General Election

With the general election scheduled for Nov. 8, The Jessamine Journal will profile the many candidates for the state races. Much of the information gathered was from the individual candidate's websites. This week, The Journal will profile the Kentucky races for secretary of state, auditor and treasurer. Next week, The Journal will profile the races for governor, agriculture commissioner and attorney general. Kentucky Secretary of State Bill Johnson, Republican Background: Bill Johnson, a Hopkinsville native, graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in electrical engineering and earned a master's degree in business administration from The College of William & Mary.

Voting has begun in the 2010 general election, with city, county, state and national seats up for grabs. Polls in Kentucky are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Watch The Journal website tonight for pictures and stories from the races in Nicholasville, Wilmore, Jessamine County and Kentucky.

Dear Editor: I would like to thank all of those who participated in the Nov. 2 general election. Whether you were seeking office, assisting with a particular campaign or, most importantly, voting, you were part of a uniquely American process. Your continued interest and participation are vital. Thanks also to those who supported my efforts in the city commission race. As was mentioned previously, there were more good candidates seeking office than there were commission seats available, and I feel truly honored to have been choosen.

Two forums for candidates in the November general election have been scheduled.On Oct. 3 at 6 p.m. at the Clark County Extension Office, 1400 Fortune Drive, a forum for county judge-executive, sheriff, jailer, county attorney, school board Districts 1 and 4, District 25 judge and District 73 state representative will be held. A meet and greet is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. A forum for magisterial Districts 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7, and mayor and city commission candidates will be held at 6 p.m. Oct. 16. A meet and greet will be held at 5:30 p.m. The forums are open to the public.

HUSTONVILLE - Hustonville City Council appointed a member Tuesday to replace longtime Councilman Bennie Burris, who died in a farm accident in August. Jimmy Lane, who sat on the council last term, was appointed to the position. Lane and Councilman Tim Fredericks tied for the sixth seat on the council during the general election in November. They drew for the seat then, and Fredericks won. Lane will now be re-seated on the council.

Boyle County Clerk Denise Curtsinger today reminded voters of a looming deadline. Anyone wishing to change party registration has until Dec. 31 to do so and still be eligible to vote in the May primary. People who change party registration after that date can still vote in the general election but are ineligible to vote in the primary.

Alison Lundergan Grimes, second from left, Democratic candidate for Kentucky Secretary of State, greets Lee Quisenberry during a visit to South Main Grocery Monday morning. With them are Jo Ellen Reed, left, Grimes' Clark County contact; and J. C. Young, owner of the grocery. Grimes was spending the last day before the general election visiting several counties including Clark. James Mann/jmann@winchestersun.com

Heather Davis and her son, Holden, 5, visited the Sunset precinct at Hannah McClure School to cast her vote Tuesday morning in the November general election. Working the precinct were Colista Ledford, left, and Kim Daniels. Voter turnout was light, but higher than expected in Clark County, with no local races on the ballot. James Mann/jmann@winchestersun.com

In 2003, voter turnout for the November general election was 44.1 percent in Jessamine County. County Clerk Eva McDaniel said that was good, but feels it should be better. "I'm hoping for at least 51 percent," she said of next Tuesday's 2007 general election. Fifty one percent of Jessamine's registered voters would total 15,485 people heading to the polls come Tuesday. Presently, Jessamine County has 30,362 registered voters; 15,280 Democrat and 12,873 Republican and 2,209 listed under other.

HUSTONVILLE - Three months after unanimously passing parking and jaywalking ordinances into law, Hustonville city council members voted unanimously to repeal them Tuesday night. There was no discussion of the ordinances when Mayor David Peyton brought them up for repeal; city council members voted to repeal them and moved on to the next items on the agenda. Ordinance No. 54 had imposed a $50 fine on anyone who crossed a street "at a place other than a regular crossing or in a heedless manner, as diagonally or against a traffic light.

