Martin County Judge-Executive candidates attend forum prior to write-in election

MARTIN COUNTY, Ky. (WYMT) - Following the resignation of former Martin County Judge-Executive Colby Kirk, the county has seen its fifth Judge-Executive in the last five years after Governor Andy Beshear’s appointment of former Judge-Executive Lon Lafferty to the interim position on October 28.

Lafferty is one of three candidates running write-in campaigns, joining Marlena Slone and Jimmy Don Kerr.

Now, people are writing in their votes for the candidate who they believe will best lead their county in an election that will make history.

“It will be the first time that we will actually elect our county Judge-Executive by a write-in vote, so, yeah, we’re making history,” said Martin County Clerk Susie Skyles.

On Thursday evening, candidates gathered at the Martin County fiscal courtroom to better explain their platforms and answer questions.

“We wanted to bring these forums back that way everybody would have a chance to not only pose some of their own questions but hear the questions that I have that way they can decide on who is the right choice,” said Martin County native and forum moderator Dawn Giesecke.

Officials said there has already been a great turnout for absentee voting and Thursday’s early voting throughout the county.

“We had six-day absentee voting for someone if they weren’t going to be in town on Election Day, and we had 150 people vote, and today we had 176,” said Skyles.

Skyles also added early voting will be at the county clerk’s office from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

You can also call the clerk’s office at (606) 298-2810 for more information on early voting or to find the closest polling center on Nov. 8.

Copyright 2022 WYMT. All rights reserved.