Reliable leadership, new ideas give us 2 good choices for Lexington mayor | Opinion

Lexington’s 2026 mayoral election has voters at a crossroads.

As Lexington’s issues change, residents are faced with trying to decide whether a steady hand or new leadership would be best for the city in the next four years.

The Herald-Leader’s editorial board sees value in Mayor Linda Gorton’s continuity, but also believes one challenger presents a strong case to advance to the general election.

That is why Gorton, who’s running for a third term, and challenger Raquel Carter receive our endorsements in the mayoral primary.

Gorton seeks careful, methodical expansion to ensure Lexington’s unique mix of rural and urban environments remain balanced. She wants to incentivize efforts to build inside New Circle Road before expanding outward. She is worried about the costs of continuously expanding the urban service boundary, but acknowledges Lexington needs to continue to build.

Simply put, “we need growth,” she told the Herald-Leader editorial board. She’s encouraging builders to create affordable housing through policy changes, such as incentives for those who promise to bring more affordable residences to the city.

Gorton seems to realize the significance of the city’s failures to handle snow and ice in recent years, leaving roads nearly impassable and closing schools for weeks at a time. While slow to make significant changes to Lexington’s snow and ice removal plan, Gorton emphasized that her team understands the problem and will not be caught out again.

“We’ve scrapped the old plan,” Gorton said, noting that several issues were identified with old operations, including communication.

Her latest plans will bring in contractors — extra sets of hands to clear roads faster and more effectively. More trucks and more equipment to clear the snow and ice will improve outcomes in the winters to come. New plans also promise to bring in community partners, such as Fayette County Public Schools, to improve communication when hazardous weather is incoming.

Still, while Gorton’s leadership has been a constant for some time now in Lexington, there are concerns her administration should have taken bigger, bolder steps to address the issues that are front of mind for the city.

Because of that, and because the top two vote-getters in the primary will advance, we believe Lexington also needs a choice for a strong challenger in the November general election. We believe Carter is that challenger.

Carter, CEO of Guide Realty, is largely running on the belief that the city simply has not done enough to provide adequate affordable housing.

“I decided to run because of housing,” Carter told the Herald-Leader. “And I say that because that is my background. That is my expertise. I’ve spent my entire career creating first-time homeowners, advocating for affordable housing.”

How would Carter increase affordable housing in Lexington? She would start with boosting Lexington’s affordable housing fund, which she says “is not enough” in its current funding state. She would seek to set “stairstep” increases for that fund in the coming years.

Carter also would seek to get more money from the state budget to boost housing and infrastructure development, something Carter thinks Louisville does well.

“We’re not accessing these funds … I tell everybody ‘it’s our money, we already paid the taxes in,’” Carter said. “So being able to put together projects that we can champion and leverage on the state level, we’ve got to get that money. Because we can’t raise taxes on our people. It’s already not affordable.”

Carter also has strong thoughts on how the city has responded to snow and ice the last two years and believes Lexington’s weather “plan” needs to be significantly more adaptable than it has been in recent years. She wants any plan to be “reviewed often,” something she believes should apply to lots of different city plans and policies — not just snow and ice removal.

The Herald-Leader believes the tradition of candidate endorsements enhances interest and participation in the civic process, whether readers agree with the newspaper’s recommendations or not. The paper has unusual access to candidates and their backgrounds, and considers part of its responsibility to help citizens sort through campaign issues and rhetoric.

An endorsement represents the consensus of the editorial board. The decisions have no connection to the news coverage of political races and are wholly separate from journalists who cover those races.

Unendorsed candidates can respond with 250-word letters that will be published as soon as possible.