Filiatreau wins second term as clerk; Bevin falls, Mattingly, Shields win

Elaine Filiatreau, left, David Shields, center, and Ed Mattingly were winnings in the Tuesday primary election.

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette

Tuesday, May 20, 2014, 9:30 p.m. — Nelson County Clerk Elaine Filiatreau will serve another four-year term after winning Tuesday’s primary election. Filiatreau won 55.94 percent of the vote in her race against challenger Jeanette Hall Sidebottom. Sidebottom won four of the county’s 24 precincts. Filiatreau has no opposition in the November general election.

In Nelson County, voter turnout was 21.74 percent, with 6,473 out of 31,023 registered voters making it to the polls Tuesday. At press time, voter turnout statewide averaged about 21 percent.

In the Democratic primary for Nelson County Sheriff, Ed Mattingly won in a landslide over challenger Brooks Houck, earning 77 percent of the vote and winning all 24 of the county’s precincts. Mattingly will face Republican J. T. Fulkerson in the November general election. Though sheriff candidate Kenny Downs withdrew from the race, he received only 4 fewer votes than Houck.

In the Democratic primary for 4th District magistrate, David Shields topped Bobby Settles, winning all five precincts and earning 57.5 percent of the vote. There were 1,254 total votes cast in that race.

In the much-watched Republican primary for U.S. senator, Matt Bevin fell short in his bid to beat five-term incumbent Mitch McConnell. Bevin won six of the county’s 24 precincts, and only lost by a slim margin in 10 others.

But Bevin did not fare as well statewide. At 9 p.m. with 78 percent of counties reporting, McConnell led Bevin with 60 percent of the vote to Bevin’s 36 percent. At press time, Bevin had won just two of Kentucky’s 120 counties.

In the Democratic primary for U.S. senator, Alison Lundergan Grimes left her three primary opponents in the dust and captured more than 77 percent of the vote.

Voter turnout varied widely across the state. Jefferson County and Lewis County had turnouts under 10 percent, while other counties — Wolfe, Robertson, Breathitt, Floyd, Clinton and others — had turnouts of more than 50 percent.

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