Now that we know who’s running, here are some Central Kentucky races to watch in 2022
With brand new redistricting maps enacted into law this month, the political landscape in Central Kentucky has shifted.
But having just passed the extended filing deadline, observers have a clear idea of who is and isn’t running for state and local office in the area.
Though a lawsuit that asks for a potential shift of the filing deadline has been filed in Franklin Circuit Court, and Republicans have likewise threatened to delay the deadline and primary date if litigation isn’t quickly resolved, here are some Central Kentucky races to watch early in the election year.
88th House District general election: Stevenson vs. Coleman
Both primaries will go uncontested in the Fayette County-centric 88th House District. But, as is the case with several other districts, new Republican-drawn House maps could put the Democrats in a bind there.
Cherlynn Stevenson, D-Lexington, is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination while Jim Coleman filed to run as a Republican
Stevenson’s district changed drastically in the new maps, and the changes may not be positive for her and other Democrats in the region.
Despite Lexington’s robust population growth since 2010, the new House map decreases the total number of Lexington House seats from 10 to 9 and cuts the number of exclusively Fayette County districts from six to five. Stevenson’s 88th District was formerly Fayette-only, but was dramatically shifted to another quadrant of the county and added a chunk of the more Republican-friendly Scott County.
Fayette County Democratic Party Chair Josh Mers said that there was “no way to justify” Republican changes to Fayette County, and highlighted Cherlynn Stevenson’s district as particularly gerrymandered.
Thus far, neither Stevenson nor Coleman have reported any fundraising efforts to the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance (KREF).
Coleman filed for office as a Republican last week. He’s a former business executive who recently moved back to his native Lexington to revitalize his family farm in Uttingertown, a historic black settlement in rural Fayette County.
Stevenson won her first general election race in 2018 by just 48 votes. In 2020, she won by nearly 1,000 or 3% of the vote.
56th House District general election: Fister’s reelection bid
The third time was the charm for Daniel Fister, R-Versailles, who won handily in 2020 after two cycles of losing by wide margins to Versailles Democrats James Kay and Joe Graviss. He defeated Lexington teacher Lamar Allen by just over 1,000 votes.
A year later, some more good news for Fister. The Republican, who stood behind House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, as he unveiled new GOP-drawn House maps stands to benefit from his district’s new map. Though the 56th remains Woodford County-centric, it lost an arm that previously extended into Fayette County and traded it out for more of rural and suburban Franklin County as well as a chunk of Jessamine County that includes the conservative stronghold of Wilmore.
Even more, Fister has already amassed a war chest on track to best his 2020 fundraising effort.
But the Democrat mayor of Midway, a Woodford County city beloved for its picturesque downtown, has raised just as much as Fister thus far. Grayson Vandegrift has raised $21,770 to Fister’s $20,302 as of earlier this month, according to figures from KREF.
Vandegrift has a primary challenger in Ben Nolan. Nolan is a young Democrat in Franklin County who in 2020 stopped his run for the 56th District short because he was 16 days too young to run, according to the Frankfort State Journal.
Before Fister and Sen. Adrienne Southworth’s, R-Lawrencebrug, wins in 2020, Woodford County had been traditionally represented by Democrats in both chambers.
If Fister holds on for the long haul, the Central Kentucky county could remain completely Republican for the foreseeable future, as Republican Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilwoman Amanda Mays Bledsoe is the only eligible candidate left in contention for the new Senate District 12.
22nd Senate District primary: Douglas vs. Cooperrider
Andrew Cooperrider was one of a handful of candidates tossed from the 12th Senate District race – along with fellow Republican Ross Mann and Democrat Paula Setser-Kissick, who nearly beat retiring Senator Alice Forgy Kerr in 2018.
The Brewed Coffee owner controversially defied city COVID-19 mitigation rules in 2020 and has been a mainstay at Capitol rallies against Beshear’s emergency powers and virus-containing strategies like masking and vaccines in general.
