[music] and commercials.

The candidates wait for the voters verdict.

But our elections up against anybody else's America today for both access and security.

The man in charge of Kentucky's elections says you can trust the process.

Like it or not, negative ads are effective.

And our political pundits talk about the tone of the 2026 primary.

Production of Kentucky Edition is made possible in part by the Millennium Fund.

Good evening and welcome to Kentucky Edition for this primary Election day.

It is Tuesday, May the 19th.

I'm Renee Shaw.

We thank you for joining us this Tuesday evening.

While the candidates have spoken, now we hear from the voters.

The polls are now closed in the eastern time zone of Kentucky.

They close in about 30 minutes.

In the Central time zone, Kentuckians are picking nominees for the U.S.

Senate, U.S.

House and some critical Kentucky General Assembly races, plus some local offices.

Wkyt caught up with some of the top candidates in today's primary as they cast their ballots among U.S.

Senate candidates.

Representative Andy Bar and his wife voted in his home district in Lexington today.

He says Election Day is always a special day for his family, and that he's the candidate who can keep Kentucky influential in Washington.

Barr says he's been focused on jobs, wages and the economy.

And it's paying off, he says.

I think that's one of the reasons why Republican voters in Kentucky are gravitating towards this campaign as we head into the polls today.

We're losing influence in Washington with the retirement of Senator McConnell.

So it's all the more important that we elect someone who can hit the ground running on day one, who can do this job because he knows the job.

I know this job.

I can do the job because I'm already doing the job.

I can help this president because I've already been helping the president advance this agenda.

And I'm an effective congressman.

I'll be even more effective.

U.S.

Senator.

Representative Barr currently serves on the House Banking and Finance Committee.

He has said he wants to serve on the same committee in the Senate if he wins the seat.

Bars main opponent, Daniel Cameron, voted today in Oldham County.

He was at the polls with his three young children and wife, Mackenzie.

He spent the last few days crisscrossing all across Kentucky.

Of course, we concluded our statewide tour last night and feel really good about the support that we received all across our one.

Hundred and 20 counties on that statewide tour, and am confident when the last vote is tallied today, I'm going to be the Republican nominee for the United States Senate.

You know, if you're ready for change.

You know, Congressman Barr has been in Washington for 14 years.

He's asking for another six that would give him 20.

If you're ready for somebody that's different and someone who's been standing firm for the values of Kentuckians all across our 120 counties and cares deeply about the future for our kids and our grandkids, then vote Daniel Cameron today.

And now to the Democratic candidates for U.S.

Senate.

Amy McGrath voted this morning at the Fort Mitchell City building in Kenton County.

Her 13 year old son joined her at the polls.

McGrath told us she feels good about the race, despite Republican Senator Mitch McConnell holding this seat for more than 40 years.

McGrath says she believes people are ready for change and that a Democrat can win in November.

People are really upset about the way things are going right now.

Prices are through the roof.

We have a war going on.

This bill that was passed last summer really hurts Kentucky in terms of health care, and I think people are tired of that.

And what they really what Kentuckians really don't want is a rubber stamp for the white House.

And we want somebody that is going to be a voice for us.

And so, yes, I do think there's a path for a Democrat.

A campaign is a long time.

It's a marathon, not a sprint.

We've been working very hard to get our message out, and we're really excited for today.

McGrath says competitive primaries are an important part of the nation's democracy.

The other main contender in the U.S.

Senate Democratic primary is Charles Booker.

He voted Saturday, taking advantage of early voting.

This is his third time running for a Senate seat.

The first was in 2020 and again in 2022.

We caught up with him as he was voting to hear why he thinks he has a shot this time around.

You know, the people of Kentucky are tired of big money politics, ignoring regular people, ignoring our needs and our challenges.

And so I'm running for U.S.

Senate to fight for us to make sure the government we pay for it works for us, and to do the work of ending generational poverty with Medicare for all and putting more money in the pockets of the people of Kentucky.

That's what this means to me, and I'm proud to take the stand now.

Fair, free and secure elections are a crucial part of a thriving democracy.

But you might wonder what kind of planning goes into Election Day and the different people who make it unfold safely and smoothly.

Our Toby Gibbs takes a look at some of the security measures in place at polling locations and command centers across the state.

This morning, Attorney General Russell Coleman pulled back the curtain on the state's Election Integrity Command center.

This is where phone calls and online submissions to Kentucky's election fraud hotline and web form are answered.

Coleman said ensuring Kentuckians have access to free, fair and secure elections is crucial.

If a caller has a credible report of fraud just walking through the process here, we refer it to our Department of Criminal Investigations, DCI, which is working with our federal, state and local partners.

Again, across the Commonwealth, this zealous collaboration really with boots on the ground, not just here in Frankfort from east to west, means that we're able to begin investigations immediately.

This is not something we're putting on.

