[MUSIC] One is to have more voting days.

The other is to have more locations during the voting days.

[MUSIC] >> On this election eve, Secretary of State Michael Adams talks about ways to improve elections in Kentucky.

[MUSIC] >> Voters just aren't used to having people around for longer than eight years.

>> We're breaking down the 2026 Lexington mayoral race.

[MUSIC] >> You disenfranchized the entire conservative voter base.

>> Nonpartisan elections in Louisville leave Republicans with little choice.

[MUSIC] >> It is an economic development issue and increasingly a factor in whether a business can recruit and retain the talent they need to succeed.

[MUSIC] >> She means child care and Kentucky businesses are getting some help as they look to make sure their employees have access to it.

[MUSIC] >> Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in part by the KET Millennium Fund.

[MUSIC] >> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition for Monday, November 2nd.

Election eve.

I'm Laura Rogers.

Thank you for joining us.

We are less than one day away from Election Day, but hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians have already cast their ballots.

Secretary of State Michael Adams posted on X that 377,269 Kentuckians took advantage of the three day early voting period for the midterm elections.

Almost 136,000 Kentuckians voted on Thursday.

More than 131,000 on Friday and just over 110,000 on Saturday.

Adams said counting absentee votes 438,602 Kentuckians have already cast their ballots.

That is up more than 100,000 voters from the 2022 midterms.

According to Adams, 15% of registered Democrats 12% of registered Republicans and 16% registered as other have voted.

If you did not take advantage of early voting, you can head to the polls tomorrow from 6 a.m.

to 6 p.m.

We sat down with Secretary Adams today to ask him what this early turnout really means.

>> Now, the big question is, does that mean the turnout is going to be that much higher, or does it just mean displaced votes and the votes that used to be cast on Tuesday get cast on Thursday, Friday or Saturday?

It's too difficult to say right now.

I do expect a good turnout in this election.

I will tell you right now, we're seeing higher turnout in rural areas or smaller counties compared to Jefferson, Fayette, Jefferson, Fayette are doing fine.

But actually Warren and Hardin, the next two biggest counties, have had higher turnout than Jefferson and Fayette.

My prediction this cycle is it's the down ballot that's driving the turnout.

The Senate race has been kind of sleepy.

Not a lot of interest in that one.

And so it's really the county races that are driving the turnout.

If you recall from the primary in May, we had 18 county judge executives get beat in the primary.

There's a lot of froth in the middle of the ballot.

People are certainly more tuned in to Washington than they used to be, but they haven't forgotten.

They live in a county and they live in a city, and they have governments there.

And you've had a lot of controversy with data centers and other local issues.

That's driving turnout.

So right now we're having higher turnout in those counties that have interesting local races.

To me, the most interesting thing this election is the others, the independents and third party voters are voting at a higher proportion than Republicans or Democrats.

16% of them have voted already.

I can't remember an election in my lifetime where independents outvoted Democrats and Republicans.

>> We asked Adams what can be done to improve the process.

>> I'd like to see the kind of turnout that we have and see what kind of lines we have.

And if we have long lines, and if we especially had long lines in early voting and have them again on Tuesday, then I'll be interested to see if we can get support in the legislature for expanding voting access.

That can be done in one of two ways, or both of two ways.

One is to have more voting days.

The other is to have more locations during the voting days.

A lot of counties don't open as many places to vote during early voting as they open on Tuesday.

Candidly, though, I think that that decision will be made in 2028.

It will be made in the context of a presidential year, and we'll have massive turnout again.

And we'll also have a new secretary of state and the kind of person voters choose to succeed.

Me will play a big difference, I think, in how we handle voting in the future.

In Kentucky.

>> For the first time, two Democrats are facing off in the general election to be Louisville's mayor.

That's a result of the city's new nonpartisan races, something Republicans at the state House approved as our June Leffler reports.

That's left some conservative voters frustrated with the ballot before them.

>> Democratic voters are the vast majority in Jefferson County, and Louisville hasn't had a Republican mayor since 1969.

>> If you won the Democrat primary, that was the end of the day.

