Wendell Lynch’s appointment to serve as Hopkinsville’s interim mayor will become official Sunday afternoon when he takes the oath of office administered by his brother, retired Christian District Judge Arnold Lynch.
The public ceremony is set for 2 p.m. at the Memorial Building, 1202 S. Virginia St.
Lynch’s appointment, by a unanimous vote Tuesday, Feb. 18, of Hopkinsville City Council, is for the remainder of 2020. After that, two years will be left in the unexpired term of Carter Hendricks, who resigned in January to accept a job as executive director of the South Western Kentucky Economic Development Council. Under state law, the county’s Democratic and Republican parties will nominate candidates to run in a special election in November to determine who will serve the last two years of Hendricks’ term.
Lynch, a Democrat, was the Ward 6 councilman up until his appointment as interim mayor. He was elected to the council in 2014, 2016 and 2018. His first election came several months after he was appointed by the city council’s unanimous vote to fill the unexpired term of Ann Cherry, who left office following a dispute with city police over allegations she interfered in a burglary investigation.
Recently, Lynch said he had not made a decision yet about whether he wants to seek the Democratic nomination to run in the November special election.
Lynch is a retired banker and a Hopkinsville native. He is married to Bonnie Lynch, a retired educator.
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.
