BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) – It’s Primary Election Day in Kentucky.
While these races usually serve as a preview of what voters can expect come November, some races involve candidates from the same party, meaning tomorrow will be the final vote. One of those races is for 19th District State Representative, which sees 14 year incumbent Michael Meredith face off against up-and-comer Kelcey Rock.
Both Rock and Meredith emphasized wanting to find a balance between infrastructure growth in the 19th district, which includes Edmonson and parts of Warren counties.
“People are coming to Bowling Green and they’re finding that small town living in some of those outlying areas are more fitting for them,” Rock said. “That would be something that’d be great for Edmonson County, then they may they’re able to maintain their small town feel while at the same time benefiting from a little population increase from a few more industries.”
“We also have to do better about marketing ourself with regard to Mammoth Cave,” Meredith said. “Mammoth Cave makes up a third of the county, almost by land area. Most folks come to Mammoth Cave through cave city because it’s the interstates side, but we’ve got to create some synergy.”
One of the greater infrastructure issues facing Edmonson County currently is outdated equipment within the water system and issues exacerbated by the near removal of Lock 5.
“I was one of the few people that wrote letters of public comment to the Corps, saying that I didn’t think that’s the path that they needed to take. But they did that. And we now have to deal with what they’ve done,” Meredith explained. “So until we know what the river is going to actually look like and be like, we can’t craft an interim solution. We certainly don’t want to spend that full $14 million without having some assurances of what it’s going to look like and how we need to engineer that new solution.”
“It takes a full plan to outline the actual damage done, it’ll be a several year course of action to repair that,” Rock said. “With fears of droughts, certain areas are going to have to be replaced and upgraded, then move to the next series and next series. I like to defer to some engineers on that, because that goes way above my understanding of how that works.”
When asked what their two year plans would look like were they elected, both Rock and Meredith said they want to focus on bolstering Edmonson County as it continues to grow.
“My goal is to absolutely get the most done as possible. I’ve told other people I’ve kind of taken a much more minor role in finance than I have in the past, solely so that I could focus on the election. Then once I win I want to focus on being the best representative for this area that we can have,” Rock said.
“It’s one thing to file a bill, it’s another thing to get a bill passed. I bring the experience of being able to start with an idea, work through that idea, bring all parties to the table, to try to make sure that we don’t have unintended consequences,” Meredith said.
At the end of the interview, both men were given a final chance to explain why they believe they deserve the vote Tuesday.
“My roots are in both communities, my family’s roots are in both communities. I want to see a better life for my children right here in our community,” Meredith said. “Everything that I do is done with that in mind, so I would just encourage the people of Edmonson and Warren County to get out and exercise their right to vote.”
“A lot of these races come down to under 100 votes. So when people are a little discouraged by federal elections, big national elections, or even bigger local elections where there’s 1000s, upon 1000s of votes, a lot of the House races are just 100 votes. So this is truly a time when everybody can get out and make their voice heard,” Rock said.
For a full list of polling locations, visit the Commonwealth website.
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