LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The countdown is underway to find out who will represent Louisville. WHAS11 has got you covered with all you need to know about the 2024 Kentucky Primary with a voter guide.
Many of the local and state races include Louisville Metro Council, the Kentucky House and U.S. House seats.
Thirteen Metro Council districts are on the ballot Tuesday, including the closely watched race in District 4, where 10 candidates are running to replace Jecorey Arthur.
The candidates for District 4 include:
- Carol Clark
- Joshua Crowder
- Joseph Dahmer
- Mary Hall
- Ken Herndon
- Bobbie James
- Dino Johnson
- Demetrius McDowell Sr.
- Stan Moore
- Dennisha Rivers
- Bridgett Smith
The signs of candidates have covered Louisville neighborhoods for months, especially in District 4 and District 8, two big Metro Council districts.
Stan Moore is one of the candidates running for the District 4 Metro Council seat, and said he wants to fill downtown business vacancies and focus on safety.
"I know it's easy to pick on our police department, and there are some warts there, but it's also our judges and prosecutors, making sure they uphold the laws people are being arrested for," Moore said. "Good quality universal pre-k, housing is obviously important, we've got 7,000 houses sitting in the land bank right now that can be utilized better. As well as economic development...I think we need to get back to our roots and realize what made Louisville successful in the first places: companies like Brown Foreman, Humana, and Texas Roadhouse.”
It's a closely watched race; the elected council person will represent Louisville's downtown and surrounding areas.
Ken Herndon, formerly with the Louisville Downtown Partnership, is also running to fill the District 4 seat.
"The crime perception has been there for a long time and it's never been backed by the data; we just have to keep correcting that," Herndon said. "Every downtown building is dealing with empty office buildings and work from home in the post-COVID [world], and as I said at the downtown forum: we need to be extremely aggressive and creative. The people who take chances and who are willing to step out are the ones who are going to win. Every neighborhood, in this district in particular, is very different – a bit different perspective. I’ve had some who think crime is more of an issue for them. And here in Butchertown or Phoenix Hill, the number one issue I’ve heard is Air BnBs. Way too many."
Community Garden Specialist and District 4 candidate Jody Dahmer's platform for Metro Council is founded on access to food in the city.
"We should have more permanent spots for agriculture and more importantly orchards and food forests, like Boston or Atlanta, what some of these bigger cities have. All we have to do is change a couple paragraphs to make that happen, it's really exciting. No matter what side of the aisle you're on, everybody's gotta eat," Dahmer said. “I think the roofs of every parking garage could be a garden, we just need to see how we can change that space up. Reinventing parking lots, reinventing our parks system, it doesn’t have to be mowed grass. It could be so much more. If it feeds people or helps farmers out that can use that space, then that maintenance cost goes down, as well.”
Over in the Highlands, Ben Reno-Weber is running to keep his seat as councilperson for District 8. Reno-Weber was appointed when Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong vacated the seat.
“I think about the number of my constituents who care about my support and defense of Floyd’s Fork, our investment in parks not just in our cities, our work on people experiencing houselessness and violence. They care about the stuff that is beyond the borders of our neighborhood and they care about the stuff that’s in our neighborhood," Reno-Weber said. “In a primary election where we share so many of the objectives, this is much more of a question of how we want to engage and the tone of our political conversation. That’s really been, I think, the difference between the candidates.”
Reno-Weber is running against Taylor McGovern-U'Sellis.
McGovern-U'Sellis said she believes she can bring more progressive values to the District 8 seat.
“My platform consists of making the district and our city more affordable, more equitable, and more sustainable," McGovern-U'Sellis said. “I want to vote on constituent services. I think a Metro Council persons job, and truly all elected officials jobs, is to reflect the values of the neighborhood they’re representing. I want to be in constant communication with my neighbors, my community, to talk about the issues they care about and make sure those things are reflected to the government, but also that the government resources they need are given to them.”
Polls are open May 21 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. You can find your polling location, precinct, and elected representatives here.
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