This is immediately rolling out and chasing down these leads reported by you back in.

There should be no hesitancy that the purpose of us opening the veil, if you will, is to let Kentuckians know the great efforts, one that are going into ensuring that this election is free, fair and secure, but also to look our fellow Kentuckians in the eye and just encourage them to reach out.

We they will find that the other individual on the end of the line, if it's a phone call, will be professional and engaging, and we welcome the input.

So if Kentuckians are seeing something that they feel like is on the line, is walking a precarious tightrope between whether it is proper or not, then just reach out.

Allow us to make the call, allow our investigators and prosecutors to look at that and determine whether that conduct is criminal or not.

Election law violations can include vote buying and selling schemes, campaign signs within 100ft of a polling place, and voter registration fraud.

If you witnessed anything suspicious today, call one 800 328.

Vote that's one 800 328 vote.

Secretary of State Michael Adams is also working to make sure Kentucky's elections are fair and secure.

I put our elections up against anybody else's America today for both access and security.

We're the only state in America since I've been in office now for six years, that has both improved access for voters and also improved integrity in the election.

We've expanded the voting days significantly.

We make it easier not just to apply for an absentee ballot, but to track it, make sure it gets counted.

We've moved to paper ballots, so we kind of let.

So we've got a paper trail that we can audit after every election.

But we also have the fastest vote count in in the country.

Every every election.

You go to bed election night knowing who won and lost the elections in Kentucky while you wait on other states to take 2 or 3 weeks to count all their votes.

So I'm very proud of our system.

I'm proud of the fact that we ban any of our equipment that people vote on from touching the internet in any way.

Not every state does that.

Some use the internet.

We don't.

We're very old fashioned.

It's very Mayberry, it's very Petticoat Junction.

The technology that we use, we use calculators, pens, paper, even fax machines, pretty analog technology.

But I think that really fits us as a state in terms of the level of security that we want, because we don't want to try newfangled things and feel like it makes us slightly faster getting a count.

We're satisfied with where we are.

I think there are some things that we have left to do.

I'd like to do more of those, but I do think that you're seeing in Kentucky widespread confidence, even among the losers in our elections, being secure.

Still, Secretary Adams says there are changes he'd like to see to Kentucky's election laws.

If you if you look at our turnout so far.

Of course, 99% of the votes have been cast before Election Day are cast by Republicans and Democrats.

And interestingly, the Republicans are utilizing the early voting a lot more than the Democrats.

So as seen as sort of a not conservative idea, but as conservatives that are really loving the early voting.

So I'm really proud as a Republican that have brought that to Kentucky.

But about 1% of those voters are independents.

And the reason for that is in 118 of our counties, independents can't vote.

We have independents voting in Jefferson and Fayette counties because we have nonpartisan offices for city office, mayor and city council they can vote for.

I do think in time it won't be, well, I'm in office, but someday we will open our primaries.

Independent voters.

It's really in the interests of the two major parties to be courting the middle, to be courting the fastest growing voter block.

And my prediction is whichever party gets there first is going to have a huge advantage over the other because their party right now has a majority in registration.

Yesterday, Secretary Adams predicted voter turnout would be around 20% for the 2026 primary election for Kentucky edition.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

Thank you.

Toby.

After every Kentucky election, several counties are chosen at random for an audit.

During the audit, the state verifies that voting machines tabulated the paper ballots accurately.

In addition to the many state and federal races on the ballot today, most Kentuckians are also voting for local positions to like sheriff, coroner, city council, and mayor.

Here's a closer look at Lexington's mayoral primary and the two candidates generating the most buzz.

Here's our Clayton Dalton.

Lexington's incumbent mayor Linda Gorton, is running for a third and final term in office, with almost 24 years serving in local government.

Gorton is a household name for many in the city, but one of her opponents, realtor Raquel Carter, is mounting what some believe could be a serious challenge.

Yeah, so the experience that Raquel Carter has compared to Linda Gorton is fairly different.

Carter comes from sort of the real estate world.

She's the owner and principal broker of God Realty, and that's really been her main bread and butter for the the majority of her career, as opposed to Linda Gorton, who, you know, was had a long career as a registered nurse but is primarily known for having been on council for many, many years before becoming vice mayor and then eventually becoming mayor.

So you have a little bit of a little bit of a difference between someone with a more business minded background compared to a more government minded background.

So that's just kind of one element of what distinguishes them.

Gorton has a history of being outraised by her opponents, and so far this race is no different.

Raquel Carter has raised about $170,000 so far, but she's also spent the majority of that.

Gordon, on the other hand, has raised about $80,000, but she still has quite a bit left to spend, which has been her M.O.

in prior races.

Mayor Gordon is sort of interesting because of the fact that in almost every single race that she's had over the past decade, she has been outspent sometimes 5 to 1 and still wins in the last.

