Kentucky's three-day, no-excuse-needed early voting period opens Thursday, Oct. 29.
WEKU and Kentucky Public Radio are working to bring you the latest issues-based coverage in key races.
Kentucky Public Radio’s voter guide, including a voter look-up tool, is live now. For those looking at local races, supplemental candidate information on the Lexington mayor and contested urban county council races is below.
You can find extensive, nonpartisan information on all local races with CivicLex’s 2026 guide, online at lex.vote or in printed form available at every Lexington Public Library branch.
Frequently asked questions and key things to know
Where can I find my sample ballot? All registered Kentucky voters can see their sample ballot online at govote.ky.gov.
When can I vote early in Kentucky? The state offers several types of early voting. For most, Kentucky’s three-day, in-person early voting period will be your window. You can cast your ballot early, no excuse needed, Thursday, Oct. 29 through Saturday, Oct. 31.
Where can I vote early in Fayette and Madison counties? Voters registered in Fayette County can visit any Lexington Public Library location during the three-day window from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
In Madison County, early voters can visit the Ignite Academy South Campus and the Russel Acton Folk Center in Berea; or the Ignite Academy North Campus, Richmond Active Living Center, Madison County Extension Office or the Madison County Public Library in Richmond. Those sites will be open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the early voting period.
Can I still register to vote in November’s election? No, books are closed in Kentucky for the Nov. 3 election. They will reopen to new voters after Election Day.
Do I need a photo ID to cast a ballot in Kentucky? Yes. You can find a list of qualifying forms of identification here.
WEKU’s Voter Supplement Guide 2026
In this year’s mayoral contest, incumbent Mayor Linda Gorton is seeking a third term, while challenger Raquel Carter is a first-time candidate.
Neither candidate submitted supplemental candidate information to WEKU. You can find more information about each mayoral candidate using the Vote Local Lexington guide.
Urban County Council
Six candidates, including two incumbents, are in the running for three at-large seats on the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council.
You can find supplemental information from each candidate below. Submissions have been edited lightly for grammar, style and length only where necessary.
Herbert Lynn
What should voters know about you? When it’s time to put my foot down for the wellbeing of Lexington’s residents, I will not compromise. Whether it’s data centers, slumlords, Flock cameras or ICE invading our city, I will side with working and marginalized people every time.
What in your background qualifies you for this office? During my time as an organizer, I have brought people together to speak against Flock cameras and data centers. I have organized local workers, and I have brought together over 100 volunteers to fight for a more livable Lexington with my campaign. Personally, I have questioned where my next meal is coming from. I understand Lexingtonians who are struggling to make ends meet. I will leverage my organizing skills for the people of our city, and I vow to be an unapologetic ally of working families in Lexington.
What would you do in office if elected? I will work to make Lexington a more livable city for everyone, not just the wealthy few. I will fight rising housing prices and utility costs, keep data centers out of Lexington, and secure funding for a full-time homeless shelter. I will be a staunch defender of the rights of marginalized communities such as the immigrant, Black and LGBTQIA+ communities. Above all, I will put the needs of the working class first in every decision I make and vote I cast during my tenure as councilman.
What keeps you up at night? If you had asked me a decade ago, the answer would have been, "How am I going to make rent?" Nowadays, I lie awake thinking about how to build coalitions of organizers and voters to maximize the gains we can make for working people in Lexington.
If you had a magic wand to fix one problem immediately – something realistic within a year – what would it be and why? The city council does not need a magic wand to set aside funds for the first phase of creating a full-time, permanent homeless shelter. The city’s own studies show that building such a shelter is the crucial first step to solving Lexington’s homelessness crisis. It’s time to get it done.
Christopher Shafer
What should voters know about you? I am a city of Lexington employee, with over 10 years experience. I know the ins and outs of city government and am ready to do more for our wonderful city to make it better for us all.
What in your background qualifies you for this office? The fact that I know how city government works makes me qualified for the elected office of councilmember. I am not someone who sits behind a desk all day, I have been on the frontlines for many years for various situations and manage a $1 million budget now, and multiple contractors. So, I know how to get things done.
