Incumbents pulled the highest vote totals of the twelve primary candidates for Paducah City Commission. The top 8 will move on to the general election.
In descending order, Paducah voters chose Allan Rhodes, Sandra Wilson, Richard Abraham, Anne Fowler Gwinn, Sarah Stewart Holland, Raynarldo Henderson, Eddie Jones and Frank Bennett to appear on November's ballot.
Allan Rhodes has served as a city commissioner since 2012. He says his focus is city spending.
“I know I’ve been the short man on many votes. But some of the spending the city’s done, I don’t agree with,” Rhodes said. “And I’m going to say so. I’m not going to go along to get along…. We have a finite amount of resources. And everybody’s got a good idea of what they could use money for, city’s help. And you have to ferret out what’s the best, what makes the biggest impact for the most people, and you’ve got to watch your spending.”
Sarah Stewart Holland is a first time candidate. She says the next generation of Paducah leaders needs a seat at the table and that’s what she hopes to bring in November.
“I think truly Paducah’s best days are in front of it. I have 3 little boys. I want to see population growth and job growth,” Holland said.
This was Frank Bennett’s second run for the commission. He says his priorities include assessing how Paducah pursues growth and new business, the city’s decision making process for spending, and working to engage the entire community.
“It’s just that we have a limited tax base here in Paducah. At the end of the day we’re a small community. It’s important that we treat everyone’s tax dollars as critical money and spend it only on things that are going to help this community grow,” Bennett said.
In November's general election, voters will choose four of the eight candidates to serve on the city commission. Allan Rhodes, Sandra Wilson, and Richard Abraham are incumbents.
Here are the 2016 Paducah City Commission primary election totals:
· Allan Rhodes: 2,827, 16.62%
· Sandra Wilson: 2,271, 13.35%
· Richard Abraham: 2,144, 12.61%
· Anne Fowler Gwinn: 1,498, 8.81%
· Sarah Stewart Holland: 1,339, 7.87%
· Raynarldo Henderson: 1,327, 7.8%
· Eddie Jones: 1,168, 6.87%
· Frank Bennett: 1,096, 6.45%
· Tracy Jones: 1,092, 6.42%,
· Vicky Holland: 874, 5.14%
· Brandon Duncan: 730, 4.29%
· Tony Veltri: 639, 3.76%
