(Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the last absentee ballots that were counted Friday, Nov. 6)
Hopkinsville City Council will have four new members in 2021 following voting in the general election.
In Ward 1, Republican challenger Natasha Sophia Francis beat Democratic incumbent Darvin Adams by a vote of 5,831 to 5.691. The race was too close to call when Election Day results were posted Tuesday night; however, absentee ballots received by the Friday evening deadline were not enough for Adams to keep his post. Francis had 6 additional votes in absentee ballots and Adams at 10, according to unofficial results from the Christian County Clerk’s Office.
Ward 3, in which incumbent Don Ahart did not seek re-election, will be represented by Democrat Alethia West. She defeated Independent candidate Karen Bass by a vote of 5,781 to 2,360.
Ward 4, whose longtime representative Paul Henson died last week from lung cancer, will be represented by Chuck Crabtree, who defeated Bradley Garabrandt, 3,025 to 1,174. Both men ran as Independents.
In Ward 10, incumbent Democrat Jimmy Dossett lost to Republican challenger Steven Keel by a vote of 5,960 to 5,734.
Eleven of the council’s 12 wards had a contested race. The results are listed here. Only Ward 9 council member Patricia Waddell-Bell was unopposed.
The incumbents who held off challengers to keep their council seats are:
- Ward 2 — Kimberly McCarley
- Ward 5 — Amy Craig
- Ward 6 — Travis Martin
- Ward 7 — Terry Parker
- Ward 8 — Tom Johnson
- Ward 11 — Jason Bell
- Ward 12 — Phillip Brooks
Council members serve two-year terms.
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.
