Bluegrass Politics » Teresa Isaac

Kentucky Poll: Lexington mayor’s race too close to call

Accountability Editor — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 21:59:52 +0000

PDF: Detailed poll results By Andy Mead - amead@herald-leader.com Vice Mayor Jim Gray appears to have a slim advantage over incumbent Mayor Jim Newberry in the race for Lexington’s top job, a new Kentucky Poll shows. It is the first time an independent poll has shown the challenger out front in the non-partisan contest, although Gray’s four-point lead is within the poll’s margin of error. Among likely voters, Gray leads Newberry 44 percent to 40 percent, with 16 percent undecided. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. Gray trailed Newberry in the May primary, getting 37.5 percent of the vote to Newberry’s 43.7 percent. Former Mayor Teresa Isaac, who received 16.6 percent in the primary and didn’t move forward to the general election, endorsed Gray two days before the poll began. The live telephone survey of 500 likely Fayette County voters was conducted from Oct. 15 through Oct. 19 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research of Washington D.C. It was commissioned by the Lexington Herald-Leader and WKYT-TV.

Teresa Isaac endorses Jim Gray for mayor of Lexington

Accountability Editor — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 15:27:48 +0000

By Andy Mead - amead@herald-leader.com Former Mayor Teresa Isaac endorsed Vice Mayor Jim Gray for the city’s top job Tuesday, promising to walk neighborhoods and attend neighborhood meetings with her former foe. “I believe he is a true leader,” Isaac said. Isaac said she has known Gray, a businessman, for more than 20 years, and has found him to be accessible, and someone who values diversity and inspires his employees. About 80 Gray supporters attended the endorsement announcement, which was held on a stage that had been set up in a parking lot at East Third and Race streets. Isaac has traditionally done well in that area north of downtown, which is heavily African American. Isaac was elected in 2002, beating Scott Crosbie in the general election after Gray was eliminated in the primary. Crosbie, who now supports Gray, introduced Isaac Tuesday, repeatedly calling her “Isaacs.”

Voter’s Guide 2010: Compare the candidates on the issues

Accountability Editor — Sun, 16 May 2010 12:37:04 +0000

• U.S. SENATE: Democrats Candidates were asked to answer each question in 40 words or fewer. Compiled by Jack Brammer. • U.S. SENATE: Republicans Candidates were asked to answer each question in 40 words or fewer. Compiled by Jack Brammer. • STATE HOUSE (Fayette County) There are three competitive primaries for state House districts that cover portions of Fayette County. Compiled by Beth Musgrave. • ON THE BALLOT These are the candidates in state and federal primary races. Also listed are candidates in county and city races in Fayette, Bourbon, Clark, Franklin, Jessamine, Madison, Scott and Woodford counties. • URBAN COUNTY COUNCIL: Council At Large Voters may cast a ballot for three council-at-large candidates. The top six vote-getters will advance. Compiled by Beverly Fortune. • 6th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Republicans Candidates were asked to answer each question in 40 words or fewer. Compiled by John Cheves. • LEXINGTON MAYOR Candidates were asked to answer each question in 40 words or fewer. Compiled by Andy Mead. Also: State Senate (Fayette County) can be found at the bottom of the PDF.

Lexington mayoral candidates air views on radio show

Accountability Editor — Sat, 15 May 2010 12:40:09 +0000

By Andy Mead - amead@herald-leader.com Nearly 12 weeks after their first meeting, the four candidates running for mayor of Lexington got together Friday for their last forum before Tuesday's primary election. The forum was hosted by Leland Conway, a conservative WLAP-AM radio commentator, whose first question was whether the candidates favored bigger government or smaller government. Conway asked for a one-word answer. Mayor Jim Newberry, Vice Mayor Jim Gray, former Mayor Teresa Isaac and businessman Skip Horine all said "smaller" — although all but Isaac managed to tack more words onto their answer. Conway said the questions came from him, from listeners to his program, and from the conservative 9-12 Group. The candidates were asked whether they supported the new Arizona law that allows local police to check people's immigration status. "Not the same way it is in Arizona," Gray said.

Gray loans $100,000 to his mayoral campaign

Accountability Editor — Sat, 15 May 2010 12:36:19 +0000

By Andy Mead - amead@herald-leader.com Finance reports filed this week show that Vice Mayor Jim Gray loaned his mayoral campaign $100,000. That was followed by a charge from the campaign of Mayor Jim Newberry that Gray had gone back on his word that he wasn't going to finance his own campaign. The Newberry campaign sent supporters an e-mail with a link to a YouTube video of Gray being interviewed by WKYT-TV's Bill Bryant. "Are you going to self-finance this campaign?" Bryant asks. "Absolutely not," Gray replies.

