Republican Melinda Humphries, who had served as the county’s election coordinator for some 20 years, held off a challenge from Democrat Walter Cummings to win the race for Christian County clerk in Tuesday’s general election.
Humphries had 7,933 votes to 7,414 for Cummings, who is the county treasurer. She will succeed her boss, Democrat Mike Kem, who didn’t seek reelection and will retire at the end of the year.
Because she was a candidate for office, Humphries had to step back from her highly visible role as election coordinator during the May primary and in the general election. She served in an advisory role to other deputy clerks in the office who took on some of her former roles.
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It was an awkward arrangement, a fact made public during one meeting of the Christian County Board of Elections this summer.
“It’s been a long year from the time that I decided to run,” Humphries told Hoptown Chronicle after learning she had won Tuesday night. “I had to step back from a couple of things that were really, genuinely important to me as election coordinator. But our staff has done an amazing job … I still got to guide them, just not hands on.
“Now I’m looking forward to being the next county clerk.”
Humphries will join the ranks of countywide office-holders now dominated by Republicans.
Other Christian County races
Only two of the eight county elected officials who take office in January are not Republicans — Lincoln Foster, a former Democrat who became an Independent in his unchallenged run for county attorney, and Democrat Angie Strader, who faced no opposition in her reelection bid for property valuation administrator.
Other county election results were:
Christian County Attorney
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| ✔ Lincoln Williams Foster (I) | 9,637 | 100% |
Sheriff
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| ✔ Tyler DeArmond* (R) | 12,378 | 100% |
Jailer
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| ✔ Adam Smith (R) | 11,962 | 100% |
County Surveyor
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| ✔ Wm. J. “Bill” Chaudoin Jr.* (R) | 11,617 | 100% |
PVA
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| ✔ Angie M. Strader* (D) | 10,096 | 100% |
Coroner
| Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| ✔ Scott Daniel* (R) | 12,115 | 100% |
*Incumbent
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
