Voters inside the circle like Gray; outside is Newberry territory

Is where you live a factor in predicting whom you want to be the next mayor of Lexington?

If you live in the suburbs and rural areas of Fayette County outside New Circle Road, chances are you are satisfied with the incumbent.

Inside New Circle, not so much.

In Tuesday's primary, Mayor Jim Newberry carried 205 of the city's 287 precincts and 43.7 percent of the vote.

All but 38 of those precincts were outside New Circle Road.

Vice Mayor Jim Gray, who wants to move into the top spot, got 35.7 percent of the vote. Forty-six of the 55 precincts he carried were inside New Circle, mostly downtown and in neighborhoods around the University of Kentucky and in Chevy Chase, Ashland Park and Kenwick.

Five precincts, three inside New Circle and two outside, ended in a Newberry-Gray tie.

As they look to a final face-off in the November general election, it's clear a key to success for either candidate will be picking up support in his opponent's strongholds.

Another key: Attracting a sufficient number of the 16.6 percent of the voters who cast ballots for former Mayor Teresa Isaac.

Most of the 20 precincts she carried were in neighborhoods north of downtown — half inside New Circle and half out — with large numbers of African-American voters.

Both Newberry and Gray thanked Isaac Tuesday night for being in the race, but Gray was the more profuse in praising her.

Isaac, for her part, said Tuesday night she wouldn't consider an endorsement until she sat down and talked with the two remaining contenders.

Wednesday she declined, through a spokeswoman, to comment for this article.

The Newberry campaign was asked Wednesday how the mayor planned to counter results suggesting that many people in the city's heart want someone else to run the city.

"Mayor Newberry's record of results for downtown is far better than that of Vice Mayor Gray's," said Newberry campaign manager Lance Blanford. "We are confident that when voters see the multiple downtown projects initiated by Mayor Newberry come to fruition our broad base will only grow."

The Gray campaign was asked how the vice mayor planned to pick up more votes in the suburbs and rural areas.

"You can see from the numbers that the majority of Lexingtonians are looking for a change in leadership," said Gray campaign manager Carrie Glenn, "and the more they hear about Jim Gray and his plan for a fresh start, the more you'll see support in and out of New Circle Road."

Donald Gross, a University of Kentucky political scientist who didn't vote in the race because he lives in Woodford County, said his impression is that Gray is assuming some of the near-UK support that once went to Isaac.

"Maybe some of his positions on CentrePointe and the airport issue have more sounding ... among the more progressive elements in the city," Gross said.

Many of the areas where Newberry did well have more conservative voters, he said. They were more likely swayed by Newberry's argument that the stalled CentrePointe project downtown was proposed by a private developer with no tax dollars.

"It was sort of dismissed as an issue for them," he said.

Newberry's best precinct was Mansion, where 70 percent of the voters who walked into the Griffin Gate Clubhouse gave him their votes.

He also did well in Palomar (Harrodsburg Road), Windstar (Southpoint Drive), Mint Hill (Edythe J. Hayes Middle School) and Rockminster (Shoot Star Parkway).

Gray's strongest precincts (excluding Horseshoe by Winchester Road and Interstate 75, where the lone voter gave him 100 percent of the vote) were Clifton (Rose Lane), Walton (Ashland Elementary School), Hampton Court (Harrison Elementary School) and Victory (also at Ashland Elementary).

Isaac's best precinct was Winburn (Winburn Middle School), followed by Douglas-Washington (Georgetown Street), and Green Acres and Hollow Creek (both on LaSalle Road).

This story was originally published May 20, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Voters inside the circle like Gray; outside is Newberry territory."