The two candidates for the District 1 seat on the Kentucky Supreme Court — state Sen. Whitney Westerfield, of Crofton, and Court of Appeals Judge Christopher Shea Nickell, of Paducah — will speak at a Hopkinsville forum on Oct. 16.
The one-hour forum, organized by the Hopkinsville-Christian County League of Women Voters, will begin at 4:30 p.m. at the Hopkinsville Municipal Center.
“The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public in order to encourage active participation in the electoral process,” a league spokeswoman said in a news release. “The League of Women Voters forum policies will be followed and questions for the candidates will be solicited in advance from league members and the public. Questions will be selected to ensure coverage of a wide range of topics of interest to our voters.”
The general election is Nov. 5.
The winner in the non-partisan Supreme Court race will complete the term of recently retired Justice Bill Cunningham, which runs to 2022. The seat is temporarily held by Justice David Buckingham, who is not seeking election.
Westerfield and Nickell both identify as conservative.
At a forum last month in Paducah, Nickell said, “I follow the Constitution, and the Constitution says we should be non-partisan, balanced. You know I’m a lifelong conservative. I’ve grown up here. You know me. No one can change that.”
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Westerfield said, “Just because I’m a registered Republican, doesn’t mean I’m going to vote for Supreme Court issues that are brought to me by Republican lawyers.”
Additional information about the Hopkinsville forum is available by contacting league member Carolyn Self at 270-887-3522 or bcself@hesenergy.net
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.
