Challenger Russ Guffey defeated one-term incumbent James R. Knight Jr. by 180 votes Tuesday in the Republican primary for Hopkinsville mayor, earning a spot in the November general election.
Aware of the slim margin, Guffey, who gave up running for reelection as county magistrate to seek the mayor’s office, said he won’t take anything for granted in November.
“As we go into the general [election] with three different candidates — Republican, Independent and a Democrat — it doesn’t take very many votes to swing something either way,” Guffey told supporters gathered at the Memorial Building for an election watch party.
Guffey, a business owner with the Little Caesars franchise in Hopkinsville, will face Independent candidate Desaepa Vansauwa, also a local business owner with a food truck, and Democrat Markeeta Wilkerson, who ran but did not win a city council race two years ago.
Focusing on the next race, Guffey said he believes elections hinge on the silent majority.
“A lot of people get caught up in social media posts — and a lot of that is negative-based,” he said. “… I think the results will show that it’s not about a click here or a like there. It’s about who shows up at the polls.”
Asked what residents of Hopkinsville could expect if he were elected mayor, Guffey said, “I hope we can be more unified.”
Guffey said he believes Hopkinsville’s strength rests in its differences, which shouldn’t be viewed as disadvantages. He sees this in the city’s racial makeup, the economy, the variety of industries and in the range of political beliefs that residents hold.
Shortly after the county clerk posted the election results, Knight walked up South Virginia Street from his watch party to personally congratulate Guffey at the Memorial Building.
“I will keep pushing forward, we will keep moving Hopkinsville forward for the next seven months,” Knight told Hoptown Chronicle. “I’m not leaving Hopkinsville. I’m not leaving here with a grudge. I’m not leaving this office with a grudge. The people have spoken and we will go right back to work tomorrow morning, and we will keep pushing forward.”
Knight said a top priority for the rest of his term will be completion of a housing plan for the city.
“I want to see the housing plan done in seven months,” he said. “I don’t know if we’ll get it done, but we’ve got a lot working on it, and we’ll keep pushing forward. … because without housing, Hopkinsville is not going to grow.”
Knight, who had never held political office before he won the mayor’s race in 2022, said he’ll also be deciding about his future.
“I know I have a business I can go back to running right now if I want to,” he said, referring to his family’s appliance repair service. “But I’ve really got to sit down and look at it. I was planning on being mayor for four more years.”
He did not rule out seeking another elected office at some point.
“I’m very proud to be able to say that I served the citizens of Hopkinsville,” he said. “… It’s been a great honor to be mayor.”
This article was originally published by the Hoptown Chronicle.