Kentucky Poll: Newberry holds lead in primary and fall matchups

Accountability Editor — Tue, 11 May 2010 21:59:50 +0000

UPDATED THROUGHOUT AT 8 A.M. WEDNESDAY PDF: Detailed poll results By Andy Mead - amead@herald-leader.com Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry has a solid lead in his re-election bid going into Tuesday’s primary election, according to a new Kentucky Poll of likely Lexington voters. Newberry’s two main challengers — Vice Mayor Jim Gray and former Mayor Teresa Isaac — are in a tighter six-point race to determine who likely will face him in the general election this fall. Newberry has a nine-point lead over Gray and a 15-point lead over Isaac in the poll conducted from Saturday through Monday. The telephone survey of 600 likely voters has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points. When voters were asked to look more than five months ahead to the fall election, Newberry came out on top in head-to-head matchups with his two chief challengers, although his eight-point lead over Gray is within the poll’s margin of error. He outpaced Isaac by 17 points. In the primary poll, 36 percent chose Newberry, compared with 27 percent for Gray and 21 percent for Isaac. Another 14 percent were undecided. Businessman Skip Horine, who has run a limited campaign, was picked by 2 percent of respondents.

Lexington mayor’s race turns negative

Accountability Editor — Mon, 10 May 2010 23:19:40 +0000

By Andy Mead - amead@herald-leader.com The campaign for mayor of Lexington is heating up, with political charges that have been traded at forums now moving into living rooms through television ads. Last week, Vice Mayor Jim Gray aired an ad that faulted Mayor Jim Newberry for his "mistakes" on the stalled CenterePointe development, an audit of Blue Grass Airport and the city's water supply. Newberry fired back, saying it was Gray who has made mistakes, and charging that Gray had done nothing to correct what Gray says were the mayor's errors. Former Mayor Teresa Isaac also is on television, with an ad showing a scowling Newberry facing a scowling Gray, while an announcer says that several fees have increased "with these two men running our government." Campaign finance reports filed Monday show that Gray, who poured hundreds of thousands of his own money into his two previous races, has loaned $100,000 to the current effort.

Newberry launches first TV ad of Lexington mayor’s race

Accountability Editor — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 23:42:29 +0000

Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry has launched his first TV ad in his re-election effort, claiming he has quieted the “chaos at City Hall” he inherited in 2006. The 30-second ad includes comments from former Mayor Scotty Baesler and businessman Alan Stein, president of the Lexington Legends baseball team. “Jim Newberry has been a steady hand on the wheel,” Baesler said. “Mayor Newberry made the government more efficient,” said Stein. The ad claims Newberry has saved taxpayers $12 million a year, reduced government payroll by 200 positions and created more than 2,300 jobs. State employment figures show the number of people working in Fayette County has dropped from 143,621 in January 2007 to 138,086 in January 2010, the latest figures available. Newberry’s chief rivals in the race are Vice Mayor Jim Gray and former Mayor Teresa Isaac. Newberry is the first candidate to air an ad on TV in the race. - Jack Brammer

Lexington mayoral candidates spar over ‘smart growth’

andymead — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:36:03 +0000

The “big hole” in the middle of Lexington that was cleared for the stalled CentrePointe project is the result of “failed leadership,” Vice Mayor Jim Gray said Wednesday. His comment came at the beginning of a two-hour mayoral forum at the Lexington Public Library on Main Street, next door to the block where grass now grows. Mayor Jim Newberry, the implied target of Gray’s remark, waited until near the end of the two-hour event before firing back. He said that on Aug. 7, 2008, Gray announced that he planned to launch a task force to look into why the city allowed some of the buildings in the CentrePointe block to be neglected by their owners. “It’s 580 days later and that hasn’t happened,” Newberry said. It was the second meeting for the four people who want to be the city’s next mayor, and it followed what may become a pattern: Gray says Newberry is to blame for CentrePointe, Newberry said Gray has accomplished nothing, former Mayor Teresa Isaac talks about her accomplishments when she held the office, and technology consultant Skip Horine promises to reduce government and makes allegations about misbehavior by the police.

Appeals court upholds ruling against Bishop, Louisville

Beth Musgrave — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:24:36 +0000

FRANKFORT — A three judge panel of the state Court of Appeals on Friday upheld a nearly $1 million retaliation and discrimination claim against the city of Louisville and Ron Bishop, who now heads the Fayette County jail. Bishop was director of the Jefferson County Metro Corrections in 1998, when Kelvin Brooks and Donna Martin filed a lawsuit against him and the city. Martin was the long-time human resources manager at the jail and was involved in the discipline of several officers who were accused of sexual harassment. Martin and Bishop disagreed on how those officers should be treated. Martin alleges that once she expressed concerns about the way the cases were handled, she was subjected to verbal abuse and other forms of harassment.