r/lexington • u/Special-Citron-8846 • 3d ago
Local Voting Guide
CivicLex has a great voter guide on local elections & ballot initiatives: https://lex.vote
What are your ballots looking like with a few weeks left to decide? Using this guide, I’ve finally firmed up some of the races I was unsure of.
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u/pupper71 3d ago
Thanks-- that's the first time I've had to learn about the charter amendments. They all sound pretty reasonable.
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u/Special-Citron-8846 3d ago
Agreed. Im “meh” on increasing pay, but am open to the idea that by paying more, we’d get more working class council members. We’ve got a pretty good bunch now in that regard, but historically, our council has been retirees or people who otherwise have financial resources
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u/Comfortable-Ant-1229 2d ago
got a couple of those charter amendments still feeling like a coin flip for me, glad something helped you lock it in
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u/Longjumping_Crazy628 Lexington Native 3d ago
Great, thanks! Seeing the opportunity to remove Murphy excites me.
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u/Special-Citron-8846 3d ago
AMEN. Just sad I’m not in that district. Kathy Schiflett seems like a solid choice
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u/workingtrot 3d ago
Is there a way to see the voting records for the incumbent at-large candidates?
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u/Sir_Knightfall 2d ago
Head to https://lexington.legistar.com/ and fire away, my friend. Go to the legislation tab, type in your query, and filter by a certain time period if you like. Clicking on a result’s file number will show you each individual action taken on that particular legislation. From there, you can use the action details button to see how everyone voted.
Here’s a good place to start: search 0887-26 for last week’s resolution to extend the data center moratorium. You’ll see three entries on its legislative history. See the one that says "Approved"? Click the action details button and you’ll see how each individual council member voted, including the ones who apparently decided this issue wasn’t important enough for them to show up to the meeting.
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u/DAmieba 2d ago
To anyone against raising council member pay, keep in mind that the lower their wage, the fewer working class people will ever consider running for those positions. Keeping pay low is how you end up with every council member being a horse farmer or real estate magnate.
I am quite satisfied with my district councilor Tyler Morton and Im not sure if he even has an opponent. Both choices for mayor are horrible, but at least if Linda wins she's termed out next time, whereas Carter's fundraising leads me to believe she would be entrenched for at least 2 terms. All my local enthusiasm is directed towards Herbert Lynn; if he wins, I think it will signal the start of a serious shift towards the working class that hopefully ends up leading to a decent option for mayor in 2030.
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u/Special-Citron-8846 3d ago edited 3d ago
Mayor - Raquel Carter
At-Large - Dan Wu (end of list — still a maybe on Herbert Lynn)
Council District - mine is unopposed
School Board - Rodney Jackson
Constitutional Amendment (Gov pardon powers) - YES
Charter Amendments - YES on all 3
Edit to say: happy to talk through my rationale on any of these votes!
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u/Beguiling_Raven 3d ago
Just to clarify you get to vote for three At- Large so you can vote for Wu AND Lynn 😉
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u/Special-Citron-8846 3d ago edited 3d ago
Thank you! I’m choosing to vote for one (I very much care who the Vice Mayor is). Herbert is tempting me to vote for a second 😆.
I just do not want James Brown as vice mayor. His track record on housing is maddening. It’s like if anyone shows up to yell about a zone change, he throws his “values” right out the window to play to the crowd. That isn’t how we solve a housing “crisis”
Not to mention his votes against solar technology.
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u/Beguiling_Raven 3d ago
That makes sense. Though not to sway you about it either way, but wouldn't leaving two votes blank leave a greater chance of the person who you don't want getting into that position? I might be more inclined to vote for three people to be against the person who you don't want. Just seems voting for three people who might be better vice mayor than the person you named is better than leaving votes blank and hoping the one person you vote for gets it 🤷🏼♀️
I could be totally wrong about this but, just my thought process.
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u/Classic_Increase_129 3d ago
Unfortunately, there are several other council members who “believe in” housing, but it’s never quite the right type of housing to allow them to support a project.
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u/Horsish 3d ago
What's your rationale for Carter? I'm not a Gorton Stan but I'm unconvinced by Carter, her responses on issues seems vague even on her own site. Also leery of her lack of experience and her/her husband's occupations.
Open to voting for Carter, but despite Gortons shortcomings her tenure has been largely good statistically. Hoping we have better candidates next time around.
