Three Republican newcomers are facing off in Kentucky’s primary election for the District Five Christian County Fiscal Court seat, and the trio recently shared their stances on local issues at a forum hosted by the Hopkinsville League of Women Voters.
At the forum, candidates Virginia Hurt-Erxleben, Jonathan Zordel and Austin Crawford discussed property code enforcement for the county, how to address crime and how they plan to be accessible to their constituents.
Crawford and Zordel were on the fence about expanding property code enforcement laws to the county, but Hurt-Erxleben supports the measure. If elected, she says one of her priorities is to keep her community safe, and creating code enforcement mechanisms can support that effort.
To tackle crime and drug issues in his district, Crawford believes local law enforcement needs to be well funded and says he would also look into creating more job opportunities in the county. By creating more opportunities for residents, Crawford says crime will dip, and the standard of living will rise.
Fiscal Court Magistrates also must be accessible to their constituents. If elected, Zordel says he pledges to use some of his fiscal court stipend to invest in creating a newsletter or a website to keep folks informed.
The winner in the primary election will then go against Democratic candidate James Smith in the general election. The full forum is available on Facebook at League of Women Voters – Hopkinsville, Ky.