Primary 2026: Candidates make their case at local Republican Party debate

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, March 24, 2026 — Republican candidates on the May primary ballot — for the offices of County Coroner, PVA, Magistrate District 3 and Magistrate District 5 — gathered Tuesday night at Thomas Nelson High School to make their pitch to GOP voters as why each was worthy of their support.

Hardin County resident Retired Brig. Gen. Roger Deon served as moderator of the debate.

NELSON COUNTY CORONER. Coroner candidate Kerry Monin decided not to participate in the event, leaving incumbent Coroner Danielle Chladek with the opportunity to review her record as the county’s first female coroner and one not affiliated with a funeral home.

She explained what she does as coroner and how her duties are prescribed by state law. She works with other emergency agencies as part of her job. She has three deputy coroners who work in her office.

DISTRICT 3 MAGISTRATE. Candidate David Call detailed how deep his roots are in District 3. He said he is a people person who only wants to help the district. If elected, he would be as cautious about spending county money like he does his own.

Incumbent Magistrate M.T. Harned told that he comes from a long line of farmers in District 3. In addition to his service as a magistrate, he owns two businesses — Bud’s Produce in Elizabethtown and Loretto Foodland. He told the audience he was proud of what Nelson Fiscal Court has accomplished for Nelson County, and hoped to continue serving ad District 3 magistrate.

Call questioned how Harned could be available when he operates businesses outside Nelson County. Harned said he has great people working for him, and getting away from work to take care of county or district 3 business wasn’t a problem. He said he always returns phone calls and text messages from constituents.

When asked about property taxes, Harned said he has been pleased with Judge-Executive Tim Hutchins’ moves to keep taxes lower by not taking the allowable 4 percent tax revenue increase each year. “We work real hard to ease that burden on the local level the best we can,” he said.

NELSON COUNTY PROPERTY VALUATION ADMINISTRATOR (PVA). Incumbent PVA Jason Williams said his office needs to do more assessments each year. He said his goal is to be able to do annual assessments of property, which would allow for smaller annual increases in property values for individual homes and properties.

Williams made it clear that his office does not set tax rates. The assessments his office develops are just one part of the equation that determines who much anyone pays in property tax, and state law requires properties to be valued at 100 percent of fair cash value.

Challenger Stephen Hibbs touted his many years of service as a licensed professional surveyor as experience that qualifies him to be the county’s next PVA.

He said that 20-year-old homes in a subdivision shouldn’t be valued as high as a newly built home in a different section of the same subdivision. He said that had to be looked at to balance it out so valuations are fair to everyone.

Hibbs also said that annual assessments would help avoid large increases in property valuations and the resulting large tax increases.

DISTRICT 5 MAGISTRATE. With Magistrate Jon Snow’s decision not to seek re-election, three Republican candidates are seeking to fill his seat on Nelson Fiscal Court.

Chaplin resident Bobby Chesser said he is an honest person who enjoys helping people. “There’s a lot of things I don’t know but I’m willing to learn,” he said. He said what District 5 and the Chaplin area needs is a more prominent police presence or police force because anyone needing help has to wait for officers to arrive from the Bardstown area.

Bloomfield Fire Chief Ted Shields said that as a magistrate, he will be an independent voice. “I’m beholden to no one,” he said. “I will only be beholden to the voters.”

Shields has been a firefighter for 35 years, and chief of the Northeast Nelson Fire Protection District for 27 of those years.

“I’m committed to efficiency and transparency in all levels of government,” he said. “If elected I will make sure what we are doing as a fiscal court is as efficient as possible.”

Wisconsin native Debra Bohachevsky has been living in Nelson County with her family for 25 years. She emphasized her passion to serve the district and that since her sons have taken over operation of their farm, she has the time to serve as magistrate.

“I’ll consider being magistrate a fulltime job,” she said, adding that she will travel to Frankfort to lobby on behalf of the county’s welfare when necessary.

“I want to advocate for the community, I want to represent the community,” she said. “I want to be here for you guys — all of Nelson County, not just the Fifth District.”

When the candidates were asked how they would decide in the event they had to choose between giving employee raises and repairing a road, all three said the road issue — given its importance to safety of residents — would take precedence all things being equal.

Shields said he will be ready to serve on fiscal court “on Day One.”

“I’m not saying a don’t have more to learn, but I’m ready to start on Day One and hopefully be the best representative for the Fifth District that I can,” he said.

NEXT UP. The next debate is 6 p.m. Monday, March 30, 2026, at the Thomas Nelson High School auditorium and will feature the Repubican candidates for District 2 magistrate — incumbent Adam Wheatley and former District 2 magistrate Gary Coulter — and the Republican candidates for Judge-Executive, incumbent Tim Hutchins and challenger Don Thrasher.

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