The results are in for five contested primary races for Hopkinsville City Council, which included successful bids by two incumbents who faced a challenger in the June 23 primary election.
Delayed a month because of the coronavirus outbreak, the Kentucky primary gave voters the option of casting absentee, mail-in ballots — as most in Christian County and across the state did. Others voted early at the courthouse in the two weeks leading up to the primary or at the county’s single polling place, the James E. Bruce Convention Center, on the day of the primary. State election officials then gave county clerks one week to calculate and report the results. (This chart includes the report from Christian County.)
Locally, 9,031 of 53,639 eligible voters cast a ballot in this primary. There were 2,421 in-person ballots cast at the convention center on the day of the primary, and 974 voters went to the courthouse for early voting. Approximately 7,100 voters had requested a mail-in ballot, according to the Christian County Clerk’s Office, and of those, about 5,600 returned properly completed ballots.
The results in the election’s contested Hopkinsville City Council races were:
Ward 1 Democratic
Incumbent Darvin Adams, who is the pastor of Lane Tabernacle CME Church, easily defeated his challenger, former council member Thomas Grant, by a vote of 156 to 67. Adams will face Republican Natasha Sophia Francis, who had no primary challenger, in the November general election.
Ward 6 Democratic
Former council member Paula Knight, a semi-retired businesswoman, edged out retired banker Ken Hatzakorzian, 192 to 180, in their primary. Knight will run against Republican Travis Martin in November. Martin was appointed to the council this spring after Wendell Lynch left the council to accept an appointment as interim mayor.
Ward 7 Republican
Nursing home administrator Richard Covington, who is also a former council member, defeated his challenger, Dustin Gilbert, 135 to 85. Covington will face the Democratic incumbent, Terry Parker, in the general election.
Ward 9 Democratic
Incumbent Patricia Bell held off the challenge of Ardell Owens, 176 to 149, in their race. No Republicans ran for the Ward 9 seat.
Ward 10 Republican
Steve Keel defeated Robert Almy, 76 to 31, and will face Democratic incumbent Jimmy Dossett in November.
Up next
Eight of the 12 council wards will have a contested race in November. (This story includes a list of all the council candidates.)
In Hopkinsville, voters cast ballots only in their wards and within their party for the primary. But voters cast ballots citywide in November for the council races.
The mayor’s race in November will determine who completes the unexpired term of Carter Hendricks, who left office early to become executive director of the South Western Kentucky Economic Development Council.
Lynch, a Democrat who was appointed interim mayor after Hendricks left office, is being challenged by businessman James R. Knight Jr., the Republican in the race, and the Independent candidates, Walter Shamble.
This story has been updated to reflect an Independent candidate in the mayor’s race.
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.
