Linda Gorton

Linda Gorton is the Mayor of Lexington in Kentucky. She assumed office on January 6, 2019. Her current term ends on January 4, 2027.

Gorton is running for re-election for Mayor of Lexington in Kentucky. She is on the ballot in the primary on May 19, 2026.^[source]

Mayoral elections in Lexington are nonpartisan. Gorton is a registered Republican; however, according to the Lexington Herald Leader, she says she views herself as an independent.^[1]^[2]

Biography

Linda Gorton earned a bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Kentucky. Her career experience includes working as a nurse for the Baptist Physicians of Lexington. Gorton previously served as the vice mayor of Lexington, Kentucky.^[3]

Elections

2026

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 Louisville

The following candidates are running in the primary for Mayor of Louisville on May 19, 2026.

		Candidate
		Craig Greenberg (Nonpartisan)
		Matthew Bailey (Nonpartisan)
		Tina Burnell (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	S. Dattilo (Nonpartisan)
		Bob DeVore (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Lisa Holliday Harris (Nonpartisan)
		Jody Hurt (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Douglas Edward Lattimore (Nonpartisan)
		Shameka Parrish-Wright (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Bill Wells (Nonpartisan)
		Jeffrey Yocum (Nonpartisan)

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

JusAustin Lane (Nonpartisan)

Endorsements

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2022

General election

General election for Mayor of Lexington

Incumbent Linda Gorton defeated David Kloiber 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

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 94,443
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of Lexington

Incumbent Linda Gorton and David Kloiber defeated Adrian Wallace and William Weyman 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
	Submit photo	William Weyman (Nonpartisan)	1.8	830

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 45,952
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2018

General election

General election for Mayor of Lexington

Linda Gorton defeated Ronnie Bastin in the general election for Mayor of Lexington on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Linda Gorton (Nonpartisan)	62.6	67,480
	Submit photo	Ronnie Bastin (Nonpartisan)	37.4	40,365
		Other/Write-in votes	0.0	21

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 107,866 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary 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
✔	Submit photo	Ronnie Bastin (Nonpartisan)	25.5	14,207
	Submit photo	Teresa Isaac (Nonpartisan)	15.9	8,845
		Kevin Stinnett (Nonpartisan)	14.1	7,866
		Ike Lawrence (Nonpartisan)	1.5	847
	Submit photo	William Weyman (Nonpartisan)	0.6	326
	Submit photo	Skip Horine (Nonpartisan)	0.6	315

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 55,606
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign themes

2022

Linda Gorton did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Noteworthy events

Events and activity following the death of George Floyd

See also: Events following the death of George Floyd and responses in select cities from May 29-31, 2020

Gorton was mayor of Lexington during the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, when events and activity took place in cities across the U.S. following the death of George Floyd. Events in Lexington, Kentucky began on Friday, May 29, 2020, at the Fayette County Courthouse.^[4] No curfews were issued. The national guard was not deployed.

To read more about the death of George Floyd and subsequent events, click [show] to the right.

On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officers arrested Floyd, a Black man, after receiving a call that he had made a purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill.^[5] Floyd died after Derek Chauvin, a White officer, arrived at the scene and pressed his knee onto Floyd's neck as Floyd laid face-down on the street in handcuffs.^[6] Both the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and an independent autopsy conducted by Floyd's family ruled Floyd's death as a homicide stemming from the incident.^[7] The medical examiner's report, prepared by Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson, said that it was "not a legal determination of culpability or intent, and should not be used to usurp the judicial process."^[7] On April 20, 2021, Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in relation to Floyd's death.^[8]

Floyd's death was filmed and shared widely, leading to activity regarding racism, civil rights, and police use of force. The first events took place in Minneapolis-St. Paul on May 26.^[9] An event in Chicago organized by Chance the Rapper and Rev. Michael Pfleger took place the same day, making it the first major city outside of Minneapolis to host an event in response to Floyd's death.^[10]

External links

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Candidate

Mayor of Lexington

Website

Facebook

Instagram

Officeholder

Mayor of Lexington

Personal

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Jim Gray	Mayor of Lexington 2019-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	Lexington City Council At-large 1999-2015	Succeeded by Richard Moloney

[1] Lexington Herald Leader, "Linda Gorton cruises to victory over Ronnie Bastin in Lexington mayoral election," November 6, 2018

[2] Lexington Herald Leader, "Why former vice mayor Linda Gorton wants Lexington's top job and what she's promising," May 18, 2018

[3] The University of Kentucky Martin School of Public Policy and Administration, "Linda Gorton, Vice Mayor for Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government," accessed March 11, 2018

[4] WKYT, "People protest in downtown Lexington against police brutality," May 29, 2020

[floyd-5] Washington Post, "The death of George Floyd: What video and other records show about his final minutes," May 30, 2020

[floydnyt-6] The New York Times, "8 Minutes and 46 Seconds: How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody," May 31, 2020

[floyddeath-7] 7.0 ^7.1 USA Today, "Medical examiner and family-commissioned autopsy agree: George Floyd's death was a homicide," June 1, 2020

[8] Associated Press, "Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death," April 20, 2021

[9] CNN, "Protests across America after George Floyd's death," accessed June 2, 2020

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Linda Gorton

Contents

Biography

Elections

2026

General election

Nonpartisan primary

Nonpartisan primary election for Mayor of Louisville

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Endorsements

2022

General election

General election for Mayor of Lexington

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of Lexington

2018

General election

General election for Mayor of Lexington

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of Lexington

Campaign themes

2022

Noteworthy events

Events and activity following the death of George Floyd

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

2026 Elections

2025 Elections

Election analysis

Trending

Public Policy

Information for candidates

Get Engaged

Services

Additional analysis

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