What would you do in office if elected? I am focusing on our infrastructure, roads, snow removal, traffic lights and traffic flow. We must have smart growth and use infill development to preserve our greenspace for generations to come and preserve our neighborhoods. Make sure I vote that tax dollars are used wisely. I am against data centers in Fayette County and think Flock cameras need investigated. I am for and support technology that helps law enforcement but with strict regulation and oversight.
What keeps you up at night? I sleep very well at night.
If you had a magic wand to fix one problem immediately – something realistic within a year – what would it be and why? I’d make sure Lexington’s core city services worked the way residents expect them to: better roads, better traffic flow, reliable snow and ice response, and city services that are efficient and accountable.
Dan Wu (i)
What should voters know about you? I am a father, husband, former small business owner and the first Asian American and immigrant vice mayor and member of council. I believe in transparency, creativity and the willingness to make hard choices in order to (do) the most good for the most people.
What in your background qualifies you for this office? In my four years in the role of vice mayor and councilmember at large, I have spearheaded a number of initiatives that have delivered positive results for the people of Lexington, including relieving tens of millions in medical debt relief, fighting food insecurity when SNAP benefits were halted, creating the StrEEEt Safety Taskforce to create and implement short terms solutions to make our streets safer, and leading on Lexington's Preservation & Growth Management Program to change the way we guide the future growth of Fayette County. I was elected in 2022 for my willingness to try bold, out-of-the-box ideas, and I have been able to turn those ideas into tangible outcomes that benefit our community.
What would you do in office if elected? I want to continue to make our streets safer, make our board and commissions more representative and effective, make our code enforcement stronger and more transparent, and work on creative solutions to our housing shortage.
What keeps you up at night? The housing crisis. We have a great city, full of culture, amenities and job opportunities. But when half our workforce has to live outside Fayette County, they don't get to enjoy everything our city has to offer. There is no one magic bullet solution but we can start by reforming our outdated zoning codes, streamlining our development processes, finding creative ways to fund affordable housing and creating partnerships to tackle this crisis.
If you had a magic wand to fix one problem immediately – something realistic within a year – what would it be and why? I would love to somehow convince [the University of Kentucky] to help us tackle our housing shortage by building more student housing to keep up with rising enrollment.
You can find more about candidates who did not provide supplemental information to WEKU, James Brown (i), William Tate Ohmer and Stephanie Aschmann Spires, in the Vote Local Lexington guide.
District 3
Jon Larson
What should voters know about you? I am the most active community participant. I regularly attend council meetings, planning commission meetings and community forums. I am a friend of the homeless and have worked with the homeless community for over 45 years. I am a dog lover and adopt strays from the shelter, I am known for my physical fitness and sports participation. Furthermore, I have coached football, basketball, baseball and softball at all levels. I am married to Sari Antle Larson for 16 years and helping raise my daughter and two grandsons.
What in your background qualifies you for this office? BA and JD from UK. MBA George Washington. Former Fayette County Judge Executive. 53 years practicing law, criminal defense and former public defender. U.S. Army Veteran. Artillery officer. Helped to draft Fayette County's original Fairness Ordinance and Transportation Planner.
What would you do in office if elected? I listen to all the arguments on an issue from every side of all issues and further do my own research and analysis so as to arrive at an informed decision before voting. I oppose all corruption to ensure voices of the poor, immigrants, handicapped and the downtrodden are heard.
What keeps you up at night? I worry about hate speech and others persecuting children based upon their sexual orientation. I want all communities to be physically fit.
If you had a magic wand to fix one problem immediately – something realistic within a year – what would it be and why? As a lifelong resident of Lexington I have seen this city explode in growth. We are blessed to have excellent infrastructure and jobs as a result of this growth. However, this growth needs to be tempered somewhat in the historic neighborhoods. We can balance growth and historical preservation at the same time. It doesn't have to be a 0 sum game and all positions will be represented. Lexington's growth has the potential to destroy our beautiful horse farms and heritage by preventing expansion into these areas and focus growth towards I-64.
