Linda Gorton, Raquel Carter advance to November election for Lexington mayor
Two-term incumbent Mayor Linda Gorton will face off against real estate broker Raquel Carter in the November general election for Lexington mayor in the primary Tuesday.
Gorton got the most votes in the seven-way race, though by a noticeably smaller portion than her 2022 election. Gorton secured 46% percent of the vote this year, compared to her 70% finish in the three-way 2022 primary. Carter, a first-time candidate and owner of Guide Realty, secured 28% of the vote, according to the Kentucky Secretary of State unofficial results.
The other five candidates earned a combined 26% of the vote. Greg O’Neal came in third place with 9% of the vote, C.E. Huffman earned 7%, Darnell Tagaloa got 4%, and both Skip Horine and Rama Asmani got 3% of the vote.
Tagaloa was the only candidate of those to raise any money in the primary, earning $3,744.20.
Raquel Carter said Gorton having earned less than 50% of voter support as a two-term incumbent gives her a lot of space to be a strong challenge come November. “This is an opportunity for new leadership,” said Carter. “We have new people and new ideas to be able to move forward. We can’t continue to stay with the status quo. And I think that’s what we hear on the campaign trail.”
Outside the Ramsey’s location on Zandale Drive, Gorton said the high number of candidates explained the vote share.
“I always look at every election as if I’m the underdog,” she said, “so I’m really excited to have gotten as much as I got in the primary and to come out on top.”
“I’m not concerned, because there was kind of a big spread of folks getting votes. So I’m going to go after all those votes.”
This could pit two of Lexington’s top political factions in a very on-the-nose November election.
Gorton has historically been backed by prominent names in the horse industry, including Greg Goodman and Ann Bakhous. Much of money she raised for the primary came from Fayette County farm owners, according to campaign finance reports. She’s long opposed expansion of the city’s urban service boundary and has spoken out on developments agricultural interests have opposed.
Carter has strong ties to developers who have advocated for the expansion of the city’s urban service boundary — including through the group Lexington for Everyone, which Carter once served on the board of. She’s been backed by the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices PAC, the Home PAC the Kentucky Realtors PAC.
Carter said she thinks that background is going to help her address Lexington’s rising housing prices, which is one of the biggest local issues this election cycle.
Lexington’s rent went up 47% since 2019, according to a 2024 study. That study also shows a 22,000 unit housing shortage that could grow to 30,000 units by 2030.
Gorton has said continued investments in the affordable housing fund, alongside incentives her administration has implemented to encourage affordable housing developments from market-rate builders, will help address that gap.
Carter said she thinks those initiatives alone aren’t enough to solve the housing crisis. She wants to see higher investments in the affordable housing fund, zoning reforms that allow for higher-density housing throughout Lexington and a public dashboard that tracks how the city is making progress toward filling the housing shortage.
Herald-Leader reporter Beth Musgrave contributed to this story.
This story was originally published May 19, 2026 at 9:21 PM.