>> So Republican state lawmakers changed that race to be nonpartisan, saying mayoral candidates would finally have to court more moderate suburban voters.

State Representative Jason Nemes spoke to KET before the primary election this year.

He did not accept an interview this time around.

>> So I wanted them to have to come out here to get votes, because if you have to hunt a vote somewhere, you care more about their libraries and about their roads.

You care more about the crime in that area.

>> But political parties are still in the mix, and Democrats don't like this change.

>> Republicans know that Louisvillians are primarily Democratic by a large margin.

And I think this was an effort, essentially, to confuse folks and to suppress Democratic votes.

>> But the local Republican Party doesn't love it, either.

>> I told you that two years ago, I was against this.

I spoke very directly about that.

Now, it's my personal bias.

I like every race to be Partizan only because I'm lazy.

But the bottom line is I like a starting point.

>> What's happened this year is a general ballot with two Democrats running to be mayor.

One conservative has this message for Frankfort Republicans.

>> You disenfranchize the entire conservative voter base, and now they feel like they are stuck with the lesser of two evils.

>> Tina Burnell ran in this year's mayoral primaries.

She was the top Republican vote getter, but did not prevail over Councilwoman Shamika Parrish-Wright and current Mayor Craig Greenberg, both Democrats.

>> We have openly had publican leaders touting Greenburg and talking about how well he has worked with them in Frankfort, and that's all well and good, but does that mean we sit back and we give him four more years without a fight?

>> So how will Louisville Republicans vote?

The local party did not endorse a candidate, but Greenburg is seen as the more moderate candidate and the favorite.

>> Well, one of the folks, if you're looking at the two Democrats, is very much a Democrat socialist, and we're against that.

I mean, we're the party of free enterprise.

>> However, there is a Republican write in candidate Jeff Yocum.

>> We did not formally endorse Jeff, but certainly he's on our website.

And and part of this gets back to bylaws, and Jeff knows that he's got a big challenge relative to any write in candidate.

>> I am going to vote for write in candidate Jeff Yocum.

He is.

He is a legitimate write in candidate.

He is the only option.

I see for the Republican voters, for the conservative base.

I'm not willing to be forced into choosing what they call the lesser of two evils.

>> The Democratic Party has formally endorsed Greenburg and is confident.

>> I don't think I'm very much concerned about a Republican write in candidate in a very vastly blue city getting past that mark over two Democratic candidates who actually made it onto the ballot.

>> And for Republicans, the local party says the jury is out on whether nonpartisan elections will eventually show some promise for the party that called for the overhaul for Kentucky edition.

I'm June Leffler.

>> Louisville's Metro Council races are also nonpartisan.

This year, Democrats currently hold a slim majority at 13 to 12.

Parties do matter on council when members caucus.

Lexington's incumbent mayor Linda Gorton, is running for a third term, but first time candidate Raquel Carter for new blood.

Our Mackenzie Spink spoke to local journalists to learn more about the historic mayoral race in Fayette County.

>> According to the Lexington Herald leader, challenger Raquel Carter has outraised Mayor Linda Gorton, roughly 260,000 to Gorton's $218,000.

Herald-Leader reporter Beth Musgrave says that margin may not be as significant as it appears.

>> Mayor Gordon has a long history of being outraised in the mayoral races.

In fact, in 2022, when she was running against former council member David Kloiber, he raised almost six times what she did.

>> Both candidates oppose hyperscale data centers in Lexington, but diverge on their stances regarding flock cameras.

Mayor Gorton was in leadership when the cameras were first introduced by the Lexington Police Department in 2022.

>> Gordon has taken much more of a measured approach, where she has appointed a third party like or basically a like an independent panel to look at how cameras are being used, who has access to the data.

Carter is much more.

We do not need to use cameras at all.

Clearly the electric doesn't like them.

I would stop them right now.

>> Mayor Gorton has served two terms and is seeking a third.

Are voters open to having the same mayor for potentially 12 years straight?

>> You think about the U.S.

president or the Kentucky state governor, or a lot of executive level offices.

Voters just aren't used to having people around for longer than eight years.

