Whitney Elliott Baxter wins re-election to District 9 seat on Lexington Urban County Council
.jpg "Whitney Elliott Baxter, the current District 9 council member, is running for re-election to the Urban County Council. The election takes place on Nov. 8, 2022.")
Whitney Elliott Baxter will continue to represent District 9 on the Lexington Urban County Council, according to unofficial election results.
Baxter was the incumbent for the seat, having served as a council member since 2020. She won 67% of votes, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State website, with 100% of precincts reporting Tuesday night.
Baxter said she plans to “get to work immediately.”
“I’m just so excited to have the opportunity to continue making Lexington even better than it already is,” Baxter said Tuesday night.
She was facing James “J.J.” Lombardi, a former police lieutenant, for the seat.
“I’m really excited to see the number of people who turned out to vote, and obviously feel very excited and really feel honored to be able to continue my work,” Baxter said.
Lombardi’s campaign centered around addressing crime and public safety.
“I felt we ran a good, honest campaign, and stuck to the issues,” Lombardi said Tuesday night.
Speaking to the Herald-Leader last month, Baxter said public safety was the top issue in District 9 and across Lexington that needs to be addressed.
In District 9, especially near Fayette Mall, Baxter said there has been an uptick in crime. She supports Lexington’s pilot program placing license plate cameras around the city.
“I think they’ve been highly successful,” Baxter said. “It’s no secret we have a police shortage, and so if we can utilize technology to assist, I think that’s really important.”
Increasing the number of cameras would allow them to be evenly distributed around the city, she said, and help stop further crimes. Baxter said she hopes to bring more collaboration across the government to address violence in Lexington, including working with schools to address youth violence.
This story was originally published November 8, 2022 at 9:17 PM.