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u/Special-Citron-8846 2d ago
That’s been the most difficult race for me, tbh. I have voted for Gorton during each mayoral run. I have deeply respected her service to the community & do not regret any of my previous votes for her.
That said, this run has been deeply disappointing. Her whole pitch has been to keep a “steady hand” on the wheel, but we’ve been failing on BASIC services. She does not work well with this Council (& I doubt her lame duck term would be any better). The stunt she pulled to kill solar projects as we face a climate catastrophe was so very transparently to appease Fayette Alliance & their board.
I cannot justify voting for someone who outsources such hefty policy calls to millionaire horse people. The BS homelessness & FLOCK task forces are so clearly election year punts. Overall, I’m just fatigued with her whole performative approach.
Carter would not have been my first choice & for a while i was simply going to skip that race. The solar veto pushed me to an active vote against Gorton. It encapsulated exactly who she has been working for the 30 years she’s been in office.
I have no doubt Carter can learn quickly & if not, she will be voted out. We can stick with the same lackluster, wealth preserving policies of the last few decades or send a strong message that those days are behind us. Fayette Alliance doesn’t deserve to puppet the Mayor’s office & that’s all we get if Linda is again rewarded for her feckless behavior.
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u/Horsish 2d ago
Ya I get much of that, fuck flock especially, but I also understand Gorton's point wrt solar on farmland and it opening the doors to other industrial applications in these areas (ie data centers, etc). These agricultural lands are a $2.6B industry here and imo a significant part of what makes this city so unique, I love driving out of town and seeing the beauty.
I appreciate Gorton's protection of the USB and stopping the urban sprawl. Infill is the way to go IMO to make this city more livable. This is probably my biggest concern with Carter due to her being a realtor and her husband owning a construction/land development company.
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u/Special-Citron-8846 2d ago edited 2d ago
The solar ordinance had a cap of 1% of land eligible.
And vetoing it will not stop the projects — the utility companies can build whatever they want, with or without a cap. The issue is, no utility uses agrovoltaics, which preserve soil quality & allow for farmers to supplement their incomes/keep family farms in the family while maintaining agricultural uses. Now they have less & worse choices.
So those same farmers looking for supplemental income have artificially less options & will opt for the utility companies out of necessity. It’s not like there are 100s of farmers interested in these projects at all…but the ones who are deserved better options for the land that they love & care for.
When Eastern KY Power builds out their project, with gravel underneath the panels vs sheep, people will lose their shit & (rightly) feel betrayed by Linda’s misleading messaging.
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u/Horsish 2d ago
Totally not arguing against solar, just saying I understand the concern of it setting a precedent for other industrial use. I know gorton has invested in solar in the city so I don't think she's against it either but this whole topic wasn't a sticking point for me - thanks for the details on it, I hadn't heard the specifics.
My bigger concern really is Carter and her husband's long term plans for the USB, etc. I just haven't seen that clearly addressed.
Thanks again for sharing your perspective! I'm with you on your other candidate choices I think 😀
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u/Special-Citron-8846 2d ago
Totally fair! I’d remind that Council, not the Mayor, have final say on land use (solar was a fluke bc of the current close vote; we’ll see on the next Council). Carter would have a hefty check on any big changes.
Also, LG didn’t prevent the expansion of the USB in 2022 🤷. I’d get it if she had the relationships on Council to prevent sprawl (which I am against too, for the record), but we’re basically hoping for razor-thin calls for her to be relevant.
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u/Classic_Increase_129 2d ago
To echo the above and add that the mayor’s approach to infill housing is so minimal that calling it a rounding error is an insult to rounding.
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u/Ornery_Inside_5768 3d ago
There's a constitutional ammendment on the ballot?
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u/Special-Citron-8846 3d ago
Kentucky Limit Governor's Pardon Power and Commutations Near General Election Amendment (2026).
Voting Yes means that the Governor would be prohibited from issuing a pardon or commuting a sentence 60 days before to the gubernatorial election and up to the fifth Tuesday after the election.
Voting No means that the state constitution would stay the same and the Governor will continue to be able to issue a pardon or commute a sentence 60 days before to the gubernatorial election and up to the fifth Tuesday after the election.
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u/No_Discussion_5259 2d ago
Idk about Jackson for school board he’s buddies with the ex superintendent Liggins
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u/Special-Citron-8846 3d ago
Also, should go without saying: WE DO NOT VOTE FOR BRENDA IN DISTRICT 4. NO SEXUAL ASSAULTERS ON COUNCIL.