For the first time in 101 years, Christian County will have a Republican judge-executive.
Republican Magistrate Jerry Gilliam defeated seven-term Judge-executive Steve Tribble by 917 votes in Tuesday’s general election. According to county historian William Turner, Gilliam is the first Republican to hold the office since Green Champlin in 1921.
Gilliam, who was elected magistrate in 2018, said he is grateful for the opportunity to serve Christian County on a larger scale.
click to download audioGilliam was listening to the returns at Republican headquarters at the War Memorial Building in downtown Hopkinsville. He said the fiscal court must find a way to keep a good quality of life in the county without consistently raising taxes.
click to download audioTribble, a Democrat, was elected judge-executive in 1993 and is the longest-serving judge-executive in the county’s history.
Gilliam will oversee a fiscal court that will consist of six Republicans and two Democrats.
Rich Liebe won a third term to fiscal court with a 209 vote (1,043-834) win over A.J. Rogers. The former Hopkinsville mayor will be one of two Democrats on the fiscal court after three incumbents were voted off.
Republican Josh Turner defeated two-term magistrate Mark Wells by 135 votes (924-789) in District 2.
Republican George Barnett, who lost to Mark Cansler by 75 votes in 2018, unseated the six-term magistrate by 298 votes (1,386-1,088)Tuesday. Cansler is the longest-serving magistrate on the fiscal court.
John Bruce defeated Democrat incumbent Terry Bowman by 817 votes (1,477-660), giving District 8 new representation for the first time in 16 years.
In the race to replace Gilliam’s District 7 seat, Republican Russ Guffey defeated David Fernandez by 784 votes (1,454-670).
Democrat Magaline Ferguson was unopposed in District 1 as were Republicans J.E. Pryor in District 4 and Phillip Peterson in District 6.
