Aull, Burke to become new Lexington state reps after landslide primary wins

Two new faces will fill out Lexington’s statehouse delegation after coasting to Democratic primary victories.

With neither facing Republican opposition in the general election, Chad Aull will represent Lexington’s 79th House District, now occupied by retiring Democratic Rep. Susan Westrom, and Lindsey Burke will replace Democrat Kelly Flood in the 75th District.

Burke said that she drew inspiration from Gov. Andy Beshear to serve, despite entering a House Democratic caucus that represents a slim minority of the legislative chamber.

“I’m really looking forward to doing everything I can to represent the 75th and move Kentucky forward,” Burke said. “I’m going to be trying very hard to find places where there is common ground, but I’ll also speak the truth to the public.”

Burke beat Chris Couch by nearly 70 percentage points, 2,822 to 517. Aull defeated Justin Bramhall by an even wider margin, 2,790 to 422.

Both candidates outspent their opponents, Aull by a lot. With $163,241 in receipts, Aull raised the second most of any candidate running for House in Kentucky while Bramhall didn’t break five digits. Unlike most other area house district primary campaigns, his purchased television ads in the primary.

Aull said that he’s ready to “hit the ground running” as the 79th House District representative.

“As state representative, my door will always be open and I will always keep my constituents at the forefront of every decision I make in the statehouse,” Aull said. “We’ve worked hard to get to this point, but now is when the real work begins.”

Burke was facing Chris Couch, who said that he was not “an active candidate” after being arrested for an alleged domestic violence incident in February but did not withdraw his name from the Democratic primary ballot.