The following are the results of the 2014 election. How do you feel about the results? Send us a letter at letters@thenews.org.
Senate Race – Mitch McConnell and Alison Lundergan Grimes
In a quick call by the Associated Press, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has won re-election to the U.S. Senate.
Democrat candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes began to show a significant trail behind McConnell, with numbers ranging in 30 percent of the votes in early reporting.
By 6:30 p.m., McConnell claimed 55 percent of the votes and the win, according to CNN.
In reports from McConnell’s campaign team, Grimes called and conceded to the senator before 7 p.m. and officially declared the loss to McConnell.
For Calloway County, McConnell won 58 percent of the vote to Grimes’ 37 percent.
Watch McConnell’s victory speech here.
Mayoral Race – Bill Wells and Jack Rose
Murray officially has a new mayor: Jack Rose.
Defeating Bill Wells by 149 votes, Rose won the race with 2,237 votes and 51 percent to Wells’ 2,124 votes and 48 percent.
“Well, I feel very honored and humbled by the support,” Rose said of his win. “I want to thank the people that helped me. I thank the people with signs in their yard, the people I encouraged them to vote, family and friends – I had a lot of people helping me.”
Rose said the first thing he will do when officially mayor is to face the budget. He said he wants to look at revenue sources and focus on business and industries in Murray. He also mentioned he plans to focus on getting grants from the state and federal level.
With six precincts reporting by 7:10 p.m., Rose remained ahead of Wells by 58 votes.
In absentee ballot reports from WNBS, Rose showed a slight lead over Mayor Bill Wells from the beginning, with Rose claiming 138 votes and Wells claiming 118.
Park Referendum
Murray-Calloway County’s Referendum did not pass. Final votes were 7,831 votes for no and 4,078 for yes.
Newly elected Mayor Jack Rose said he was not surprised by the results of the referendum, but he said it bring up needs for the park.
“The nickel in my judgement was excessive,” Rose said. “The property value, therefore the tax, will keep going up because we’ll keep growing. The nickel was more than what was needed. People do not have any interest in paying any more taxes right now. I am not surprised, I’ll tell you that up front.”
Judge Larry Elkins said due to the response to the referendum, he said he doubts it will be on the next ballot.
“The voters have spoken,” he said.
Tab Brockman, park director, said the outcome of the election means some reevaluating for the park system, but said he has seen how important it is to Murray.
“Turning down the park referendum means some very serious challenges for the future of the services and facilities offered in our parks,” Brockman said. “The park board will have to evaluate difficult options over the winter. After all the discussion about the parks over the months leading to the election, it has become obvious that the parks are important to the majority of our citizens.”
Brockman said at this point the question still remains as to how the parks department will generate the money needed to repair parts of the park system because challenges still remain.
As of 7:10 p.m., eleven precincts reported and votes stood at an early decider of 3,211 votes for no and 1,748 for yes.
Missed the details? Read our story from Oct. 31.
City Council
S. Jason Pittman – 2,356 votes – 7.38 percent
Danny Hudspeth – 2,228 votes – 6.98 percent
F.T. “Butch” Seargent – 2,211 votes – 6.93 percent
Greg Taylor – 2,010 votes – 6.30 percent
Linda Cherry – 1,941 votes – 6.08 percent
Johnny Bohannon – 1,932 – 6.05 percent
Jeremy Bell – 1,916 votes – 6 percent
Dan Miller – 1,853 votes – 5.81 percent
Burton Young – 1,749 votes – 5.48 percent
Jane Shoemaker – 1,724 votes – 5.40 percent
Robert Billington Jr. – 1,632 votes – 5.11 percent
Pat Scott – 1,577 – 4.94 percent
Two incumbents were unseated: Mike Faihst and Pete Lancaster. They were replaced by Burton Young and Johnny Bohannon.
U.S. Representative – Ed Whitfield won with 58 percent of the vote against Charles Kendall Hatchett.
Property Valuation Administrator – Nikki McMillen Crouch won with 62 percent of the vote against Michael D. Conley.
County Attorney – K. Bryan Ernstberger won with 60 percent of the vote against Ricky Lamkin.
While waiting at the Republican headquarters where winners were announced, K. Bryan Ernstberger was declared winner of county attorney.
“I was very nervous this was my first election,” Ernstberger said. “It was nerve wracking. I was very humbled by the vote count.”
Ernstberger said he will take the next few months to wrap up his private practice, then settle into the county attorney office.
County Clerk – Antonia Dunn Faulkner won with 74 percent of the vote against Steve Stevens.
Sheriff – Sam Steger won with 73 percent of the vote against Gregory Dunning and Gene Dowdy.
Magistrate, 2nd Magisterial District – Tim Todd won with 50 percent of the vote against William “Bill” Duncan.
Magistrate, 3rd Magisterial District – Don Cherry won with 54 percent of the vote against Billy Paul “Bucky” Erwin.
Mayor, City of Hazel – Kerry Vasseur won with 52 percent of the vote against Allison Hillard.