In her last election in 2022 against David Klauber.

She got 71% of the vote and won every single precinct but one.

So that is that is quite a hill to climb for Raquel Carter.

Now, one of the reasons why she has done so well in prior elections is because she's very well known.

You have to remember.

I mean, she's coming up on 24 years in City Hall.

Okay.

And then the other factor that maybe some people don't realize is that the South Side really does help determine the mayor's race in Lexington.

The reason why is because sometimes voter turnout there is twice what it is on the north side or other sides of town.

That is Mayor Gordon's council district, her former council district area.

And so you see a lot of mayors in Lexington.

Coming from that, what used to be the Fourth Council District.

Lexington's mayoral race is nonpartisan.

So candidates aren't formally tied to a political party.

But that doesn't mean candidates can't lean into party labels to appeal to voters.

Carter is publicly identifying as a Democrat in her campaign materials, something Gordon's campaign has said is insulting to voters.

In the past.

Using Partizan labels hasn't been a winning strategy.

In 2018, in Mayor Gordon's first race as mayor.

Her opponent, Ronnie Baston, sent out a mailer that identified himself as a Democrat but called Linda Gorton a sort of MAGA Republican, and said she was too close to Andy Bard for Lexington voters to support.

It was much more aggressive than the mailer that Carter sent out, which didn't mention Gorton at all.

It just said Raquel or Democrat Raquel Carter, and there's a negative response to, Baston said in 2018.

The mailer that went out a couple of weeks ago, where Carter mentioned herself as or labeled herself as a Democrat, has certainly sparked debate, and there are plenty of people who are still upset about it.

With affordable housing and the current administration's lackluster response to recent winter weather top of mind for many voters, the primary will give Lexington a chance to make their voices heard.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Clayton Dalton.

Thank you so much, Clayton.

For nonpartisan races like this one, the top two vote getters will advance to the general election in November.

We talked about the tone of the campaign last night on Kentucky tonight, particularly the U.S.

Senate race.

One of our Democratic candidates talked about whether it's would be ready to unite after the primary, while a Republican guest responded to complaints about candidates using scare tactics to win support.

Like it or not.

Negative ads are effective.

Positive ads you do those to build up positive name, ID and reaction regardless of party.

Negative ads have a greater impact.

Studies show when you do polling, do focus groups, whatever, negative ads are more effective.

And so when you're involved in what for most of the year looked like was going to be an incredibly intense, incredibly tight race.

Anything you can do to move those numbers, you got, you got to take advantage of of the tools in front of you.

Voters right now are tired.

They're wary.

They're tired of the sea salt, the daily drama and trauma that comes out of the federal administration right now.

And so I think the fact that both in the Senate race here in Kentucky, the sixth congressional race, we have a lot of diverse candidates.

We're going to have outcomes.

And on Wednesday, we're going to be ready to unify as a party because we haven't had the mud slinging.

Now, you can see that full hour long discussion online on demand at.

Tonight.

And we want you to stay right here with us on our special primary.

Election coverage begins immediately after Kentucky Edition will be with you for three hours tonight, with election returns and analysis from our panel of operatives and political experts.

That all begins at 7:00 eastern, six central, right here on KET.

There's news tonight about last November's UPS cargo plane crash in Louisville that killed 15 people.

The plane crashed shortly after takeoff when the engine separated from the MD 11 left wing.

During a hearing today, investigators revealed ten previous examples of problems involving the exact same bearings on other aircraft.

The National Transportation Safety Board is looking at why no one spotted the trend and took action to prevent it from happening again.

The NTSB says most of the previous problems were never reported to the Federal Aviation Administration, because investigators want to look at every factor.

The NTSB final report on the crash isn't expected until at least a year after the crash.

Three crew members and 12 people on the ground died in last November's crash.

People in Laurel County gathered to reflect one year after a deadly tornado there.

And we have the latest on a former sheriff accused of killing a judge.

Our Toby Gibbs is back to tell us more and our Tuesday look at headlines around Kentucky.

Fletcher county's former sheriff, Mickey Stephens, will be in court June 5th for a status hearing on his case.

Stephens is accused of shooting and killing Judge Kevin Mullins in Mullins Chambers in 2024.

According to Wieku radio, Stein's lawyers are claiming Stevens was insane.

The prosecution wants to move the trial out of Letcher County because of Stein's ties to the community.

People gathered at Wian Pine Elementary School in Laurel County Saturday to pay tribute to first responders and to acknowledge recovery efforts, one year after a devastating tornado.

19 people died in the tornado that hit Laurel, Pulaski and Russell counties.

May 16th, 2025.

The Sentinel Echo says the ceremony included prayers, music and remarks from survivors.

The Paducah Sun reports foster care advocates are worried about the new state budgets impact on child care, foster care and services for children who need public assistance.

