MARSHALL COUNTY – The polls opened at 6 a.m. this morning and voting is currently underway. On the ticket this year are several local and state races, some of which have caused confusion among voters.
In the state of Kentucky, primaries are closed which means only voters registered for the party which is holding the primary may vote, i.e. Republicans can only vote for Republican candidates and Democrat voters can only vote for Democratic candidates in the primary, selecting the candidate who will move forward and on to the general election.
Today, Democrats will be choosing among six local candidates all vying for the opportunity to run in the November general election. Democratic candidates include: Melonie Chambers, Chris Freeland, Rory Brewer, Troy English, Jeanne Lovett and Charlie Hatchett. The one receiving the highest number of votes today will advance and run against Republican challenger Kevin Neal in the fall.
In state races, both Republicans and Democrats have choices to make including selecting a Gubernatorial candidate. On the Republican side, four candidates are running including James Comer, Hal Heiner, Matt Bevin and Will T. Scott. On the Democratic side are Jack Conway and Geoffrey Young.
In the race for attorney general, Republicans will be the only voters selecting a candidate, choosing between Michael Hogan and Whitney Westerfield. On the Democratic side, Andrew Beshear is unopposed in the primary.
For State Treasurer, Republicans have three options, Allison Ball, Kenneth ‘Kenny’ Imes and Jon Larson. On the Democratic ticket, there are five candidates seeking the nomination: Neville Blakemore, Jim Glenn, Daniel Grossberg, Richard Henderson and Rick Nelson.
Rounding out the ballot is the race for Commissioner of Agriculture in which Republican candidates Richard Heath and Ryan Quarles are both seeking the nomination. The winner will run against Democratic opponent Jean-Marie Lawson Spann in the fall.
In all races, both state and local, write-in candidates can still file for office and run on the November ballot.
The deadline for Independent and third party candidates to run in the general election was April 1st, with the deadline for write-in candidates being October 23rd. Polls close tonight at 6 p.m.
According to Secretary of State Allison Lundergan Grimes, only 10 percent of registered voters are expected to turnout state-wide, although Marshall County is likely to see higher numbers with a highly contested Judge-Executive’s race on the ballot.