State Representative Gary Boswell (R-Owensboro) is co-sponsoring a Kentucky Senate bill that would require partisan local elections, including for the offices of mayor, city commissioner, and school board. The Owensboro City Commission unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday opposing that bill and its companion bill in the House.
Senate Bill 50 and House Bill 50 were both introduced on January 3 but no action has been taken on either. The legislation would mandate partisan primaries (or partisan elections if no primary is needed) for the offices of county commissioners, mayor and city commissioners, boards of education, and soil and water conservation.
Boswell said that prior to their meeting Tuesday, he had not heard from Owensboro’s Commissioners about their stance or about the resolution being considered.
However, he said he had discussions with some colleagues and believed it would be a good idea to introduce party affiliations to city commission and school board races.
“Elections should be more than a popularity contest and the voters should be able to know the person who’s running for office’s philosophy, whether they’re liberal or conservative or libertarian, and whatever party they align with. The voters should have a right there,” Boswell said.
Mayor Tom Watson said that he believes differently.
“I do not want the bill to divide our community. Look at the commissioners in a nonpartisan race. You can see a mix of parties represented, and I do not want the labels to distract from that,” Watson said.
Watson noted that while he hasn’t discussed it with Boswell, he has talked with the Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, the bill’s primary sponsor. Watson said he’s stressed that he doesn’t think it’s fit for the city races to become partisan.
That feeling is reflected throughout the resolution passed Tuesday.
A portion of the resolution reads, “it has been the collective experience of members of this body that the question of party affiliation is an infrequent question during a campaign, suggesting that the voters do not consider this issue a significant concern.”
The resolution also states that of the 415 cities throughout the Commonwealth, only six hold partisan elections. Under current legislation, cities have “Home Rule” allowing the local government to decide if they want to hold partisan elections.
“The passage of this bill and the change of 409 city elections to partisan elections will represent a departure from Home Rule governing and will cause a substantial increase in election costs and organizational efforts within jurisdictions throughout the state,” the resolution reads.
City Manager Nate Pagan noted that Owensboro historically has been nonpartisan in its mayoral and commissioner races.
“Local government is to deal with more practical and pragmatic issues unlike more ideological considerations often encountered in Frankfort or Washington, D.C.,” Pagan said.
Other portions of the resolution read:
- “local government traditionally provides the services used by citizens on a daily basis including parks and recreation, emergency medical services, police and fire services, economic development, streets, sewers, water service, trash disposal, and other public works services which are generally local issues that do not follow party ideology … these local issues and services, especially emergency services and utility services, could be at risk to increase conflict and delays if party divisions and polarization enter into local government.”
- “cities have recognized an increased challenge in finding qualified people to serve in local elected positions and see the addition of a primary election, as well as the potential for partisan acrimony, as a further hurdle in attracting good people to these positions”
- the offices of mayor and city commissioners has been nonpartisan and “has and does work very well across the board fostering cooperation between elected officials belonging to different parties”
Boswell said he will be paying attention to how the resolution plays out locally, but said the key to how he represents the bill will be how the public feels about it.
He said that talk on the bill is still premature anyway as it has not been assigned to a committee, but he does hope more conversations will follow.
