LEXINGTON, Ky. — Then, there were two.
What You Need To Know
- Voter turnout was 19% in Fayette County
- Incumbent Linda Gorton garners 71% of total votes
- Challenger David Kloiber finished second
- Adrian Wallace come in third by fewer than 500 votes
Voters in Fayette County went to the polls in the May 17 primary election and the results determined which candidates seeking the Lexington mayor’s office will be on the ballot this coming November.
The top two vote-getters move on to the General Election in the nonpartisan race. Incumbent mayor Linda Gorton took a commanding lead early and finished first with 32,664 votes, over 71% of the total ballots cast.
Just after the polls closed at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Gorton was cautiously optimistic.
“I’m very hopeful, but I’m also wanting to see the rest of the numbers and to just see how it all plays out,” Gorton said at her watch party. “We’re excited. I’ve got my small team here for dinner and we’re having a good time watching results come in.”
Challenger David Kloiber was behind challenger Adrian Wallace by 12 votes, 263-251, after they counted early and absentee votes. Kloiber pulled ahead and finished second after they counted election day votes, finishing with 6,436, or 14% of the votes. Wallace finished just 414 votes behind Kloiber in third place. Challenger William Weyman finished in fourth place with 830 total votes.
“My family’s been very fortunate,” Kliober said during a watch party at his home as results started being reported. “We’ve been very blessed and the city has given us a lot. Honestly, civil service is just us trying to give back to the community. The biggest reason I am glad to be on the ballot in November is trying to give back to the community we’ve gotten so much from. We put it all out there and we connected with the community.”
With the General Election six months away, Gorton said she is taking time to enjoy winning the primary before getting back to work.
“It’s been a long journey of just campaigning,” she said. “We’re only at the primary level, and enjoying the moment is my philosophy. Tomorrow, I will go back to work. I have a full day. I still have my mayor responsibilities I do every day, but we’ll be looking forward to November, how that looks and what we need to do.”
Kloiber said he will continue with the same message he has communicated since he filed to run for mayor.
“We’re trying to mobilize people to have a better vision for the city in a positive direction,” he said. “This is all about changing our city from what we’ve always done to what we could be and what we should be.”
Voter turnout in Fayette County for the midterms was 19%.