Two-thirds of eligible voters in Adair County cast their vote in Tuesday’s General election, even averaging higher that the voter turnout across Kentucky that was just under 59 percent as of press time Tuesday night.
There were no great surprises at the polls locally, with very few contested races. As expected, voters overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump for president, with 85.2 percent of the votes cast going to the past president, for a total of 7,643 votes. Democrat Kamala Harris received 1,257 votes. Before the night was over, it appeared that Trump would win enough states to become the next president of the U.S.
Congressman James Comer received 7,560 votes to earn him 86 percent of the votes cast in Adair County, with Democrat opponent Erin Marshall receiving 1,203 votes. Across the congressional district, Comer again had a strong showing, garnering 252,534 votes, at 75 percent, with Marshall receiving 85,493 votes.
Comer held the highest percentage of support among the five congressional seats where there was opposition except for in the 4th congressional district, where Republican incumbent Thomas Massie’s opponent, Independent Benjamin August Middendorf, failed to get enough votes to achieve a 1 percent average.
In the 21st district for state representative, Amy Neighbors received 7,107 votes in Adair and 18,175 district wide, for a total of 82 percent of the vote. Democrat Jeffery Humble, an Adair County resident, received 1,582 votes in Adair and 3,868 district-wide.
In the City Council race, seven people vied for six seats. Six candidates are current members and the seventh candidate, Craig Dean, was previously on the council but does not currently hold a seat.
Hannah Peck earned the strongest show of support with 859 votes, with Sharon Payne receiving the second most, with 831 votes. Third place went to Mark Harris, with 765 votes, and fourth went to Rhonda Loy with 730 votes. Dr. Ronald Rogers was fifth with 711 votes. Craig Dean will return to the council after being able to push out Robert Flowers, with Dean receiving 709 votes and Flowers receiving 647 votes.
Constitutional Amendment 1 passed in Adair County with 5,341 votes as opposed to 2,609 no votes. The amendment, which bans noncitizens from voting, also passed statewide.
Constitutional Amendment 2, which pertained to educational funding, had the opposite result, with 5,258 no votes and 3,181 yes votes. The amendment also failed statewide.
Several candidates ran unopposed, and that includes Republican Brian Wright, who serves as commonwealth’s attorney for the 29 judicial circuit; and Circuit Clerk Dennis Loy. Also running unopposed were Dana King, board of education member for the 2nd educational district; newcomer Teresa Absher in the 4th educational district, who will replace David Karnes, who did not run again; and Troy Grider, board member for the 5th educational district.
In total, 9,055 of the county’s 14,190 eligible voters cast a ballot.
Almost 3,000 people voted either by absentee or early voting with the remaining 6,000 voting on Election Day. County Clerk Lisa Greer said everything went smoothly despite the large turnout.
“The workers have done an amazing job. I appreciate everything they've done,” Greer said. Even so, some voters saw a small wait, she noted.
“That's unusual for this county, but I think they moved them pretty good. And I'm proud of everybody for what they've done.”
Greer thanked the press for sharing information about the election.
“I couldn’t do it without you and the good Lord. And I appreciate everybody for their understanding and working with us and getting it done.”
Statewide results can be found online at https://vrsws.sos.ky.gov/liveresults/?id=2
