Two candidates for local office in Christian County’s general election are being challenged by write-in hopefuls who filed paperwork with the County Clerk’s Office that ensures their votes will be counted. Both races — for commonwealth’s attorney and the District 4 school board representative — are on the ballot as special elections to complete the unexpired terms of elected officials who resigned from office.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 7. Voters also have options for early voting.
Commonwealth’s attorney
In the race for commonwealth’s attorney, voters will see the name of Republican nominee Maureen Leamy on the ballot. However, incumbent Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Bolen, a Democrat, did not file paperwork required to be listed on the ballot, said County Clerk Melinda Humphries. But Bolen did file paperwork required by an Oct. 27 deadline to receive write-in votes.
Under Kentucky law, a write-in candidate must file as such to have their votes counted.
The general election victor in the commonwealth’s attorney race will serve for one year, which is the remainder of former office-holder Rick Boling’s term. He resigned in February to avoid facing a General Assembly-led impeachment panel.
Leamy has been an assistant Christian County attorney for 16 years. She earned her law degree from the University of Louisville.
Bolen was appointed commonwealth’s attorney by Gov. Andy Beshear in February following Boling’s resignation. She lost a bid to unseat Christian Circuit Judge John Atkins in the 2022 general election. Bolen earned her law degree from Valparaiso University.
School board
Voters who reside in District 4 of the Christian County Board of Education will see candidate Rebecca Pepper listed on the ballot. The write-in candidate is Caleb Ballard.
Pepper, a U.S. Bank employee, was chosen by the school board in December to fill the unexpired term of Mike Walker, who resigned from office. She was one of nine applicants for the post, along with Ballard.
Ballard is a farmer and employee of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. He serves on the local Human Rights Commission. At school board meetings and through social media, Ballard has criticized the decision to consolidate the county’s public high schools and raised questions about procedures related to construction bids for the new high school.
“The School Board needs leaders who are willing to focus on the mission of educating students and providing the appropriate resources for our administrators and teachers as well as being fiscally responsible to the citizens of Christian County,” Ballard said in announcing his write-in bid. “I am pursuing this position with a commitment to student achievement while promising transparency and accountability to the community.”
School board members serve a four-year term. The races are nonpartisan. District 4 is comprised of a portion of southern Christian County, including Oak Grove and LaFayette.
Voting for write-in candidates
Humphries said most voters who want to vote for a write-in candidate already know that candidate’s name and the office they seek before going to a polling place. However, each polling place has a list of write-in candidates that a voter may request to see before casting their ballot. This can be helpful if a voter is unsure how to spell a candidate’s name, she said.
Election results will likely take longer to report for these two races because the county election board has to review each write-in vote.
“We anticipate the election results will move slower,” said Humphries.
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.
