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See results and the latest news in the 2026 midterms in OH, KY and IN >>

Several tight races in Northern Kentucky could result in a recount

91.7 WVXU | By Dany Villarreal Martinez, WVXU
Published November 4, 2026 at 1:06 PM EST
a paper wristband that says "I voted today!" in red block lettering
Darron Cummings
/
AP
Voting armbands are left for voters as they leave the Kentucky Exposition Center, on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Louisville, Ky.

Northern Kentucky had a number of highly contested local races this election, and in a few cases the winners are leading by less than 1% of the vote.

In Boone County, Chet Hand won the race for Judge/Executive after defeating longtime incumbent Gary Moore for the Republican primary in May.

While a record number of Democratic candidates ran for county commissioner, none were able to flip the seats.

But voters flipped the historically Republican 65th representative district seat: Democrat Aaron John Currin won that race against Republican incumbent Stephanie Dietz.

A voter casts their ballot on the first day of early voting at the Hamilton County Board of Elections, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in Cincinnati. In-person voting has begun in swing-state Ohio for the Nov. 6 elections for governor, U.S. Senate, House seats and a host of other state and local offices and issues. Registration closed Tuesday, and county voting centers opened Wednesday morning.
Politics
More results and coverage of the 2026 midterms

In Fort Thomas, voters ousted four incumbents after public concerns about financial issues and transparency. Mayoral candidate Sharon McKnight is also the expected winner, though she is only 25 votes ahead of incumbent Andy Ellison.

The mayoral race in Erlanger is also tight, with incumbent Jessica Fette ahead by only 56 votes.

Races where candidates won by less than 1% of the vote may be recounted at the request of the candidate. Based on unofficial preliminary results, those include:

  • Fort Thomas Mayor
  • Fort Thomas City Council
  • Elsmere Mayor
  • Elsmere City Council
  • Erlanger Mayor
  • Erlanger City Council
  • Park Hills City Council
  • Walton City Council

The deadline to request a recount is 4 p.m. on Nov. 10.

Kenton County Clerk Gabrielle Summe said in the case of perfect ties, such as the sixth seat for Park Hills City Council, the law states it is “luck of the draw.”

“By Kentucky Law it is basically the luck of the draw and there are several ways to do that. For example, a coin toss,” Summe said. “Once we discuss we will contact the candidates and set up a time to deal with the tie.”

Full election results

See election results for Boone, Campbell and Kenton Counties below.

Results are unofficial until all remaining ballots (such as absentee and provisional) are counted and confirmed by the county's Board of Elections.

In most cases, only winners are listed, in alphabetical order by first name. For a full list of candidates who ran in the race, visit the Secretary of State’s candidate filings.

Local city council and city commission races are nonpartisan, meaning candidates do not run under a registered political party.

Jump to:

Boone County 

County Judge/ Executive: Chet Hand (R)

County Commissioner

  • District 1: Cathy Hudson Falig (R)
  • District 2: John Schickel (R)
  • District 3 (uncontested): Jesse A Brewer (R)

County Clerk — uncontested: Justin Crigler (R)

County Attorney — uncontested: Jordan Dallar Turner (R)

Sheriff — uncontested: Les Hill (R)

Jailer — uncontested: Jason Maydak (R)

Property Valuation Administrator — uncontested: Jonathan L Brown (R)

Magistrate/ Justice of the Peace: None

Constable

  • District 1 (uncontested): David Flaig (R)
  • District 2 (uncontested): Patrick Bailey (R)
  • District 3 (uncontested): James Nelson (R)

Coroner — uncontested: Missy Rittinger (R)

Surveyor — uncontested: Greg Larison (R)

Florence

Mayor: Julie Metzger Aubuchon

City Legislative Body

  • Angie Cable
  • Diane Whalen
  • Duane Froelicher
  • Gary Winn
  • Lesley Chambers
  • Shari Kilmer

Union

Mayor: John J. Mefford

City Legislative Body

  • Christopher Reeves
  • Doug Bine
  • Eric Dulaney
  • George Eldridge

Walton

Mayor: Terri Lynn Courtney

City Legislative Body — 6 seats, recount possible if requested

  1. Eric M. Tungate (640 votes, 13.7%)
  2. Paula M. Jolley (633 votes, 13.5%)
  3. Amy Long (605 votes, 12.9%)
  4. Dan Martin (554 votes, 11.8%)
  5. Sherry Gaskill (522 votes, 11.2%)
  6. Paul David Washburn (486 votes, 10.4%)

Candidate Mark S. Carnahan is currently ranked seventh with 460 votes (9.8%)

Campbell County 

County Judge/Executive — uncontested: Andrew Schabell (R)

County Commissioner

  • District 1 (uncontested): Brian Painter (R)
  • District 2 (uncontested): Geoff Besecker (R)
  • District 3 (uncontested): Tom Lampe (R)

