GOP judge-executive to seek House seat in Bullitt County

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Bullitt County’s Republican judge-executive says she will run for a seat in the state House of Representatives in 2016.

Melanie Roberts filed a letter of intent to seek election on Thursday. The 51-year-old was first elected in 2006 and is the first woman to be judge-executive in Bullitt County.

Roberts is running for House District 49, currently held by Democrat Linda Belcher who is in her third term. Democrats have an eight-seat majority in the House, the only southern state where Democrats still control part of the legislature. Republicans would need to flip five seats to gain control of the House for the first time in a century.

Roberts has a master’s in education from the University of Louisville and was a public school teacher for 20 years.