Mayoral election in Lexington, Kentucky (2026)
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← 2022
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| 2026 Lexington elections |
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| Election dates |
| Filing deadline: January 9, 2026 |
| Primary election: May 19, 2026 General election: November 3, 2026 |
| Election stats |
| Offices up: Mayor |
| Total seats up: 1 (click here for other city elections) |
| Other municipal elections |
| U.S. municipal elections, 2026 |
The city of Lexington, Kentucky, is holding a general election for mayor on November 3, 2026. A primary is scheduled for May 19, 2026. The filing deadline for this election was January 9, 2026.
As of 2026, Lexington has term limits for the position of mayor. Mayors can serve three consecutive four-year terms and can run again after a four year break.
Elections
Click on the tabs below to show more information about those topics.
General election
The primary will occur on May 19, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
Nonpartisan primary
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
Nonpartisan primary election for Mayor of Lexington
The following candidates are running in the primary for Mayor of Lexington on May 19, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Linda Gorton (Nonpartisan) | |
| Ramazani Asmani (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Raquel Carter (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Skip Horine (Nonpartisan) | ||
| C.E. Huffman (Nonpartisan) | ||
Greg O'Neal (Nonpartisan)  | ||
 | Darnell Tagaloa (Nonpartisan) | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses
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No candidate in this race has completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Ballotpedia is seeking 100 percent participation so voters can learn more about all the candidates on their ballots.
Candidate profiles
There are currently no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles will appear here as they are created. Encourage the candidates in this race to complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey so that their profile will appear here.
Mayoral partisanship
Lexington has a Republican mayor. As of April 2026, 67 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 22 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, three are independents, six identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and one mayor's affiliation is unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
Help inform our readers
Take our candidate survey
- See also: Survey
At Ballotpedia, we believe that everyone deserves meaningful, reliable, trustworthy information about their candidates. We also know that good information—especially at the local level—is hard to find. That's why Ballotpedia created Candidate Connection.
We ask all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Our survey helps voters better understand how their candidates think about the world and how they intend to govern—information they need to feel confident they're picking the best person for the role.
If you are a candidate, take our survey here. Or you can ask a candidate to take the survey by sharing the link with them.
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Candidates, share endorsements here. Readers, share endorsements you know about here.
Past elections
See also: Mayoral election in Lexington, Kentucky (2022)
General election
General election for Mayor of Lexington
Incumbent Linda Gorton (Nonpartisan) defeated David Kloiber (Nonpartisan) in the general election for Mayor of Lexington on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Linda Gorton (Nonpartisan) | 71.0 | 67,083 |
 | David Kloiber (Nonpartisan) | 29.0 | 27,360 | |
| Total votes: 94,443 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary
Nonpartisan primary election for Mayor of Lexington
Incumbent Linda Gorton (Nonpartisan) and David Kloiber (Nonpartisan) defeated Adrian Wallace (Nonpartisan) and William Weyman (Nonpartisan) in the primary for Mayor of Lexington on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Linda Gorton (Nonpartisan) | 71.1 | 32,664 |
| ✔ | | David Kloiber (Nonpartisan) | 14.0 | 6,436 |
 | Adrian Wallace (Nonpartisan) | 13.1 | 6,022 | |
| William Weyman (Nonpartisan) | 1.8 | 830 | ||
| Total votes: 45,952 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
See also: Mayoral election in Lexington, Kentucky (2018)
General election
General election for Mayor of Lexington
Linda Gorton (Nonpartisan) defeated Ronnie Bastin (Nonpartisan) in the general election for Mayor of Lexington on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Linda Gorton (Nonpartisan) | 62.6 | 67,480 |
| Ronnie Bastin (Nonpartisan) | 37.4 | 40,365 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0% | 21 | ||
| Total votes: 107,866 (100% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary
Nonpartisan primary election for Mayor of Lexington
The following candidates ran in the primary for Mayor of Lexington on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Linda Gorton (Nonpartisan) | 41.7 | 23,200 |
| ✔ | Ronnie Bastin (Nonpartisan) | 25.5 | 14,207 | |
| Teresa Isaac (Nonpartisan) | 15.9 | 8,845 | ||
 | Kevin Stinnett (Nonpartisan) | 14.1 | 7,866 | |
 | Ike Lawrence (Nonpartisan) | 1.5 | 847 | |
| William Weyman (Nonpartisan) | 0.6 | 326 | ||
| Skip Horine (Nonpartisan) | 0.6 | 315 | ||
| Total votes: 55,606 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Mayoral partisanship
Lexington has a Republican mayor. As of April 2026, 67 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 22 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, three are independents, six identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and one mayor's affiliation is unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
About the city
- See also: Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is a city in Fayette County, Kentucky. In 1974, the governments of the city of Lexington and Fayette County combined to create the current Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government.[1] As of 2020, its population was 322,570.
City government
- See also: Mayor-council government
The city of Lexington uses a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body and the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.
Demographics
The following table displays demographic data provided by the United States Census Bureau.
| Demographic Data for Lexington, Kentucky | ||
|---|---|---|
| Lexington | Kentucky | |
| Population | 322,570 | 4,505,836 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 283 | 39,491 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White | 73.7% | 86.2% |
| Black/African American | 14.6% | 8.1% |
| Asian | 4% | 1.5% |
| Native American | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Pacific Islander | 0% | 0.1% |
| Other (single race) | N/A | 1.1% |
| Multiple | 4.4% | 2.8% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 7.2% | 3.8% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate | 91.9% | 87.2% |
| College graduation rate | 45% | 25% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income | $58,954 | $52,238 |
| Persons below poverty level | 15.8% | 16.6% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020). | ||
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
See also
| Lexington, Kentucky | Kentucky | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
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External links
Footnotes
