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McCracken County Judge Executive Race Set With Three Candidates

Lance Dennee
/
WKMS

Updated 5 p.m.

The stage is set for the next McCracken County Judge Executive race, with two candidates filing their letter of intent by today's deadline.

Kentucky’s 2nd District Senator Bob Leeper filed his candidacy statement this morning, and current Judge Executive Van Newberry filed at 3:25 p.m.

Candidates aren't required to officially file for office until Aug. 12. 

Both candidates are registered independents but Newberry switched his party affiliation just this January.

Newberry says he isn't concerned with  charges against him for alleged zoning misconduct. He adds that he's running on his record.

Leeper announced he is not running again for the state senate in October. He is currently the head of the Appropriations and Revenue Committee. 

Leeper says his pension is an issue in this race. In Kentucky, public pensions are determined by the average of the person's high five-year salary. The pay of a county judge-executive is much higher than Leeper's current salary as a state senator.

He says he the pension issue is part of his decision making process.

"Obviously, you don't get into these jobs to make money, but you don't get involved in these jobs to lose money either," he said.

The only other candidate in the race is Democrat Jeff Hines. 

Whitney grew up listening to Car Talk to and from her family’s beach vacation each year, but it wasn’t until a friend introduced her to This American Life that radio really grabbed her attention. She is a recent graduate from Union University in Jackson, Tenn., where she studied journalism. When she’s not at WKMS, you can find her working on her backyard compost pile and garden, getting lost on her bicycle or crocheting one massive blanket.
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