County Clerk — uncontested: Jim Luersen (R)

Sheriff — uncontested: Mike Jansen (R)

Jailer — uncontested: Ryan Grosser

Property Valuation Administrator — uncontested: Fred A. Macke (R)

Magistrate/ Justice of the Peace

  • District 1 (uncontested): Frank Meyer (R)
  • District 2 (uncontested): Mike Dutle (D)

Constable

  • District 1 (uncontested): Sean Donelan (R)
  • District 2 (uncontested): Kevin Sell (R)
  • District 3 (uncontested): William Hunt (R)

Coroner: None

Surveyor — uncontested: Ryan Hartig (R)

Alexandria

Mayor — uncontested: Robert Strong

City Legislative Body

  • Laura Fincher
  • Michael McGrath
  • Nick Sears
  • Patrick Blair
  • Stacey Graus
  • Thomas Baldridge

Bellevue

Mayor — uncontested: David Fessler

City Legislative Body

  • Charlie Zimmerman
  • Chasity Bothman
  • Kara Harp
  • Mike Almoslechner
  • Shauna Kruse
  • Stephen Guidugli

California

Mayor — uncontested: Emma Neises

City Legislative Body

  • Chrissy Sizemore
  • Christopher Sizemore
  • Larry Hiller
  • Sally O'Day

Cold Spring

Mayor — uncontested: David Penque

City Legislative body

  • Cindy Moore
  • Joe Heil
  • Laura Vroegindewey
  • Lisa Cavanaugh
  • Paul Kloeker
  • Steve Cunningham

Crestview

Mayor — uncontested: Shane Owens

City Legislative body (will have three empty seats)

  • Adam J Record

Dayton

Mayor — uncontested: Ben Baker

City Legislative body

  • Aaron Judd
  • Beth Nyman
  • Donna Leger
  • Jessica Lovins
  • Joseph Neary
  • Tarris Horton

Fort Thomas

Mayor: Sharon Macknight leads with 33,354 votes (50.18%), with Andy Ellison at 3,329 votes (49.81%)

City Legislative Body — 6 seats, recount possible if requested

  1. Adam Blau (3,205 votes, 10.4%)
  2. Steve Arey (3,004 votes, 9.8%)
  3. Lauren McIntosh (2,935 votes, 9.5%)
  4. Mary Anne Brown (2,864 votes, 9.3%)
  5. Allison Alessandro (2,816 votes, 9.2%)
  6. Brandon Roller (2,755 votes, 8.96%)

Candidate Ken Bowman is currently ranked seventh with 2,742 votes (8.92%); candidate Eric Strange is currently ranked eighth with 2,664 votes (8.67%).

Highland Heights

Mayor — uncontested: Gregory Meyers

City Legislative Body

  • Christie Fillhardt
  • Deborah Ball
  • Gary Chinn
  • John Braun
  • Patricia Hayley
  • Rene Heinrich

Melbourne

Mayor — uncontested: Ronnie Walton

City Legislative body

  • Karen Daley
  • Paul Landwehr
  • Robert Heck
  • T. Darlene Walton

Mentor

Mayor — uncontested: Jonathan Daniels

City Legislative body

  • Eric Brock
  • Keith Futscher
  • Lawrence Strasinger
  • Margaret Gosney

Newport

Position of Mayor is not up for election.

City Legislative Body

  • Julie Smith-Morrow
  • Mike Radwanski
  • Aaron Sutherland
  • Ken Rechtin

Silver Grove

Mayor — uncontested: Neal Bedel

City Legislative body

  • Eric Noble
  • Joe Pelle
  • Julie Ziegler
  • Justin Imhoff
  • Lauren Franzen
  • Rachel Cooper

Southgate

Mayor: Mark Messmer

City Legislative Body

  • Aileen Okura
  • Alec Angel
  • Daniel Speier
  • Elizabeth Hartman
  • Jason Lanham
  • Phyllis Yeager

Wilder

Mayor — uncontested: Valerie Jones

City Legislative Body

  • Greg Adams
  • Jeffrey Moles
  • Jim Profitt
  • Luke Glaser
  • Robert Blankenship
  • Sandy Decker

Woodlawn

Mayor — uncontested: Nicholas Osburg

City Legislative body

  • Brian Griffin
  • Cynthia Rose
  • Joseph Kellinghaus
  • Whitney Rodriguez

Kenton County 

County Judge/ Executive — uncontested: Kris A. Knochelmann (R) 

County Commissioner

  • District 1: Beth Sewell (R)
  • District 2: Jeff Nicely (R)
  • District 3: Scott Kimmich (R)

County Clerk — uncontested: Gabrielle Summe (R)

Sheriff: Larry Shelton (R)

Jailer — uncontested: Mark Fields (R)

Property Valuation Administrator — uncontested: Darlene Plummer (R)

Magistrate/ Justice of the Peace: Stephen L.J. Hoffman (D)

Constable District 2 — uncontested: Thomas Turner (R)

Coroner — uncontested: Amber Constantino (R)

Surveyor — uncontested: James Shumate (R)

Bromley

Mayor — uncontested: Michael Denham
City Council

  • Andrew Clift
  • Dave Radford
  • Kelly Dudley
  • Matthew Walker
  • Micheal Kendall
  • Tim Wartman

Covington

Position of Mayor is not up for election.

