By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
On Tuesday, May 21, many Barren Countians cast their vote for United States president and U.S. representative in the primary election. Those primary races, and those prospective candidates for Glasgow City Council, had a filing deadline of Jan. 5 at 4 p.m. however the ballot in the general election, which is on Nov. 5, will see a lot more local races.
The filing deadline for non-partisan races — those races “in which all of the candidates for an office are listed on the ballot without party labels identifying any political parties” — or races that did not have a primary election was on Tuesday, June 4. These races include the Barren County circuit court clerk, all three home-ruled city councils — or, in the case of Park City, city commissions — and positions on Glasgow, Caverna and Barren County Boards of Education.
Since 2019, and the passing of ordinance 2109-2413, the Glasgow City Council has had nine council seats. According to information provided by Ashton Harrison, election coordinator at the Barren County Clerk’s Office, a total of 17 people have filed with the hope of claiming one of the nine seats. That was two short of the number of candidate that would have necessitated a primary — that required number being double plus one, or 19, candidates.
The nine members currently on the city council are Terry Bunnell, Patrick Gaunce, Marna Kirkpatrick, Chasity Lowery, Max Marion, James “Happy” Neal, Freddie Norris, Joe Trigg and Marlin Witcher; most of whom — specifically Gaunce, Kirkpatrick, Lowery, Neal, Norris and Witcher — have been on the city council since at least 2018.
All nine has filed for reelection, according to Harrison, and are joined by eight new names. They are Elizabeth Shoemaker, Philip Gearlds, Cherie Vaughan, Justin Martin, Randy Wilkinson, Matt Keith, Libby Short and Tommy Burris.
The position of circuit court clerk will also be on the ballot, but is expected to be uneventful as Republican Julie Jolly is the only candidate running. Current clerk Krissie Coe Fields (D) had filed for reelection but has since withdrawn to accept a position at the state level — though her name still appears on the filing list as she has not yet filed the proper withdrawal papers.
Currently there are six members of the Cave City City Council; Denny Doyle, Clifton Parsley, who was appointed to fill Ashlyn Hudson’s unfinished term on Nov. 1, Kevin Houchens, Peggy Pippin, who was appointed to fill the vacant seat once held by Steve Pedigo, Brandon Wright and Beverly Ford. With the exception of Houchens and Pippin all current council members have filed; joining Eddie Spradlin, JP Merlo, Ronald Coffey and Leticia Cline.
Angelo and Donna Scavo, Michael Burgess and Gary Carroll have filed for seats on the Park City City Commission.
Brad High has filed for reelection to his seat on the Barren County Board of Education 2nd District seat. Shelly Groce has also filed to renew her seat on the school board’s 4th district. Staying in the educational realm, Garnett Bale and Mary Burchett-Bower filed for seats on the Glasgow Independent Board of Education and Jennifer Briggs and Wayne Hatcher filed for a seat on the Caverna school board.
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