Voters Choose Change

There will be several new faces in county government when officials take office in January following the May primary on Tuesday, May 19. 

Voters in Breathitt County signaled a desire for change on Tuesday, defeating two incumbent candidates for the county’s highest offices, County Judge Executive and Sheriff.  Two incumbents bucked the county-wide trend and were reelected, including County Attorney Brendon Miller and PVA Jeff Allen.   

Two other Constitutional offices will be filled with new officials after the election shuffle and a retirement, including the County Court Clerk and the Coroner.    

Clear skies, warm weather, and several contested races helped bring voters to the polls, with a total of 4,143 ballots cast from a potential pool of 9,753 registered voters in the county.

Officials announced late on Tuesday night that 27.39% of Breathitt County Republicans (502 voters) had voted in the election and 48.56% percent of Democrats (3,641 voters).  Overall, Breathitt County reports a 42.48% turnout.

Voters reported few lines, and county officials noted only minor, mostly electronic, issues during the day as polls remained open from 6:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

The first numbers tallied included the results of the 873 absentee unexcused voting ballots, which were read at 6:08 p.m.

State officials reported earlier in the week that Breathitt County’s numbers ranked near the top of the state in the percentage of registered voters who requested and returned absentee ballots.

The other absentee ballots, including the excused voters, were tallied before the first precinct, State Garage, arrived at the Courthouse at 6:20 p.m. 

Over the next few hours, the remaining nine voting centers returned the equipment and signed tallied sheets from the day’s voting. 

The votes from election goers representing 21 precincts were tallied by the members of the Breathitt County Election Board and the staff of the Breathitt County Clerk’s Office. 

As the returns were delivered to the County Court Clerk’s Office by voting center officials, Democratic Party Election Board Representative Cameron Adams read each vote total aloud to the clerks as Republican Committee Representative Yawnie Burton looked on to help verify the totals. 

The Clerk’s Office used two handwritten, paper tally sheets, electronic totals gathered from the machines, and an Excel spreadsheet to tabulate and cross-check the totals.    

Some excitement accompanied the process, as an error in the formula used to total the Excel spreadsheet produced several false totals early on Tuesday evening.

Officials noticed the mistake and quickly corrected the error by updating the formula.

“That is why we use four different methods to total the vote,” outgoing Breathitt County Clerk Becky Watts said.  “Our system worked, and we were able to fix the issue quickly.”

After several hours of calculations and rechecks, the Breathitt County Election Board certified the results at 8:02 p.m.

The official results included:

County Judge Executive

Hargis Epperson, the current Breathitt County coroner, received 1,796 votes to claim the Democratic Party’s nomination for County Judge Executive.  He defeated incumbent Judge Jeff D. Noble by 341 votes after he claimed 1,455 votes.  Political newcomer Vicie Pelfrey amassed 325 votes for third place.

Epperson will face local businessman Tim Spencer in the November General Election.  Spencer won the Republican primary with 304 votes, defeating Jeremy Keith Southwood, who received 138.   

Breathitt County Sheriff

Breathitt County will have a new Sheriff on January 1, 2027.  Former Trooper and current City Policeman Michael A. Wolfe defeated incumbent Sheriff John Hollan, former Sheriff Ray Clemons, Constable Ronnie Begley, and Frank Thorpe to claim the Democratic nomination for the office in the General Election.  He will face Allen E. Sperry in the fall.  Wolfe received 1,348 votes, followed by Clemons with 975, Hollan with 769, Begley with 392, and Thorpe with 99.

County Attorney

Brendon D. Miller led all vote getters in the May primary, tallying 1,912 votes in his race for a sixth term as Breathitt County Attorney.  Miller was the only incumbent county-wide office holder to be reelected.  He defeated B. Douglas Holbrook, who received 1,501 votes.

County Court Clerk

Long-time Breathitt County Court Clerk Becky Curtis announced her retirement and was not on the ballot for the first time in years.  A hotly contested race between Deputy Clerk Ashley Strong Barnett and Breathitt County Magistrate Ryan Chaney came down to the wire on Tuesday, with Strong claiming the victory by 232 votes.  Barnett’s total of 1,861 was enough to win the office in a two-person race after the passing of Della Lucas.

Coroner

A crowded field of eight contenders threw their hats into the ring to fill the office of Breathitt County Coroner after Hargis Epperson filed for County Judge.  Jackson City Councilman Jason Hall received the most votes with 760, followed by Brandi Hays Lykins, who received 609.  Marranda Stidham tallied 538 votes, followed by Arlie B. Howard with 504, George Turner with 468, Dennis Spicer with 295, Chase Fugate with 261, and Dallas Morris with 41.

Hall will face Republican Larry Little in the General Election in November.

Property Valuation Administrator

Jeff D. Allen, who was appointed to fill the term of Ervine Allen, Jr., carried Breathitt County and climbed the top spot for PVA with 1,602 votes compared with Matthew R. Hudson’s 1,279 and David C. Turner’s 607.

Magistrate District 1

Former Breathitt County Judge Executive John L. Smith led all candidates for the office of Magistrate in District 3 with 269 votes, winning the Democratic Primary by 32 votes over Justin Wayne Hollon, his closest competitor.  Smith defeated six other candidates for the office, including incumbent Magistrate Brenda F. Terry.

Smith will square off against Jamon Halvaksz in the General Election in November.

Magistrate District 2

Former Breathitt County Magistrate Roy O. Herald received 575 votes to reclaim the office of Magistrate for District 2 vacated by Ryan Chaney.  Herald defeated Gran W. McIntosh (221 votes) and Jarvis Combs (170 votes) to win the primary.  He will face Dickey Lee Abner, who was unopposed in the Republican Primary.

Magistrate District 3

Incumbent Magistrate Drewey Lovins claimed 524 of the 742 votes cast and easily won reelection.  He defeated Jeremy Pelfrey, who tallied 218 of the 742 votes.  Lovins is currently unopposed in the General Election.

Magistrate District 4

A total of 468 voters put incumbent Magistrate John Marshall back on the Breathitt County Fiscal Court.  He defeated Victor Turner and Michael Prater after Jeremy Montgomery withdrew from the race.  Marshal does not currently face any competition in the fall.

Constable District 1

Long-time Constable Mackie Richerson cruised to another victory on Tuesday after receiving 537 votes in his race for Constable.  Michael Gross received 294 votes. 

State Senator

Incumbent State Senator Brandon Smith of Hazard collected 7,275 votes (54%) to be reelected to his 30^th District Senate seat.  He defeated State Representative Bill Wesley by 1,027 votes.  In Breathitt County, Wesley carried the day with a tally of 269 votes to Smith’s 209.

United States Senator

Republican Andy Barr received 274 votes in Breathitt County, outpacing eleven other candidates.  Across the state, Barr collected 61% of the votes cast in the Republican primary.  He will face Democrat Charles Booker, who received 42% of the Democratic Party vote, although Amy McGrath won Breathitt County with 1,098 votes.

Fifth District Representative

Eighty-eight-year-old Hal Rogers received 360 votes in Breathitt County and more than 77% of the statewide vote to run for another term in the House of Representatives.

Unopposed Candidates

Several candidates were unopposed and did not appear on the Primary Ballot, including Jailer Joel Gross, Constable District 2 Brent Turner, Constable District 3 Ken Thompson, and Constable District 4 Doyle Turner.

With the May primary behind them, candidates now turn their attention to the General Election, which will be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, and will include several non-partisan races, including Mayor and Jackson City Council.