LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Tuesday's primary election includes the race for Lexington mayor.
Four candidates are on the ballot but only two will move on to the general election.
Lexington mayor Linda Gorton is running for re-election hoping to continue the progress she says she's made already.
"I think I am the most proven leader in the pack of candidates for mayor, and so, I'm ready to do it again," said Gorton.
Her challengers include current council member David Kloiber, minister and veteran Adrian Wallace, and William Weyman.
Candidates talked to LEX 18 about issues facing the city, with public safety and housing affordability among the top concerns.
"Our city has a lot of issues that have been growing for years and years and I keep seeing them going under-addressed."
Kloiber says he wants to tackle the budget, violence, and housing costs.
"When I envision Lexington into the future, it's a bright future for my kids. It's where they don't have to feel unsafe walking around downtown and they can play in new amenities like the Town Branch Park when it's established and be able to go to soccer fields that we have in areas of town that bring people in. Let them group up and see what our city is all about," said Kloiber.
Mayor Gorton says violent crime was down 4% between 2020 and 2021. She wants to keep tackling crime and also continue efforts to expand affordable housing.
"From 2014 until right now, the city has put in about $24 million into affordable housing. With that we have leveraged about 350 million from other funding partners and that's huge. We've built almost three thousand affordable housing units."
Candidate Adrian Wallace is a Lexington native, minister, and a military veteran.
"We have to ensure that our leadership downtown understands not only diplomacy, as we do in the military with winning hearts and minds, and so yes we have to tackle crime head on," said Wallace.
Wallace and Kloiber want to implement the national service, Group Violence Intervention, to address crime in the city.
"I'm a bridge-builder. I've worked with the NAACP and I've collaborated with Black Lives Matter groups. But I've also been endorsed by the fop in 2018 when I ran for vice mayor," said Wallace.
