Long-serving Fayette County attorney, sheriff draw challengers in 2022 election

The Fayette County attorney, a 15-year veteran in the office, has drawn a competitor in the 2022 election: a former Lexington councilwoman filed to run against him prior to Tuesday’s deadline.

County Attorney Larry Roberts, who was first elected in 2006, will contend with former Lexington-Fayette Councilwoman Angela Evans.

Evans has experience as an attorney and worked as an assistant attorney general, according to her campaign website. She vacated her position as sixth-district councilwoman in 2020 in order to pursue a masters degree in public policy at Princeton University.

Roberts has more than 50 years of experience as an attorney, according to his office’s website.

Longtime Fayette County sheriff has a primary challenger

The Fayette County sheriff, who has spent more than 20 years in office, will also face competition from others who filed to run in the November election.

Sheriff Kathy Witt will contend with Democrat Thomas “Tucker” Bulleit in the Democratic primary on May 17. Republican Christopher D. Holliday also filed to run prior to Tuesday’s deadline. He is the only Republican who filed.

Bulleit previously worked as an intern for a federal judge. He now manages an 800-acre farm in Paris. He’s hoping to emphasize community policing and wants to get “troubled youth” into beneficial programs to prevent gun violence, according to his campaign website.

Witt, a Democrat, has been Fayette County sheriff since 1998. Under Witt’s direction, her office is “committed to serving our community with honor, courage, and integrity, while enhancing the quality of life in our community,” according to her website.

County clerk faces competition from local prosecutor

Fayette County Clerk Don Blevins Jr. is seeking re-election but will compete with Brystin Denguessi Kwin, an assistant Fayette County attorney.

Blevins, a democrat, has served as the county clerk since 2009, when he was appointed to fill out the term of his father, who retired from the position. Blevins had also previously been elected councilman for Lexington’s 10th district.

Kwin, a Republican, handles general prosecution at the Fayette County attorney’s office, according to the office’s website.

5 candidates file to run for circuit judge

Four candidates have filed to run against the current judge for Fayette County’s seventh division in circuit court.

Jeffrey A. Taylor, who was appointed to the position and is aiming to keep his spot after former Judge Ernesto Scorsone retired, will have competition from Kathryn Mattingly Webster, Diane Minnifield, Michael T. Davis and Kim Green, according to election filings.

Green went to Harvard Law School and has worked as a public defender in Kentucky since graduating, according to her campaign website. She now runs Kentucky’s death penalty trial branch, according to her website. She has “actively worked to create equity and justice for everyone in the justice system regardless of how much money they have,” according to her campaign page.

Minnifield works in the Fayette County attorney’s office, specializing in juvenile prosecution and DNA actions, according to the Fayette County attorney’s office website. She has been active in “innovative” court programs like drug court, truancy court, juvenile treatment court, mediation and detention alternative programs, according to her campaign website.

Davis is senior attorney at the Kopka Pinkus Dolin law firm, according to the firm’s website. He has about 20 years of experience as an attorney, according to his campaign website.

Webster is an assistant commonwealth’s attorney in the office of the Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney. She’s worked for the office since 2011. She focuses on domestic violence crimes, according to the commonwealth attorney’s office website.

In his running to remain the judge over the seventh division, Taylor said he has gained the support of more than 300 attorneys, according to his campaign website. Taylor said during his investiture that he has “big shoes to fill” but is “up to the task.”

4 people running for district judge

Four people are running for the first division district judge seat in Fayette County: Steven Stadler, Denotra Gunther, Shannon L. Brooks and Heather Vanderford Matics

Gunther is the incumbent. She was appointed to the spot by Gov. Andy Beshear. Gunther has 25 years of experience in litigating court cases. She worked both as a prosecutor and a defense attorney, according to her campaign website.

Brooks currently works in Lexington as a public defender. She’s worked as a public defender for more than 10 years, according to her campaign website. She’s running for district judge because she wants to “make a bigger impact in our community,” according to her campaign website.

Stadler is an assistant Fayette County attorney who handles civil litigation, according to the Fayette County attorney’s office website.

Matics has worked in the law profession since 1996. She’s running because she has “a passion for the work of the District Court, which is most often the place where a person first comes into contact with the court system,” she said in a post on her campaign Facebook page.

Two candidates vie for family court position

There are two candidates who have filed to run for the sixth division in Fayette Circuit Court, a family court position currently held by Judge Kathy Stein, who plans to retire.

Tiffany Yahr, one of the two candidates, is a lawyer who has focused on child welfare during her 13-year career, according to her campaign website. She currently works as an attorney supervisor for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. She has worked on dependency, neglect and abuse cases, as well as domestic violence cases, custody disputes, child support actions, divorces, and child visitation actions.

Carl Devine, the other of the two candidates, also has experience as a lawyer. He has handled divorce, custody, domestic violence, child support, paternity, adoption and grandparent visitation cases. He has also worked on dependency, abuse and neglect cases, according to his campaign site. Devine is in his 25th year in the legal profession.