And so I do think there's sort of this national anti-incumbent sentiment that I think is, you know, a hard thing for Gorton to navigate, but also, she's seeking, you know, she's wanting to be mayor for a total of 12 years.

And a lot of people just aren't used to that longevity and that type of role.

>> Carter's background is in real estate, and this is her first time running for office.

Gorton says experience in business doesn't translate to experience in office.

But Carter says it's time for fresh ideas.

>> It is interesting because.

>> She's not new, right?

She nobody is really heard her story before, so that also makes people want to listen, at least to hear, hear what she has to say.

What Carter I think has done very well.

She has to make the case that it's time for change.

And so one of the things, particularly in the May primary, and obviously it was top of mind at the time, was the city's response to ice and snow.

And that is something that she's pretty she's hammered on over and over and over again that we need somebody new to come into City Hall with new ideas about how we do public works and how we do it better.

>> Voter turnout has historically been a strong factor in the mayoral race.

Mayor Gorton has ties to an area of the city that typically votes in high numbers.

>> Mayor Gordon has been on the council.

She was on the council for 16 years, and her former council district is is the near South Side.

And why that's important is because the South Side traditionally has some of the highest voter turnout in the city.

And so the the saying is always the South Side elects the mayor.

And so that's also made her very difficult to beat.

>> In 2022, Mayor Gorton beat challenger David Kloiber with 71% of the votes, according to the City of Lexington.

There are no third party polls on the 2026 race for Lexington.

Mayor for Kentucky, I'm Mackenzie Spink.

>> Either way, the Lexington mayor's race will be historic.

If Raquel Carter wins, she will be the first woman of color to be mayor of Lexington.

If Mayor Gorton wins, she would potentially be the first person to complete three terms as mayor.

Scotty Baszler was the first person to win a third election as Lexington mayor, but he did not complete his last term.

He resigned as mayor in 1993 after being elected to the U.S.

House.

Lexington voters will also see three amendments to the city's charter on the ballot this year.

These amendments were chosen by a group of 30 randomly selected residents who participated in a civic assembly earlier this year to discuss the charter.

The City council then voted to include the amendments on the ballot.

We spoke to CivicLex, a nonprofit civic health group, to break down the three proposed changes.

>> There's three local charter amendments.

The first one has to do with council member salary, and so voters will be asked to vote for or against updating council member salary to $59,987 per year starting in 2031.

That's starting in 2031 is always very important.

That's because of an already existing rule in the charter that says that council member pay cannot be updated for any currently sitting council members.

Currently, council members are paid about $43,000 a year.

And so in the charter, it actually says that the cap for council member pay is like $6,000 and something.

But each year that's adjusted for cost of living and inflation.

So that's how we've gotten to that.

About $43,000 number.

That number, $59,987 is an median income NYC charter amendment two has to do with council accountability.

Voters will be asked to vote for or against requiring that council create publicly viewable attendance and accountability expectations.

The biggest accountability metric for council members is the elections is voting.

And so with this charter amendment, if it does pass, there is no.

There would be no way to legally enforce.

If they don't meet these guidelines.

So this amendment is mostly for.

If it passes, it's mostly for voter information.

And then Charter amendment three has to do with reviewing the charter itself.

And so voters will be asked to vote for or against requiring that the charter is reviewed, reviewed every eight years by a representative group of residents, and that there is a permanent body created within local government that will not only run this process every eight years, but will keep track of any topics that come up in between the eight year reviews, the charter review that we actually conducted earlier this year with that randomly selected group of residents, was the only the third one to ever happen since the charter was written in 1972.

And so the last charter review that happened before this one was in 1998.

And only one of those changes that were recommended from that review were put on the ballot and actually did not pass when it was put to voters.

So this is a really historical moment for Lexington voters, and we're really excited to see what happens and how people vote on them.

And it's really important to to vote on them.

The ballots really long this year, and these charter amendments are at the very end of the ballot.

>> Voters can learn more about the charter amendments at lex dot vote now to the statewide race for Senator Mitch McConnell's seat, who is not seeking reelection.

Republican nominee Congressman Andy Barr rallied with supporters across Kentucky on Sunday.

