LEXINGTON, Ky. — Three candidates in Lexington are trying to unseat incumbent Linda Gorton in the 2022 primary race for mayor. David Kloiber is a current District 6 council member for the city, hoping to move up the ladder to become the city’s next mayor.
Kloiber is gearing up for the race of a lifetime. The two winners with the highest votes in the primary will face off again in November for the job of Lexington’s mayor. Violence is what Kloiber is hoping to reduce in Lexington, connect community members together with resources for racial justice, housing and educational opportunities.
“This problem has been growing here since before the pandemic, when the rest of the country was on a downward trend for violent crimes and homicides. We have been steadily increasing,” said Kloiber.
According to the city’s latest data, Lexington has 11 homicides for the year, that’s one of the many reasons Kloiber is running for mayor. The Lexington native earned his Bachelor of Liberal Studies at the University of Kentucky. He then briefly moved to Tampa, Florida, where he met his wife Marci, now the father of two children Lexi and Xander has his sights set on the mayor.
“I made sure we came right back here because the memories and experiences, the people and the community that I grew up with, I wanted my kids to have that same experience,” said Kloiber.
Because of that, Kloiber has not shied away from being critical of current leadership in Lexington about racial justice and public safety as seen in his latest campaign ad.
“Because what we need is that community engagement with our law enforcement, we need those support networks. We need proven policies that are going to work to try and reduce the violence today,” said Kloiber.
Kloiber continues with, “If you’re always waiting until you see where people are going to land on something, or you’re concerned about upsetting individuals instead of bringing people together as stakeholders, addressing a problem and moving forward. You end up in this world of inaction,” said Kloiber.
All of that is what Kloiber says prompted him to his current position as Lexington’s District 6 council member, a seat he won in Nov. 2020. Before that role, Kloiber had never served in a government role for the city of Lexington.
“And since I’ve stepped onto Council, I’ve been able to find which pieces of my experience best work in the government setting,” said Kloiber.
When Kloiber’s not in the government setting, he’s leading the Kloiber Foundation to provide students and educators with technology needs to enhance learning experiences in the city.
“Whether it’s the pandemic, whether it’s housing issues, whether it’s violence, the first step is bringing people together. When we can, we’ve addressed the issues we know what they are, and bringing people together is how you get over that uncertainty. If I am so fortunate as to represent people as their mayor, it’ll be business as usual. Back to the job. Let’s address the issues. We need to be moving forward. Otherwise we’re going backwards,” said Kloiber.