Griffin Van Meter
What should voters know about you? I'm a longtime WEKU listener and supporter. One of the foundational pieces of my public service career was volunteering at WRFL 88.1 from 2004 to 2012, first as a student and then as a community member. The friendships I made there have shaped me, and those same people have shaped our community. I'm grateful to all my public radio role models for showing that public service takes many forms.
That's where my values come from. I value the publics — news, media, parks, transit, housing, libraries, schools, health, streets — as much as anything. As a council member, I would do everything in my power to keep investing in them, because they belong to all of us and are the true bastion of democracy, community and civic progress. Urban designer Ankita Chachra inspired me with her succinct, powerful charge at the recent national Safe Routes to School conference in Minneapolis: lean into your care and service to shape a thriving future for children. That's the job.
What in your background qualifies you for this office? I'm a neighbor and community builder who has spent 20 years co-founding Lexington institutions: Kentucky for Kentucky, Bullhorn Creative, Stella's Kentucky Deli, NoLi CDC, the Night Market and the Bike Bus. The Bike Bus helped spark a local Safe Routes to School coalition that is already making streets safer for kids getting to school. In 2024, I co-led Yes for Parks, which secured more than $8 million in annual dedicated funding for capital investment in all 110-plus of our public parks. I write grants that bring national money to neighborhood projects, most recently a $200,000 Knight Cities Challenge award, selected from more than 3,000 entries, for a student-led and student-designed Community Schoolyard with Trust for Public Land and Fayette County
Public Schools — Lexington's first, and a direct investment in park equity and all the health, climate and community benefits that come with it.
I'm completing a master of public administration at UK's Martin School (Go Cats), and national organizations often invite me to visit other cities and work alongside fellow community development practitioners, so I know which policies, built environments and organizations make a city succeed or fail. I have strong relationships with LFUCG, UK, [Fayette County Public Schools], the Blue Grass Community Foundation, the commonwealth and other partners, and I'm bringing them together on our hardest problems and on smaller projects that add up to a stronger, more resilient community. I'm a bike rider, and I see and connect to the city at that low speed. I live near Woodland Park with my wife and three children, and I want everyone to have the benefits I feel from living close to a park, stores, schools, transit and jobs.
What would you do in office if elected? Respond to constituents and improve their quality of life. Make city government less complicated and keep neighbors informed, so they can help guide policy and practice.
Align the budget and policy with people-centered community development. I would prioritize investing in those publics, growing our tree canopy, advancing transportation and housing equity, and co-building a healthy, connected, joyful city with all our neighbors. And I'd help with the skunk situation in Bell Court (get ready for the great horned owl program).
I also believe neighbors are healthiest and most civically engaged when they know each other and take part in things together, not just solving problems but showing up for one another. I want to help neighbors build that community infrastructure: revive dormant neighborhood associations, block captains and block parties; plant pollinator gardens; fill up the park programs; start walking, running and rolling clubs; and share all the good that's happening in this city. I especially want to help other families start bike buses, so a bike bus can do for their families and schools what ours has done for mine. I'm not sure I would have run for council if I hadn't had the chance to make our city better through the simple act of riding to school with my child.
What keeps you up at night? Honestly, just middle-of-the-night insomnia, and for some reason my middle kid loves turning the thermostat down to 55 degrees. I'm a light sleeper, and sometimes I replay something I said or didn't say as a child.
In all seriousness, the current political context makes me want to work harder, and I often lie there brainstorming solutions. Locally: traffic violence and housing and park inequity. Nationally: the violence, fear and lack of humanity our federal administration has wrought on our most vulnerable neighbors; the federal funding cuts that have deeply wounded our frontline social service organizations and vital civic institutions like public media, national parks and active transportation; and the rollback of hard-won progressive policy.