The Republicans’ map drew Cooperrider out of the 12th district by one street according to kypoliticaldata.com. Now, he’s running in Donald Douglas’, R-Nicholasville, 22nd District. That district now includes a portion of Cooperrider’s Fayette County as well as all of Jessamine County and Garrard County.
Cooperrider had reserved judgment on the map when it was first released, but later stated that the map’s GOP architects wanted to scare him, a self-described “liberty warrior,” off. He also called Douglas a “staunch ally of the establishment” in Frankfort.
“They wanted me to back out and run away scared when they redistricted me out of the 12th,” Cooperrider wrote in a Facebook post asking for campaign donations. “If they had districted me into a Senate seat held by a liberty warrior, they may have succeeded, as I wouldn’t want to take out one of our own.”
Douglas, a doctor in Lexington, won a special election against Democrat attorney Helen Bukulmez this past November by an impressive 50-point margin in the deep red Senate District 22. He replaced former senator Tom Buford, who died last summer.
About four months ago, Cooperrider had amassed over $52,000 in campaign funds according to KREF. Douglas has yet to report any fundraising for the 2022 election, but finished his 2021 race with close to $22,000 on hand.
Franklin Circuit Court: Shepherd vs. Bilby
What promised to be a particularly high-dollar judicial race for Franklin Circuit Judge has become just that.
Joe Bilby, a Marine Corps veteran who serves as lead attorney for Kentucky Department of Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, got off to a hot start in his race against Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd. He netted over $94,000, per his first KREF report, as of early this month. That figure triples Shepherd’s $27,000 raised thus far, though the incumbent has many months to gain ground.
Thus far, Bilby has run a campaign that does not shy away from sharp criticisms of the sitting judge or political classifications such as branding himself a “constitutional conservative.”
Franklin Circuit Court is one of the most consequential benches in the state, often presiding over lawsuits to do with scope of the governor’s powers and other state government matters. It plays a significant role in shaping Kentucky public policy.
Shepherd is chief justice in Franklin Circuit alongside fellow circuit judge Thomas Wingate, who is running unopposed this year. Wingate, who was recently assigned Democrats’ lawsuit against new House and U.S. Congressional maps, has served Franklin Circuit alongside Shepherd since 2006.
Bilby has criticized a Shepherd ruling that blocked new laws from limiting Beshear’s executive authority, and emphasized that it was later unanimously reversed by the state supreme court.
Shepherd responded around the time of Bilby’s announcement in October that “the Rules of Judicial Conduct prohibit both judges and judicial candidates from commenting on pending cases.”
Though the post is nonpartisan, Shepherd has in recent years been the target of conservative politicians’ ire — including former Gov. Matt Bevin and current Republican legislators who have railed against his recent injunction on laws that limit Gov. Andy Beshear’s power and a ruling against a law that would have given donors to private school scholarships a state tax credit.
Some argue that Shepherd’s tenure has not shown favor to either party, while others, including Bevin, have called him a “partisan hack.”
Shepherd has been Franklin Circuit judge for 17 years, and if reelected he would serve a total of 24 years in that role.
Most of the money raised for either candidate has come from outside of Frankfort, though only residents of Franklin County can vote in the election.
Uncontested House District 45 and Senate District 12
As previously reported, the new map wiped out all contenders for the seat left vacant retiring Senator Alice Forgy Kerr, R-Lexington, with the exception of Amanda Mays Bledsoe. Weeks after the map was revealed, no Democrat from Bledsoe’s portion of Fayette County, or the remaining Woodford, Mercer and Boyle Counties announced.
The shift came after Kerr won in 2018 against Setser-Kissick by the skin of her teeth.
Likewise, another close district saw a favorable redistricting map and no Democratic contenders. Killian Timoney’s 45th House District had no Democrats challenge him this year, as his new district shifted from being Fayette-only to picking up a significant chunk of rural Jessamine County.
Timoney won his 2020 race by around 600 votes, or 2% of the vote.
This story was originally published January 31, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
