew up in Oldham County.

  • Incumbent Lisa Langford easily beat challenger Justin C. Brown, a former public defender.

  • Megan McDonald, a lawyer and mediator − and the daughter of former Judges Tom and Dee McDonald − defeated Shanner Fauver, who was endorsed by SURJ.

  • Karen Faulkner, a former public defender who ran unsuccessfully for county attorney in 2014, and who was endorsed by CBJ, beat Jessica Stone, an assistant county attorney, single mom and former ballet dancer.

  • Incumbent Tanisha Hickerson, who was endorsed by CBJ, trounced challenger Kaitlin Dean, a Kansas native who described herself as a military spouse and an “impartial servant leader.”

  • The daughter of Jefferson Circuit Clerk David Nicholson, Sara Micheal Nicholson, who was elected to District Court in 2016 after practicing law only two years and was deemed unqualified by 81% of lawyers in a Louisville Bar Association poll, walloped Christian Garrison, a former public defender and assistant county attorney.

  • Mary Jue Wolford, who began her career as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Western District of New York, when her husband Will played for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, and was later an assistant Jefferson County attorney, easily beat Claudette Patton, one of the first women to clerk for famed criminal defense attorney Frank Haddad and later a law clerk for federal Judge Charles Allen and a deputy attorney general who also practices in private law firms and taught for several universities.

Andrew Wolfson: 502-582-7189; awolfson@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @adwolfson.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky elections 2022: Women dominate Jefferson County judge races