That includes a stop at the Bowling Green Warren County Regional Airport, where he touched down to greet a crowd of supporters.

Fellow Republican Congressman James Comer and Brett Guthrie, along with Senator Rand Paul, joined Barr in making remarks that Keep America Great.

PAC hosted the pre-election rally, while the Cook Political Report favors this race to be solid Republican, Barr says he's encouraged but not taking anything for granted.

>> We feel like we've got a ton of momentum.

The energy and enthusiasm all over the state like you saw in that room, clearly, Republicans are are ready to turn out, and they know what's on the line.

They know that we cannot allow a socialist to go to the Senate because Kentuckians, including Democrats, are not socialists, and they want representation, proven representation that will advocate effectively for Kentucky.

We're running like we're ten points behind because that's how we do it.

That's that's the work ethic that I bring to the table.

And we're not leaving anything to chance.

If you work hard like you're behind, you're going to make sure you win.

And that's and that's how we're handling this and that's how we're approaching the last 48 hours of this campaign.

>> So.

>> Barr is currently the congressman for Kentucky's sixth district.

The race for that seat is considered a toss up.

Former President Barack Obama has endorsed Barr's opponent, Democrat Charles Booker.

The Courier Journal reports.

Obama put out a statement yesterday saying he is proud to support Booker.

The former president says Booker, quote, cares deeply about the people of Kentucky and by sending him to Washington, working families across the Commonwealth would have a leader who understands their struggles and has what it takes to make real change, end quote.

What should we expect tomorrow night?

We'll talk all about the 2026 midterm election tonight on Kentucky tonight.

Listen to our panel.

Send us your questions and comments.

That is tonight at 8:00 eastern, 7:00 central here on KET.

And there's more.

You'll want to join us tomorrow night for full election coverage and analysis.

Our panel of political experts will join us, including reporter Al Cross and former Secretaries of State Trey Grayson and Bob Babich.

That is tomorrow night at 7:00 eastern, six central, right here on KET.

Kentucky.

U.S.

Representative James Comer is weighing in on the U.S.

Senate race in Alaska.

The Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee appeared on Fox News Sunday morning, where he said it was possible.

Former Representative Mary Powell Tola will not be seated if she wins Alaska's Senate race.

This comes after The New York Times reported that Powell Tola's campaign and National Democrats participated in ballot stacking.

That's where a party or candidate recruits another candidate, and an attempt to siphon votes away from opponents.

Powell Tola's campaign is accused of recruiting a candidate with the same name as her Republican opponent, incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan.

Ballot stacking is not illegal, but comer said he has launched a probe to see if there was anything illegal in this case.

>> There are a lot of people involved in the Democrat National Party who have been silent on this.

And the question remains who all was involved?

When did this involvement begin?

Did money change hands?

That's a big question.

That's probably the biggest question that that needs to be answered.

Did money change hands?

And then you know what, what what laws were broken after that.

>> Tola has denied any wrongdoing.

Comer said he has requested Powell Tola's, campaign manager and a Democratic operative, testified this week.

Kentucky's attorney general has filed a motion to have his own appeal regarding the impeachment of a Fayette Circuit Court judge thrown out the Kentucky General Assembly voted this session to impeach Judge Julie Muth, Goodman, saying she abused both judicial discretion and authority.

The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled the legislature did not have the authority to impeach her.

The Herald-Leader reports Attorney General Russell Coleman filed an appeal over the Supreme Court's decision, but now wants the motion dismissed due to what he calls overlapping issues between both his appeal and an appeal filed by lawmakers trying to remove Goodman.

[MUSIC] According to the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, 16 to 28,000 Kentucky parents could join or return to the workforce with better access to affordable child care.

That's why it's launching a new initiative to work with employers in the state to help find or create child care solutions for their employees.

Our McKinsey Spink tells us more about the push to include employers in the solution to Kentucky's child care shortage.

>> The Kentucky employers leading on child Care initiative is made possible through partnerships with thrive by Five, a Louisville nonprofit, and the Lift a Life Novak Family Foundation, its executive director, says child care is an economic issue.

>> Employers have an enormous opportunity to be part of the solution.

