Two people have announced their candidacy for mayor of Owensboro in 2020, and both of them serve on the City’s board of commissioners. However, Commissioner Larry Conder, who announced his candidacy Tuesday, said he expects at least four people more to join Commissioner Pamela Smith-Wright and himself in the race for the mayor’s seat.
For Conder, the decision to run comes after three-and-a-half years experience in local government. Smith-Wright is serving her fifth term as commissioner, and reigns as the longest-serving female in the City of Owensboro. In the November 2018 general election for four city commission seats, Smith-Wright received 7,254 votes (13.57 percent) compared to Conder’s 6,787 (12.7 percent), meaning Owensboro could see another tight race.
After announcing his candidacy to Jeff Rhinerson on WBKR’s “Live with Jeff” segment, Conder told reporters that the uptick in local violence inspired him to run for mayor in 2020.
“Anytime you see — over a six, seven month period of time — a spike in gun violence, especially in relationship to drug use, [it’s an issue],” he said. “It’s affecting our family units, it’s affecting children, it’s affecting the workplace. If we don’t have good programs, consistently, that address safety in our community, those other things won’t matter.”
In light of Conder’s announcement to run for mayor, Smith-Wright said she will continue to work for the betterment of her community, all the way up until election night.
“It doesn’t bother me. It’s a choice of his to run, and everyone has a choice,” she said. “It wouldn’t affect the way we work together.”
Smith-Wright said, as of Tuesday evening, she hadn’t spoken with Conder about his decision to run against her for mayor. Smith-Wright said she felt confident that the majority of people who supported her in past elections would continue to do so.
“I have my following. The people who voted for me the very first time, when I was elected Mayor Pro Tem — I probably have 99 percent of those people in my corner still,” she said. “My base has stayed with me pretty well since I’ve been running.”
Smith-Wright told Mayor Tom Watson of her decision to run for mayor during a phone call he’d made to her last November, to congratulate her most recent city commission win.
Commissioner Jeff Sanford said he believed Smith-Wright’s experience and views would make her a great mayor for Owensboro.
“She and I have fought a lot of battles together,” he said. “She has a ton of experience, and she says she’s ready. I think she’ll do a great job.”
In hearing of Conder’s decision to run for mayor, Watson described the commissioner as a hard worker who has enjoyed learning the ins and outs of local government.
“He understands numbers and he does everything he can to learn the ways government works,” Watson said. “He’s got three years under his belt, and he’s understanding how frustrating it can be and how long things can take, just like the rest of us who came from the private sector.”
Watson said it isn’t unusual for two city commissioners to run against each other for the top seat and believes Smith-Wright and Conder will maintain their professional working relationship, even as they campaign against each other in the process.
Conder said the race between Smith-Wright and himself will come down to more than name recognition and incumbent status, as sometimes happens with city commission elections. Five people ran in the last mayoral race, but Conder said he expects at least six to run in the 2020 election.
“The mayoral race is different, even though we still don’t have a primary,” he said. “This looks at one individual. What does that individual stand for, what is their voting record, specifically, and how will they move the community forward. That’s where the people change who they vote for.”