If you had a magic wand to fix one problem immediately – something realistic within a year – what would it be and why? Locally, I would build a robust bike and pedestrian trail network connecting our urban and rural areas, so our community has a safer way to get around and real transportation freedom — and so we can end the harms auto dependence inflicts on Lexington. Shared-use trails are the most requested amenity not just in our city but in most cities, and they're wonderful not only for transportation but for the health and accessibility they provide: people from 8 to 80, at every speed and ability, moving together in the same moment.
If there were any charge left in my wand after that, I would build a beautiful, public 400-meter track with lots of trees, ample clean bathrooms and plenty of programming to connect our whole city.
District 4
Emma Curtis (i)
What should voters know about you? Voters should know that during my first term on council, I’ve proven to be effective, communicative and transparent.
I’ve led the charge against [artificial intelligence] data centers in Fayette County by sponsoring and passing an extended moratorium on their potential development. I’ve secured tangible improvements to our traffic infrastructure as part of the STREEET Safety Task Force, sponsored and passed our animal care ordinance, and delivered consistent constituent services for my neighbors in District 4.
I show up, do the work, and get results.
I am also proud to be the only candidate in this race who has never been arrested, spent time in jail, been credibly accused of sexual assault, had an interpersonal protective order placed against me or been legally banned from entering city hall.
Editor’s note: For our readers, we are providing links to some news coverage for context to the statement submitted here by candidate Emma Curtis, including information about a previous arrest of candidate Brenda Monarrez and a personal protective order issued while Monarrez held office.
What in your background qualifies you for this office? I’m qualified for this office because I have both the lived experience and professional experience required to deliver tangible results for my neighbors.
Prior to my time in office, I worked as an independent filmmaker, telling the stories of Kentuckians whose perspectives were often unheard. I worked at the University of Kentucky’s International Center, with international students who were navigating the uncertainties of life as an immigrant in Lexington during the Trump and Bevin administrations. I worked as an advocate and organizer with groups like the ACLU of Kentucky and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth to have a direct impact on legislation being considered by Kentucky’s General Assembly — most notably legislation impacting LGBTQ+ Kentuckians.I am also one of only two renters who serve on council. I am the only openly transgender person to serve on council. I am one of the youngest councilmembers to ever be elected in Lexington.I know what it’s like to have a government that treats you as a statistic instead of a person and I know what it takes to make government work for everybody — not just a select, privileged few.
What would you do in office if elected? If re-elected, I would continue the work that I’ve been doing to fix Lexington’s broken streets and roads, protect my neighbors from the threats posed by AI data centers, address our housing and homelessness crisis, and ensure that LFUCG provides timely and competent city services to all of our residents.
What keeps you up at night? The sounds of reckless drivers and drag racers speeding down Tates Creek and Man O’ War keeps me up at night — which is why I’ve worked alongside Councilmember [Whitney Elliot] Baxter to advance an ordinance targeting such behavior. It recently passed out of the Social Services & Public Safety Committee and will soon be voted on by the full council.
If you had a magic wand to fix one problem immediately – something realistic within a year – what would it be and why? I would wave my magic wand and ensure that LFUCG had meaningful term limits. Right now, District Councilmembers can serve six consecutive terms, while at-large councilmembers and the mayor can serve three consecutive terms. This means that any elected official can take one term off, then run and serve that full duration again.
I would make it so that district councilmembers could only serve four terms total, while at-large councilmembers and the mayor could serve two consecutive terms.Those elected to this body should be public servants — not career politicians. I believe this would go a long way towards ensuring that they are.
A full guide on District 4 candidates, including Brenda Monarrez, who did not provide supplemental information, can be found online here.
District 6
You can find the full election guide for District 6 candidates Tina V. Bryson and Tayler M. Pyles online here.
District 8
You can find the full election guide for District 8 candidates Amy Beasley and Tray Hughes online here.
District 9
You can find the full election guide for District 9 candidates Whitney Elliot Baxter and Matt Miniard online here.
District 11
You can find the full election guide for District 11 candidates Richard Maloney and Cassandra Vogl online here.
Uncontested races and other things on the ballot in Lexington
Urban county charter amendments
Fayette County Board of Education races
