UPDATE: Leaders extend margins in Urban Council races

UPDATE, 2:30 P.M. FRIDAY, NOV. 6, 2020

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – The leaders following Tuesday night’s initial vote counts in Fayette County’s four contested Urban Council races extended their margins in the latest election results posted Friday afternoon by county Clerk Don Blevins (Fayette reporting).

That left little doubt about the winners even with the final numbers to be certified Tuesday.

In what was the closest race, District 5 challenger Liz Sheehan, a professor at the University of Kentucky, extended what had been a slim 16-vote advantage to 143 votes — 6,453 to 6,310 — over 10-year incumbent Bill Farmer Jr.

In the race for the District 3 seat left open by the retirement and unexpected death of veteran Council member Jake Gibbs, political newcomer Hannah Legris leads fellow newcomer Jessica Mohler 3,149 to 2,958.

In District 8, incumbent Council member Fred Brown extended his lead over Christian Motley. Friday’s numbers have Brown up 4,957 to 4,516.

And in District 9, real estate professional Whitney Elliott Baxter extended her advantage over Willy Fogle 7,074 to 5,586.

ORIGINAL STORY, 10 p.m. TUESDAY, NOV. 3

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – The races for the four contested Lexington-Fayette Urban Council seats remained tight late Tuesday night.

Council races are non-partisan and members serve two-year terms.

In the open District 9 race, 37-year-old real estate agent Whitney Elliott Baxter took the seat with 6,771 votes in her first bid for office. Former Urban Council member Willy Fogle, an insurance agent, received 5,340 votes.

Fogle represented District 7 from 1994 to 2002 and was an aide to Councilman Julian Beard.

In District 3, Hannah Legris won the open seat with 2,952 votes to 2,770 for Jessica Mohler, according to unofficial results from County Clerk Don Blevins.

The seat previously was held by the late Jake Gibbs. Gibbs had announced he wasn’t running for re-election and died suddenly in March.

Both Legris and Mohler are political newcomers in the seat that covers downtown and areas around the University of Kentucky.

The closest race of the night was in District 5 where University of Kentucky professor Liz Sheehan took a 16-vote margin — 6,091 to 6,075 — over incumbent Bill Farmer, who has been in office since 2010.

And in District 8, incumbent Fred Brown won re-election, defeating Christian Motley, 4,735 to 4,240.