Child care is not simply a personal challenge for working families.

It is a workforce challenge.

It is an economic development issue and increasingly a factor in whether a business can recruit and retain the talent they need to succeed.

>> This partnership aims to educate employers on the best options for their individual businesses, from expanding employee access to child care to taking advantage of state funding opportunities.

>> There is no one size fits all solution.

Businesses of different sizes in different communities have different needs and different resources.

What matters is helping employers understand their options, getting them the tools and support to take meaningful action.

That's exactly what the Kentucky employers leading on child care is designed to do.

>> The state's fund matching program is called the Employee Child Care Assistance Partnership, or Icap.

Employers can contribute to an employee's child care expense, and the state will add support based on the employee's income.

Senator Julie Raque Adams co-sponsored the creation of Icap in 2022.

>> Parents want to provide their families and know their children are receiving good care, and employers want to keep their good employees and help them to succeed.

So affordable, reliable child care makes both possible.

>> We are constructors is a local business that has earned recognition as one of the best places to work in Kentucky for eight years in a row, according to the Chamber of Commerce.

Its HR director says 10% of its employees benefit from the Icap program.

>> Being a best place to work requires more than offering traditional benefits.

It means listening to employees, understanding the challenges that they face outside of work, and finding meaningful ways to support them.

When dependable child care is unavailable or unaffordable, employees may struggle to remain the workforce or be fully present at work.

This is why we are chose to participate in Kentucky's and Hawaii Child Care Assistance Program.

>> Dietrich herself is a mother and has received Icap assistance.

>> Receiving this assistance provided meaningful relief for my family and helped make the cost of child care much more manageable.

It also gave me additional peace of mind, knowing that my child had the care he needed while I continued doing the job and building a career that means so much to me.

>> She encourages other Kentucky businesses to participate.

>> From a business perspective, it is also strengthened our recruitment and our retention efforts.

It allows us to offer something that is both unique and valuable, particularly to working parents who are making important decisions about where they can build a career at.

>> For Kentucky Edition, I'm Mackenzie Spink.

>> Employers and parents can find more information at KY.

Childcare.com.

[MUSIC] Our Toby Gibbs has the birth of Bourbon and Abraham Lincoln's marriage to Lexington's own Mary Todd, and tonight's look at This Week in Kentucky history.

>> It's believed Elijah Craig of Bourbon County distilled Bourbon whiskey for the first time on November 8th, 1789.

[MUSIC] Lawmakers met in the Wilkinson House on November 4th, 1793, the first time the General Assembly met in Frankfort.

It was the state's second temporary capital.

The first had been in a log home in Lexington.

Fire burned the Kentucky Capitol building on November 4th, 1824.

[MUSIC] The state's second permanent Capitol building had been in use eight years.

The fire destroyed the building's main section and West wing.

The east wing was spared.

Kentucky native Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd of Lexington on November 4th, 1842, in Springfield, Illinois, home of Mary Todd's sister, Elizabeth Lincoln won the presidency on November 6th, 1860, in a four way race.

[MUSIC] He defeated Democrat Stephen Douglas, Southern Democrat John C Breckinridge of Kentucky and Constitutional Union candidate John Bell on November 8th, 1955, Kentucky voters approved a state constitutional amendment to lower the voting age from 21 to 18, 16 years before a federal amendment did the same thing nationally.

And that's a look back at this week in Kentucky history.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> Interesting there.

Tomorrow is election Day and we will have full coverage tomorrow night on Kentucky Edition.

Plus Kentucky, so-called drug czar is retiring after a long career with the law.

>> I served as a police dispatcher when I was 19 years old.

It's 47 years ago.

It feels like at 66, the time has come.

>> Our Marvin Bartlett sits down with Van Ingram to talk about his time dealing with Kentucky's drug problems.

That is tomorrow on Kentucky Edition.

We hope to see you back here tomorrow night at 630 eastern, 530 central for Kentucky Edition, where we inform, connect and inspire.

Subscribe to our Kentucky Edition Email newsletters.

You can watch full episodes and clips at ket.org.

Email your story ideas to Public affairs@ket.org and follow us on social media.

Have a good night.