County
mirrors state election results
By
GLYPIE GRIDER
Staff
Writer
Owen
County Clerk Joan Kincaid was sweating bullets the evening of
May 22, scared there was going to be a runoff election.
“The county would have had to front the money (for the runoff),
and that was going to be such a large expense,” Kincaid
said. “I’m glad it didn’t come down to that.”
With six candidates in the democratic race for governor, many
politic pundits predicted a runoff was inevitable. Steve Beshear
and Daniel Mongiardo squeezed through, though, with a narrow 40.9
percent victory, much to the relief of small county governments
which would have paid upwards of $20,000 — and $4 million
statewide — for runoff expenses.
While local results for every race matched those of the state,
local turnout was slightly higher than the state average. Roughly
15 percent of all registered Kentucky voters showed up at the
polls, according to the Kentucky secretary of state’s office;
Kincaid said 22.55 percent of Owen Countians lodged their votes.
Kincaid said she was pleased with the local turnout but had hoped
there would be more. “Voting is a freedom our veterans have
fought and died for, and people should honor that,” she
said.
Turnout is generally lower during primary elections, particularly
when there are no local races, Kincaid said..
Rob Stafford, Chairperson of the Democratic Executive Committee
for Owen County, said publicity leading up to the races was quiet,
which likely affected voter turnout. He added that election debates
and discussion should pick up considerably for the Nov. 6 general
election.
(For
more information on this story please see this weeks edition of
The News-Herald)
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