Whitley County Clerk Carolyn Willis is hoping for at least a 30 percent voter turnout for the May Primary Election, but she admits she isn’t sure the turnout will be that high.
Willis said she thinks absence of contested local races on the ballot is a big factor.
During Whitley County’s 2022 May Primary Election when these same offices were on the ballot. There was a 26 percent voter turnout during that election.
There is a three-day early voting period from Thursday through Saturday when any registered voter can go vote early.
The three-day early voting period for everyone can be done at either Willis’ office in the old Whitley County Courthouse in Williamsburg or in the old Corbin city hall.
Early voting on Thursday and Friday will be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. On Saturday, it will take place from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
On Tuesday, you can vote at any of the nine voting centers located throughout Whitley County from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., including:
- Williamsburg City School, 1000 Main Street, Williamsburg.
- Whitley County High School, 350 Boulevard of Champions Road, Williamsburg.
- Pleasant View Elementary School, 5554 US25W, Williamsburg.
- Whitley East Elementary School, 13781 KY 92E, Williamsburg.
- Sanders Creek Church of God, 460 Leatha Petrey Road, Williamsburg.
- Whitley North Elementary School, 6670 KY 26, Rockholds.
- Oak Grove Elementary School, 4505 Cumberland Falls Highway, Corbin.
- Corbin City Hall, 707 S. Main Street, Corbin.
- Corbin Primary School, 3551 Fifth Street Road, Corbin.
Local races on ballot
There will be a three-way race for sheriff featuring the top two vote getters from the 2022 race as incumbent Bill Elliotte will face off against Willard Scott Bunch and B.J. Leach.
During the May 2022 Primary Election, Elliotte received 2,060 votes to Bunch’s 1,513 votes and then Third-District Constable Jim Thornton’s 1,495 votes. There were three other candidates in that race including Leach, who garnered 62 votes.
Elliotte and Bunch are both retired Kentucky State Police officers. Elliotte rose to the rank of lieutenant before he retired and Bunch was a trooper.
Bunch currently serves as a school resource officer at Williamsburg Independent Schools and previously served as a school resource officer for the Whitley County School District. Elliotte previously served as a school resource officer for the Corbin Independent School District.
After winning the Republican Primary four years ago, Elliotte went on to handily defeat two write-in candidates in the 2022 November General Election to become sheriff.
After his unsuccessful bid for sheriff in the 2022 May Primary Election, Thornton made an unsuccessful bid as a write-in candidate for Third-District Constable in the 2022 November General Election where he received 777 votes to Jordan Davis’s 1,174 votes.
In May, Davis and Thornton will square off again as the only two candidates for the Republican nomination in the Third-District Constable race. Both of their names will appear on the ballot.
First term Whitley County Jailer Jason Wilson is seeking re-election and will face opposition from Chuck Evans.
There is three-way race to replace Willis, who is retiring at the end of this year and not seeking re-election.
First-District Magistrate Scotty Harrison is running for Whitley County Clerk along with Mike Harris and Evelyn McCullah.
Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White Jr. is unopposed in his bid for re-election as is Second-District Magistrate Mondo Cima, but the three remaining magistrate races will all be contested.
The race to replace Harrison as First-District Magistrate is the most contested as five candidates are vying for the job, including: Lloyd Carter, C.J. Clark, Bobby Parker, Jonah Rice and James Hayes.
Incumbent Third-District Magistrate Michael Jarboe faces opposition from Noah A. Mahan and Ricky Grubb.
Incumbent Fourth-District Magistrate Raleigh Meadors faces opposition from Eugene Smith.
The following incumbents are unopposed in their bids for re-election in their respective races, including: 82nd District Rep. Nick Wilson, Whitley County Coroner J. Andrew Croley, Whitley County Attorney Bob Hammons, Whitley County PVA Ronald Moses, First-District Constable Lonnie Foley, Second-District Constable Ron “Bubba” Bowling and Fourth-District Constable Andrew Moses, are all seeking the Republican nomination in their respective races.
No Democratic candidates filed to run in Whitley County races.
Other races on ballot
Perhaps the most highly contested race this election season is the battle to replace long-time Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell. McConnell has held the seat since being elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984.
There is a 11-way race for the Republican nomination with Congressman Andy Barr and former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron the apparent front runners in the race. Other candidates include Jonathan M. Holliday, Valerie “Dr. Val” Fredrick, A. Nick Shelley, James D. Duncan, Michae James Faris, Anissa Catlett, Other Donald Wenzel, Jimmy I. Leon and George Washington. Nate Morris’ name will also appear on the Republican ballot, but he recently dropped out of the race and endorsed Barr.
In the Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate, there are seven people vying for the nomination, including: Amy McGrath, Charles Booker, Vincent Anthony Thompson, Dale Lews Romans, Pamela Stevenson, Joshua Blanton Sr. and Logan Forsythe.
Fifth District U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Somerset) is the Dean of the House, and is the longest continuously serving member of the House.
Rogers has opposition in his bid to win a 24th consecutive term in Congress this year. His opponents include: Benjamin Hurley, Brandon R. Monhollen, Jerry Lee Shelton and Kevin Smith.
The winner will face Democrat Ned Pillersdorf in the November General Election. Pillersdorf describes himself on Facebook as a “lawyer in the mountains since 1981.”
His campaign website notes he has had an “underdog/poverty volume law practice” for the past 44 years and has been involved with several nonprofit organizations.
As the only Democrat in this race, Pillersdorf’s name will not appear on the May Primary ballot.
