Kentucky mayors in Lexington, Louisville and London take top spots in primary elections
A person cast a votes on primary Election Day at the Tates Creek High School precinct in Lexington. (Photo by Arden Barnes for the Kentucky Lantern)
Incumbent mayors of the two largest cities in the Bluegrass State are heading to the general election this November.
But in a small Kentucky town, a mayor who was impeached from office narrowly took the lead in his primary.
In Louisville, Mayor Craig Greenberg won 52.5% of the vote. The second place winner, Councilwoman Shameka Parrish-Wright, gained 26.3%. Though the race was nonpartisan for the first time thanks to a 2024 law passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly, both candidates have Democratic ties.
Greenberg gained endorsements from elected Kentucky Democrats, including Gov. Andy Beshear, Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman and U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey. Meanwhile, Parrish-Wright carved out a progressive lane, earning support from the Louisville Democratic Socialists of America.
Greenberg and Parrish-Wright will face off in the November general election.
Meanwhile in Lexington, incumbent Linda Gorton will face Raquel Carter in the fall. Gorton got 46% of the vote while Carter received 28%. Compared to Gorton’s past elections, she won in 2019 with 63% of the vote and in 2022 with 71% of the vote.
Lexington’s mayoral race has been nonpartisan in the past, but Carter sent mailers telling voters she is a Democrat ahead of the primary election.
The race for London mayor has been hotly contested as incumbent Randall Weddle has faced numerous scandals over the past couple of years. The city council voted to impeach him in September but he was reinstated by Circuit Judge David Williams later that month.
This year, a Laurel County grand jury indicted Weddle on four felony counts, alleging he made $93,000 in excessive contributions to the 2023 campaign of Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear and the Kentucky Democratic Party. Weddle’s massive bundles of donations were first highlighted by the Kentucky Lantern in 2023. Weddle pleaded not guilty to the charges in April.
On Tuesday, Weddle was the top vote-getter in the race, with 11 votes over the second place winner, Matt Orr. The two advance to a fall general election.
The interim mayor the city council appointed while Weddle was briefly removed from office, Tracie Handley, got 9% of the vote.
Tuesday night’s results are unofficial until election officials certify them.