Boyle County general election voter totals: President: Republican, Mitt Romney , 7,703; Democrat, Barack Obama , 4,471; Green, Jill Stein , 40; Independent, Randall A. Terry, 41; Libertarian , Gary Johnson , 113. U.S. Representative, 2nd District: Republican, S. Brett Guthrie, 6,611; Democrat, David Lynn Williams, 4,305; Independent, Andrew R. Beacham, 326; Libertarian, Craig R. Astor, 222. State Representative, 54th...

Despite the outcome, the November general election will be introducing nearly one-third of Jessamine County, more than 9,000 registered voters, to a new U.S. Representative. In February, House Bill 302 split  Jessamine County into the 6th and 2nd U.S. Congressional districts. The line zigzags north to south down Harrodsburg Road/Lexington Avenue and encompasses Wilmore. This means voters in that area will not be choosing between Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler and Republican challenger Andy Barr.

Congressman Brett Guthrie, who represents the 2nd Congressional District that includes the western part of Jessamine County and encompasses Wilmore, had lunch at Wesley Village last Thursday, Oct. 25, with members of the Jessamine County Chamber of Commerce. Just two weeks before the general election, Guthrie said he wasn't there to ask for votes but to talk about the mind-set about the budget and the “demagogues” in Washington. “I'm not here to spin you, gimmick you, tell you stuff you can't verify,” Guthrie said.

If Jessamine County Clerk Eva McDaniel's forecast proves true, some 20,800 of the county's 33,623 registered voters will cast a ballot on Election Day. “I'm expecting between 58 and 62 percent Tuesday,” McDaniel said. “People get out and vote during a presidential election, but they won't get out during regular elections.” McDaniel said through Tuesday afternoon, her office had received more than 1,000 absentee ballots, and she expects election day to be a busy one for her staff.

Oct. 30, 1987 Concluding one controversy, but perhaps previewing another, the Winchester Board of Commissioners on Thursday formally accepted the resignation of Fire Chief Robert N. Monroe. In a 10-minute meeting called specifically to approve the resignation and withdraw all formal charges against the chief, the commisison also held the first of what will undoubtedly be a large number of discussions concerning the search for Monroe's successor. A moderate turnout of Clark County voters is expected at best for Tuesday's general election.

It's mid-October, and the general election is on the horizon. For the western part of the county, especially in Wilmore, there has been one major change that will affect ballots that voters need to remember. As of February, House Bill 302 has been enacted, which keeps most of Jessamine County in the 6th U.S. Congressional District but cuts the west side of the county - including Wilmore - into the 2nd District. This means most voters in that area will not be choosing between Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler and Republican challenger Andy Barr.

Potential candidates interested in running for office in the Nov. 6 general election have until 4 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 14, to file with the Clark County Clerk's office. Several local races are on the Nov. 6 ballot, with all four seats on the Winchester Board of Commissioners up for grabs, as well as three Clark County Board of Education seats and the 73rd District Kentucky House of Representatives seat. Five people have filed so far for the four non-partisan City Commission seats - incumbent commissioners Shannon Cox, Kenny Book, Kitty Strode and Rick Beach, as well as former mayoral candidate Ralph Harrison.

About 7.2 percent of the registered voters in Clark County showed up to the polls Tuesday to cast their votes in the presidential and 6th Congressional District primaries. That is lower than the 10 percent predicted by Secretary of State Alison Grimes before Tuesday, and much lower than the 20 percent Clark County Clerk Anita Jones predicted. In the Democratic presidential primary, 958 people cast their votes, with about 50 percent voting for President Barack Obama and about 50 percent marking uncommitted.

Interior Journal Editor Ben Kleppinger will be at the county clerk's office this evening as the votes are counted in the primary election. Contested races this election are for the Republican nominee for District 80 state representative and the Democratic nominee for U.S. representative in District 5. Roger Coldiron, Mark Eaton, David Meade and Jerry Shelton are candidates for the District 80 seat, which is being vacated by retiring Rep....