Two sitting magistrates, constables defeated; complaints of election violations made to Attorney General

Whitley County voters went to the polls in large numbers on Election Day and opted for change in several offices, most notably sheriff, jailer and state representative.

Also included in that change was the upset of two incumbent magistrates and two incumbent constables.

In the third-district magistrate race, incumbent Joe Moses finished second in the Republican Primary to challenger Jamie W. Fuson, who garnered 789 votes to Moses 683 votes in a six-way primary election. Fuson will face former magistrate Johnny Lawson, who won the two-person Democratic Primary garnering 198 votes to Charlie Bob Harp’s 104 votes.

In the fourth-district magistrate race, incumbent Mike Baird also finished second in his Republican primary to challenger Robert "Robbie" Brown in A seven-way race. Brown received 957 votes to Baird’s 815.

First-district Magistrate Roger Wells won his bid for re-election. He received 1,074 votes in the Republican Primary to Taulman "Jackie" Jackson’s 621 votes and Stanley Stanfill’s 240 votes.

Second-District Magistrate David Myers received 996 votes in the Republican Primary to Lon Head’s 509 votes.

Constable races

Fourth-District Constable Charles Perkins lost his bid for re-election. Andy Moses garnered 744 votes in the Republican Primary to Perkins 459 votes in the eight-person primary.

Perkins will face Democrat Lonnie Rose in the November General Election. Rose was left as the automatic Democratic nominee after fellow Democrat Russell Meadors died during a hunting accident earlier this year.

Second-District Constable Gary Elliott was only able to grab 588 votes in his bid for re-election finishing behind challenger Ronnie "Bubba" Bowling, who received 823 votes in the Republican Primary. Keith Mays finished third with 137 votes.
In the third-constable district, incumbent Jim Thornton fended off a challenge from former constable Will Leach in his bid to regain the job. Thornton received 1,231 votes in the Republican Primary to Leach’s 593 votes and Frank Nichols’ 100 votes.
In the first-district constable race, incumbent Lonnie Foley fended off a challenge from first-time candidate Troy "Tazz" Thomas. Foley received 1,243 votes in the Republican Primary to Thomas’ 591 votes.

Election issues

Whitley County Clerk Kay Schwartz said there were a few reports of issues with exit pollers, but no significant problems on Election Day in Whitley County.

"It was really good," Schwartz said of Tuesday’s election, adding that 35.5 percent of 25,516 registered voters turned out for the election. "I am thrilled that the people took the privilege to go vote."

Schwartz said that campaigning seemed to increase as well as interest in several key races over the last week, especially in regards to the jailer, state representative and sheriff’s races. She attributes this as a significant factor that increased voter interest.

She said that for the most part people seemed to like the new voting machines.

Schwartz said her office received 96 calls, including several complaints about individuals from Rand Paul’s U.S. Senate campaign, who were allegedly violating election law by conducting exit polls inside the polling place.

"We also had a number of calls from people who complained because they wanted to vote in one party election when they were registered with the other party," Schwartz said.

Schwatrz said that she would take no action, but include the complaints in her report to the attorney general’s office.

Complaints to the state

Shelly Johnson, deputy communications director for Attorney General Jack Conway, said of the 237 calls that came into the election fraud hotline from across the state, three came from Whitley County.

Two were procedural matters and one was a complaint about exit polling, Johnson said.

Though she could not elaborate on the calls, Johnson said officials from the office would look into each complaint to determine whether Kentucky election law was violated.

"We will work with the U.S. Attorney and Kentucky State Police and take appropriate action," Johnson said.

The general election is Nov. 4. Schwartz said the last day to register to vote and be eligible to vote in that election is Oct. 4. Individuals may register at the clerk’s office in Williamsburg or Corbin.

Other races

Senate President David Williams easily fended off a challenge from David Capps to win the Republican Primary in Whitley County, and his overall bid for re-election.

Williams received 5,524 votes to Capp’s 1,395 votes.

Whitley County voters agreed with voters across the state in giving the nod to Rand Paul in the U.S. Senate Republican Primary election. Paul garnered 3,925 votes to Secretary of State Trey Grayson’s 3,012 votes in Whitley County in a six-way primary.
Local voters endorsed Democratic Lt. Governor Daniel Mongiardo in the Democratic Primary although voters statewide went gave the nomination to attorney General Jack Conway.

Mongiardo defeated Conway in Whitley County by a vote of 664 to 372 in the five-way primary.