In-person votes give Thrasher 39-vote lead over McCoy for 50th District primary
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Tuesday, June 23, 2020 — The results of in-person and drive-thru voting Tuesday left the race for Republican primary for 50th District state representative up in the air when all the votes were tallied.
By the Nelson County Gazette’s count, Thrasher received 706 votes, while incumbent two-term state Rep. Chad McCoy trailed with 667 votes.
Republican political watchers believe that many of Thrasher’s supporters voted in person, and that the final tally of the absentee ballots may be enough to give McCoy a win and keep his seat in the General Assembly.
According to the voting machine tapes, a total of 2,624 votes cast at the Nelson County Fairgrounds.
U.S. SENATE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY. The votes cast by Democrats reflect the recent surge in the polls by state Rep. Charles Booker of Louisville.
Booker received 515 votes to Amy McGrath’s 343. Mike Broiher received 110 votes. Of course, the final results won’t be tallied until all of the absentee ballots are counted later this week. Some local Democrats tell the Gazette that McGrath may catch up with Booker when the absentee ballots are counted, since many may have voted before Booker’s rise in the polls.
GOP 2ND DISTRICT. U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie easily topped his challenger, Kathleen Free, 1,222 votes to 157.
DEMOCRAT 50th DISTRICT STATE REP. Nelson County Democrats may now wish they hadn’t run former candidate for state representative David Reed off the primary ballot.
While Reed’s name was on the ballot, he had withdrawn as a candidate after the Democratic party challenged his “bonafides.” Reed had switched parties in late December 2019, and the Democratic party rejected him as a candidate.
While the votes cast for Reed won’t count, the machine totals show that he received 602 votes to 409 votes for the only Democrat actually running in the 50th District primary, Kory Miller.
GOP U.S. SENATE PRIMARY. Sen. Mitch McConnell handily dispatched the seven challengers with him on the Republican primary ballot.
PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES. President Donald Trump had no challengers on the ballot beyond “uncommitted.” Democrat Joe Biden — the presumed Democratic nominee — received the lion’s share of votes, while the 11 other candidates and “uncommitted” gathered a smattering of votes.
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