Williams wins GOP nod; voter turnout in Whitley higher than predicted

GOP gubernatorial canidate David Williams, with his running mate Richie Farmer, stumped for votes in Williamsburg last week. The pair won the Republican Party nomination for governor in Tuesday Primary Election thanks in large part to strong support from southeast Kentucky voters.

During a campaign stop late Friday afternoon in Williamsburg, Kentucky Senate President David L. Williams encouraged the Republican party faithful to help get the vote out in Whitley County Tuesday in his bid to become the Republican party nominee for governor.

The party faithful apparently took Williams’, who represents Whitley County in the state senate, request to heart with about 9.65 percent of registered voters going to the polls in Whitley County Tuesday to cast their ballots. This narrowly beat the statewide voter turnout percentage.

"That’s a little bit higher than I expected. I expected around 7 – 8 percent voter turnout," admitted Whitley County Clerk Kay Schwartz.

The Republican voters, who went to the polls in the Whitley County, gave Williams, and his running mate for lieutenant governor, Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer, their approval by a wide margin.

The Williams-Farmer ticket garnered 1,618 votes, or about 65 percent. Louisville businessman Phil Moffett and his running mate, Mike Harmon, grabbed 631 votes, or 25 percent of the. Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw and her running mate, Bill Vermillion Jr., grabbed 9.5 percent of the vote with 236 votes.

Statewide Williams beat out Moffett and Holsclaw to win the Republican nomination.

He will face off on Nov. 2 with incumbent Gov. Steve Beshear, who was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Schwartz said she thinks that the debates and possibly heavier advertising in the days leading up to the election may have played a factor in the higher than expected turnout.

Schwartz said that one Whitley County resident, who stayed home Monday, told her she received five election related phone calls.

"Maybe there was a little more campaigning in the last few days that sparked some interest from the voters," Schwartz noted.

In other statewide races in Whitley County, Hilda Legg grabbed 64 percent of the vote for the Republican nomination for Secretary of State with 1,495 votes to Bill Johnson’s 839 votes.

In the Republican primary for Auditor of Public Accounts, Whitley County voters gave the nod to John T. Kemper III, who received 1,236 votes to Addia Kathryn Wuchner’s 912 votes.

James R. Comer grabbed 82 percent of the vote in Whitley County in the Republican Primary for Commissioner of Agriculture. He received 1,865 votes to Rob Rothenburger’s 415 votes.

Whitley County Democrats had three primary races where they cast ballots.

Alison Lundergan Grimes received 211 votes from Whitley County voters in the Secretary of State’s race to Elaine Walker’s 160 votes. Walker is the incumbent Secretary of State, and was appointed by Beshear earlier this year to replace Trey Grayson, who resigned to take a position at Harvard.

In the Democratic Primary for State Treasurer, Todd Hollenbach got 212 votes in Whitley County to Steve Hamrick’s 147 votes.

In the Democratic Primary for Commissioner of Agriculture, Robert "Bob" Farmer beat out four other candidates in Whitley County with 124 votes. B.D. Wilson was the next highest vote getter with 75 votes followed by John F. Lackey with 60 votes, David Williams with 56 votes and Stewart Gritton with 49 votes.