Judge Will Moynahan running for full term on KY Court of Appeals
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- Judge Will Moynahan files for 2026 election to Court of Appeals.
- Moynahan, appointed by Gov. Andy Beshear, will face Judge Lucy VanMeter.
- Contested seat represents Lexington and rest of Central Kentucky.
Kentucky Court of Appeals Judge Will Moynahan of Lexington has filed to run for his Central Kentucky seat in 2026.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear named Moynahan in April to replace Pamela Goodwine after she was elected to the Kentucky Supreme Court. Goodwine’s term was scheduled to end next year.
“Serving on the Court of Appeals is an honor,” Moynahan said in a prepared statement.
“Every day, I work to uphold the law with clarity, fairness and respect for the people who have cases before the Court of Appeals,” he said. “Kentuckians deserve judges with wide-ranging experience, steadiness and a commitment to upholding our Constitution. And those are the qualities that will continue to define my service on the Court of Appeals.”
In seeking a full term of his own, Moynahan will face Fayette Circuit Judge Lucy Ferguson VanMeter, who announced her candidacy for the Court of Appeals last month.
They are the only declared candidates so far.
The seat in play — the 1st Division, 5th District — is one of two on the appeals court that represents Fayette, Madison, Franklin, Scott, Jessamine, Woodford, Clark and Bourbon counties. The appeals court reviews cases from circuit courts; its own decisions may be reviewed by the Supreme Court.
Kentucky judicial elections are nonpartisan. In races with more than two candidates, a primary is held in May and the top two winners proceed to the general election in November.
Moynahan, who grew up in Laurel County, is a graduate of Harvard and George Washington University Law School. He’s a U.S. Navy pilot — still in the Navy Reserve — who has worked as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington and an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Kentucky.
