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Tate Ohmer

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William Tate Ohmer
Candidate, Lexington City Council At-large
Elections and appointments
Next election
November 3, 2026
Education
Bachelor's
Transylvania University, 2023
Personal
Profession
Contractor
Contact

William Tate Ohmer (also known as Tate) is running for election for an at-large seat of the Lexington City Council in Kentucky. The primary for this office on May 19, 2026, was canceled.

Ohmer completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Ohmer earned a bachelor's degree from Transylvania University in 2023. His career experience includes working as a contractor.[1]

Elections

2026

See also: City elections in Lexington, Kentucky (2026)

General election

The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.

The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

General election for Lexington City Council At-large (3 seats)

The following candidates are running in the general election for Lexington City Council At-large on November 3, 2026.

Candidate
Image of James Brown
James Brown (Nonpartisan)
Image of Dan Wu
Dan Wu (Nonpartisan)
Herbert Lynn (Nonpartisan)
Image of William Tate Ohmer
William Tate Ohmer (Nonpartisan)  Candidate Connection
Image of Christopher Shafer
Christopher Shafer (Nonpartisan)  Candidate Connection
Stephanie Spires (Nonpartisan)

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary

The primary scheduled for May 19, 2026, was canceled.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

William Tate Ohmer completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2026. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ohmer's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am, like so many of my generation, a hard worker who thinks moving up in the world should be just a bit easier. I grew up in Boone County, moved to Lexington for college, and utterly fell in love with the community, the city, the history, and the character. I am a third-generation restoration/preservation contractor with my family business, and serve on the Northside Neighborhood Association board.
  • Average rent in Lexington has increased 47% since 2019, and home ownership has become the stuff of lottery-winning dreams.

    Even with record-high spending in cost-abatement, there has been no sign of prices decreasing for working families. This is a problem that cannot be solved by subsidizing demand but must be addressed through building supply.

    Lexington’s zoning laws are not working. We must open up more pathways for people to build the kinds of houses they can afford, helping them and their families to build up wealth while reducing the pressure on our renting market.
  • We are in the throes of a loneliness and mental health epidemic. It is crucial for our mental and our physical health that we are plugged into our communities. Popularized by Ray Oldenburg, a third space is a social environment separate from home and work— think of a park, a coffee shop, or a bar. We know that being around other people is crucial for our feeling of community, and our mental health, so it’s time to start treating third spaces as a crucial part of our urban landscape. I would work to establish a first-of-its-kind Third Space Commission where passionate Lexingtonians can discover, support, and build up these engines of community.
  • For every dollar spent at a nationally scaled business, only 43% remains in Lexington. For our crucial small businesses, that number goes up to 68%. Encouraging small businesses to open, employ, and expand is crucial to our local government, our community, and our future. Kentucky has had success with creating tax rebates for businesses that bring investment and tourism dollars. I would like to create a local version of these rebates that would allow entrepreneurs to keep a portion of their city taxes to offset costs associated with creating a new business. This would open up new opportunities that encourage growth, employment, and community for all.
I am most deeply passionate about housing affordability along the lines of the Strong Towns movement, and third space development as a means of creating community hubs and combating the mental health/loneliness epidemic.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.


See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 24, 2026