The newspaper says the cuts add up to $118 million, or 9% of the funding, for the Department for Community Based Services.

The department has 5200 workers, and advocates worry about layoffs and the impact those layoffs would have on foster children.

From the Advocate Messenger.

Perryville.

Downtown is winning national praise.

The Main Street America program has given Perryville its highest designation for its work in downtown revitalization, preservation, and community development.

The organization praises Perryville for its beautification projects, its help for business owners, and its community events.

With headlines around Kentucky.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

The KPA Bradley Awards are the regional awards for high school musical theater, and they are happening in just a few weeks in Louisville.

Some winners even go on to compete in the National Jimmy Awards in New York City.

On Inside Louisville, Our Kelsey Starts explores the creation of these awards and how it's bringing students from all parts of Kentucky together to celebrate their art.

I think that what we'd like to see is more and more of the counties and be able to broaden, you know, our breath.

I think that poor Nick and his directors will have to work on how long the show is.

It might have been three hours and ten minutes last year, but.

But you didn't notice.

And so I think it's figuring out how to as people are more aware of it.

And more schools enter how that process and how how do you grow it and how do the Jimmy Awards nationally, the Jimmy's are put on by the Broadway League, which is the trade association for Broadway.

And and we were the last program admitted because it's become so popular.

They now have a management issue on how do we produce this with more inclusion and keep counting.

So I think I think it's just keeping it going, keeping its exposure and really reaching more and more kids who see it's possible, you know, that they can be up there or they can be behind the scenes because, you know, I always say it takes all the stars backstage to make the stars on stage shine, you know?

Absolutely.

Yeah.

I agree with everything you said.

And I'll just add that I think as we continue to grow the program, I think providing even more opportunities for the leaders in these various communities would be the superintendents or boards of education or, or other community leaders to give them something that they can really use to celebrate the arts and their schools, the artists in their schools, their arts educators the same way that we do with our sports programs and and our other academic programs, because I think our arts programs are academic programs.

Sure.

And just to really give our community a way to celebrate all of these students and make sure that we're really championing their efforts.

Yeah.

Well, I mean, it's no secret that the arts programs in, in schools across the state, across the country are being cut.

It's hard to find teachers, educators who are going to step up and put in those, you know, extra hours that you have to do in a program like this.

What's what would you want people to know about the impact of arts education in schools?

You want me to jump in there?

I mean, I know we can go at not.

So I think that when you see a show, you you see things, you find empathy.

You you have admiration for the people on the stage.

And you see talent, but then you get wrapped into a story and hopefully you're escaping the theater seat that you're sitting in and you're transported somewhere magical, maybe somewhere you'll never be able to go.

But it took you there for for a glimmer of a moment.

But also, I really think it's important for people's emotions and, and, and just really you put yourself in someone else's shoes.

It definitely does that.

And if you're lucky, you get goosebumps from it.

And either, you know, we need the arts need participants, they need attendees and they need doers, you know, so so all of those things.

And I think that this, this touches that and sends kids out with a stronger sense of self and and really most importantly, as you said earlier, confidence, confidence to be able to stand up and speak in front of three people, ten people or 2000 people.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's different from a lot of other topics.

I feel like the arts, you're almost always using your brain, your heart and or your body to participate and tell your story and make your contribution.

And that is a very vulnerable process.

It takes a lot of courage, and that's if you are on stage or having the the courageous to stage, manage or put your costume design idea out there and say, what do you think?

And so I think our arts educators, you know, they're very emotionally intelligent people who are really supporting our students through finding their voice, discovering confidence.

And that is just such a special type of championing, championing of of our students and a special type of relationship.

And the number of times I have heard a student say, my arts educator is one of the people who have inspired me the most, or who have made me feel the most comfortable with who I am or made me feel the safest.

I just can't say enough about our arts educators and the important role that they're playing in education and in our society.

Learn more about the KPA Bradley Awards and meet some of last year's winners on Inside Louisville.

That streaming online and on demand right now at Dot.

So who moves on to November?

We'll hear from the winners of today's big races as we look ahead to the fall matchups for the U.S.

Senate and House.

A full recap of today's primary election here in Kentucky tomorrow on Kentucky Edition, which we hope that you'll join us again for at 630 eastern, 530 central, where we inform, connect and inspire.

We hope that you'll subscribe to our Kentucky Edition email newsletters and watch full episodes and clips at.

You can also find us on the PBS video app, on your mobile device and smart TV.

We encourage you to send us a story idea, or just a shout out by email to Public Affairs at.

And of course, you can find us on the socials, Facebook, formerly known as Twitter and Instagram to stay in the loop.

Hang right there and grab you some water, maybe a little dinner, and we're going to be right back for primary election 2026 coverage wall to wall for the next three hours right here on KET I'm Renee Shaw and I will see you in just a few minutes.

Stay tuned.