Gorton won all but one precinct in mayoral primary. Can Kloiber catch her in the fall?
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton has broad support from across Lexington in her effort to gain a second term, a Lexington Herald-Leader analysis of Tuesday’s primary precinct results shows.
Gorton, a former vice mayor who served 16 years on council prior to running for mayor in 2018, won all but one of Lexington’s 133 precincts and tied in a second.
That’s an improvement from the 2018 primary when Gorton faced six other candidates including former Lexington Police Chief Ronnie Bastin, former Mayor Teresa Issac and long-time Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilman Kevin Stinnett. In that crowded race, Gorton won all but 55 precincts.
Gorton faces first-term Councilman David Kloiber in the November general election.
On Tuesday, she received 71 percent of the vote. Kloiber received 14 percent, edging out Adrian Wallace, a long-time community activist who runs a development corporation, by 414 votes.
The top two vote getters in the nonpartisan race move on to the general election in November.
Gorton lost just one precinct, by a single vote.
In the Enterprise precinct, which is off Old Frankfort Pike between Alexandria Drive and New Circle Road, Wallace received 4 votes compared to Gorton’s 3 votes. Kloiber received one vote in the low voter-turn out precinct.
In the Arlington precinct, which is between New Circle Road, Bryan Avenue and North Limestone, Wallace and Gorton tied with 13 votes each.
Gorton performed best in high voter turnout precincts on the city’s near south side -- precincts in Chevy Chase, Lansdowne and Shadeland areas. For example, in the Ashland Avenue precinct, which includes a large section of Chevy Chase, there were a total of 292 votes cast in the mayoral primary. Gorton received 252 of those votes, the analysis showed.
In the 2018 primary, many majority minority precincts on the city’s East Side and the Cardinal Valley area went to Isaac or Bastin. Gorton picked up all of those precincts Tuesday, the analysis showed.
Gorton’s 71 percent vote haul Tuesday is one of the largest margins of victory in a mayoral primary in Lexington in the past 20 years, according to records.
In the 2018 primary she was the top vote getter with 42 percent. In 2014, when former Mayor Jim Gray was running against challenger and former Lexington Police Chief Anthany Beatty, Gray received 56.6 percent of the vote. In 2010, former Mayor Jim Newberry received 43.7 percent compared to challenger and eventual winner Gray who received 35.7 percent.
In 2016, incumbent Mayor Teresa Isaac received 37.8 percent compared to Newberry who received 36 percent and eventually toppled Isaac in the November general election. In the May 2002 primary, Isaac received 32 percent, challenger Scott Crosbie received 31 percent and Gray came in third with 30 percent.
Kloiber, who runs the Kloiber Foundation, out-raised and outspent Gorton, campaign finance records show. Kloiber raised $308,740, thanks largely to $275,000 in personal loans to his campaign. Much of Kloiber’s campaign cash went into television advertisements to help the first-term councilman up his profile.
Gorton has raised $164,572, according to Kentucky Registry of Election Finance reports.
Gorton said she was pleased with her city-wide support and said it showed voters trust her to lead Kentucky’s second-largest city.
“We worked real hard. I thought I would do O.K. I had no idea that I would do that — win all but one precinct,” Gorton said. “I think it’s a huge message. A lot of the campaign from others focused on new blood. I think it shows people are really happy with my leadership and they understand the challenges that I have led this city through, which have not been small, they have been big. In the case of the pandemic — gigantic.”
Kloiber said there was historic low turnout on Tuesday —approximately 19 percent, the lowest in 37 years. Low voter turn out makes predictions on voter behavior in the fall difficult, he said.
There were few competitive state-wide races to draw people to the polls. That will likely change in the fall, which could bring more diverse voters, he said.
“The historically low turnout for the primary makes any meaningful analysis difficult, especially with two to three times as many voters expected to turn out in the fall,” he said.
Kloiber said his campaign will continue to focus on the issues, up his name recognition and show voters there is an alternative to Gorton.
“Our campaign will continue to be focused on community outreach and communication, knowing that as the public learns more about each candidates’, vision, expertise, and personal beliefs, most of our residents will be excited for the chance to bring a change to Lexington’s leadership,” Kloiber said.
After Tuesday’s primary, Wallace asked his supporters to help Kloiber’s campaign.
“We got to have a change in Lexington,” Wallace said Tuesday. “But sadly the voters have made pretty clear that they still want Linda Gorton, and so we’re gonna do everything that we can to ensure that David Kloiber wins in November because we got to have a change in city hall. “
Kloiber said Thursday he would welcome Wallace’s help.
“No one person can solve the issues we face, and our campaign will happily embrace Mr. Wallace and his supporters, as the colleagues they are in the fight for a brighter future,” Kloiber said.
Dr. Stephen Voss, an associate professor of political science at the University of Kentucky, said research shows that primary voters and general election voters vote largely the same. Higher voter turn out in the fall may not help Kloiber, Voss said.
During the May primary, Kloiber and Wallace attacked Gorton’s record on crime, saying she and her administration had not done enough to address rising violent crime rates, particularly homicides and gun violence.
Gorton has said the city, through the One Lexington program, has started new violence intervention programs that are starting to make a dent in violent crime rates. Those programs need more time to determine if they are working.
Voss said there are mayoral candidates who have been able to use crime and rising crime statistics to justify staying in office or booting the incumbent. But that message didn’t to work for Wallace or Kloiber.
“The people who are paying attention to crime rates also know that crime has not increased exponentially in Lexington compared to other cities,” Voss said. Violent crime rates have spiked in most major cities since the pandemic began in March 2020, data shows.
“He tried the crime message and it didn’t work,” he said. “There is no reason to think it’s going to work any better in the fall.”
Meanwhile, Gorton said she will continue to work hard to earn votes come November.
“I have a record of winning the absentee ballot no matter what the voter turn out is,” Gorton said, noting those votes are city-wide. “I do think this is reflective of what could happen in the fall. But I never take anything for granted. I always run as an underdog because I sincerely think I am an underdog.”
This story was originally published May 23, 2022 at 10:58 AM.
