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Circuit judges' retirement makes election interesting

2008: The Year in Review

January 02, 2009|Fred Petke

The November elections were supposed to be fairly low key, with a couple of school board seats and the city commission set for their regular election.

Things changed quickly in mid-June when both sitting circuit court judges announced their plans to retire at the end of the month.

The news touched off a flurry of activity and a special election, appointments of senior judges and a short-term campaign between a district court judge and a family court judge for Judge Julia Hylton Adams' seat.

Then Clark County Coroner David Jacobs was found dead in Richmond days after his arrest in Lexington for indecent exposure.

The fall ballot quickly grew to include several hotly contested races for several offices.

Within days of Jennings' and Adams' announcement, both of the circuit's family court judges, Jean Chenault Logue and Jeffrey Walson, announced their plans to run for Jennings' and Adams' seats, respectively. Shortly afterward, District Judge William Clouse joined the race, running against Walson for Adams' seat.

Walson and Logue, who spent the last five years working together, said they couldn't run against each other for the same seat. Logue wound up being unopposed for Jennings' Division 2 position, and Clouse handily won the Division 1 seat.

Both Jennings and Adams spent more than two decades on the district and circuit benches in Madison and Clark counties.

Robert Gayheart easily won his race to become coroner with 58.49 percent of the vote against challenger Paul Hollingsworth. Gayheart was appointed earlier this summer to fill the post until the election, following Jacobs' death.

Dennis Wallace became the new face among the Winchester Board of Commissioners, joining incumbents Shannon Cox, Kenny Book and Rick Beach. He fills the seat initially vacated when long-time commissioner JoEllen Reed resigned. William Baker was appointed to serve until the fall election.

Billy Swope will join the Clark County Board of Education after defeating incumbent Minnie Spangler. The two differed on the district's facility plan and building a new high school, which was the hot issue among the public and what Swope credited with his victory. Spangler supported the plan. Swope, a first-time political candidate, carried 55.48 percent of the vote.

Wendy Berryman was unopposed for another school board seat that became vacant when Ray Shear decided not to run again.

And the cycle continues, with vacancies now for one family court judge and one district court judge. In the coming months, the judicial nominating committee will meet and choose three candidates for each position. Gov. Steve Beshear will then choose an appointee for each spot, who will serve until the 2010 election. Ordinarily, the appointees would serve until the fall when a special election would be chosen, but Kentucky will not have an election in 2009.

Contact Fred Petke at fpetke@winchestersun.

com.

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