Longtime sheriff Kathy Witt wins re-election bid over Christopher Holliday
Longtime Fayette County Sheriff Kathy Witt has been re-elected after beating challenger Christopher Holliday in Tuesday’s general election, according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State.
Witt received nearly 70% (72,056) of the votes compared to 32,596 for Holliday. It’s the sixth time Witt has been reelected as sheriff and her seventh overall victory in general elections.
“I’m really honored and I count it a blessing that this community continues to place their trust in the work that we do as the office of sheriff,” Witt said. “I so look forward to serving them another four years.”
The first thing Witt wants to do is sit down with the executive command staff and get their thoughts on the next move. She said she would also gather insight from the agency and the community.
“We’re always looking for ways to be better public servants and better law enforcement men and women tomorrow than we are today,” Witt said.
One of the topics that came up during the campaign was officer wellness. Witt reiterated Tuesday that she is committed to making sure her officers are physically and mentally well and making sure they have the resources they need to stay healthy.
“I am committed to officer wellness and to ensuring that our staff remains healthy in all aspects of their life so they can be successful for our community,” Witt said.
Holliday congratulated Witt on her victory. He said he appreciated that there was no smearing done between the two candidates and that the campaign trail was honest and respectable.
“She ran on her platform and I ran on my platform and the citizens made a choice,” Holliday said. “Hopefully the sheriff will continue to serve the citizens and do something more about the violent crime that Lexington is having a problem with.”
Holliday said he knew it was going to be difficult to defeat Witt. Holliday pointed out that Witt received more votes in this election than incumbent Mayor Linda Gorton, who cruised to victory. He said he thought that spoke volumes of Witt’s work and how it’s received in the community.
Holliday also said he was appreciative of the votes he received as a first time candidate.
“Being a first time candidate, I’m sure I made a few errors and I can do some things better the next time,” Holliday said. “It was a learning process and I’m happy with the number of votes that I got aside from the fact that I didn’t win.”
Holliday, who never envisioned running for political office until November 2021, didn’t rule out running for sheriff or constable in the future. He said he’ll go where he’s called and will continue working as a railroad police officer.
“I don’t have any plans to change that but I will definitely look at any opportunity that comes in front of me to improve my life,” Holliday said.
Witt was first elected as sheriff in 1998 and has served in the position ever since. During her 24-year tenure as sheriff, Witt has started several programs and initiatives in an attempt to better the community.
One that she’s most proud of is the Amanda Center, a 24-hour point of contact for domestic violence victims.
Witt previously beat Thomas “Tucker” Bulleit during May’s primary election.
Holliday is a retired Lexington police officer who ran for Fayette County Sheriff to fix the false narrative surrounding law enforcement agencies.
This story was originally published November 8, 2022 at 8:44 PM.