City Legislative body

  • Bill Wells
  • Cari McMurtry Garriga
  • Dan Francis
  • Jay Fossett
  • Tim Acri
  • Tim Downing

Crescent Springs

Mayor: Jeff Smith

City Legislative Body

  • Bob Mueller
  • Carol McGowan
  • Jeannine Bell Smith
  • Mark Wurtenberger
  • Michele Hogan
  • Robert Flaherty

Crestview Hills

Mayor — uncontested: Paul Meier

City Legislative Body

  • David Kramer
  • Edward Wise
  • Lawrence Ruehl
  • Mark Lehman
  • Timothy McKinley
  • William Dorsey

Edgewood

Mayor: John David Link

City Legislative Body

  • Ben Barlage
  • Bridget Spears
  • Jeff Schreiver
  • Joe Messmer
  • Rob Thelen
  • W. Ruehl

Elsmere

Mayor: Marty Lenhof leads with 788 votes (50.42%); Eric Bunzow has 775 votes (49.58%)

City Legislative Body — 6 seats, recount possible if requested

  1. Joanne Barnett-Smith (762 votes, 11.7%)
  2. Gloria Grubbs (756 votes, 11.6%)
  3. Sarah Underwood (724 votes, 11.2%)
  4. Maria Vogt (696 votes, 10.7%)
  5. Justin Clifford Wade (681 votes, 10.5%)
  6. Andrew Myatt (665 votes, 10.2%)

Candidate Carson Scalf is currently ranked seventh with 626 votes (9.6%).

Erlanger

Mayor: Jessica Fette leads with 2,877 votes (50.49%); Diana Niceley has 2,821 votes (49.51%)

City Legislative Body — 9 seats, recount possible if requested

  1. Thomas Cahill (2,716 votes, 8.5%)
  2. Jennifer Jasper-Lucas (2,714 votes, 8.5%)
  3. Renee Wilson (2,390 votes, 7.5%)
  4. Corine L. Pitts (2,269 votes, 7.1%)
  5. Michele Fields (2,204 votes, 6.9%)
  6. Holly Anderson (2,174 votes, 6.8%)
  7. Courtney Hundley (2,151 votes, 6.8%)
  8. Renee Skidmore (2,094 votes, 6.6%)
  9. Chris Herrmann (2,015 votes, 6.3%)

Candidate Barry E. Brown is currently ranked tenth with 2,004 votes (6.3%); candidates Christopher Farmer and Victoria Kyle are ranked joint eleventh with 1,962 votes (6.2%); candidate Tyson Hermes is ranked twelfth with 1,860 votes (5.8%).

    Fairview

    Mayor — uncontested: Beverly Willman

    City Legislative Body

    • Brenda Hobbs
    • Fred Wilson Jr.
    • Harry Sprott
    • Leslie Sturgeon

    Fort Mitchell

    Mayor — uncontested: Greg Pohlgeers

    City Legislative Body

    • Alyson Roeding
    • Bradley Leeke
    • Jared Arlinghaus
    • Jeff Dietrich
    • Jerry Deatherage
    • Kim Nachazel
    • Vicki Boerger

    Fort Wright

    Mayor — uncontested: David Hatter

    City Legislative Body

    • Bernie Wessels
    • Donna Ross
    • Jason Collins
    • Justin Weber
    • Margie Witt
    • Scott Wall

    Independence

    Mayor: Carol Franzen

    City Legislative Body

    • Bryan Roemer
    • Chris Vogelpohl
    • David Cooper
    • Greg Waite
    • Matt Fehler
    • Thomas Brinker

    Kenton Vale

    Mayor — uncontested: Mike Pendery

    City Legislative Body

    • George Zunda
    • Marsha Patrick
    • Michael Burdge
    • Patricia Noll

    Lakeside Park

    Mayor: Paul Markgraf

    City Legislative Body

    • Adam Perkins
    • David Wolfer
    • George Best
    • Michael Lippert
    • Tom Bernheimer
    • Tyler Gastright

    Ludlow

    Mayor: Sarah Thompson

    City Legislative Body

    • Brian Bumgarner
    • Chad Finni
    • David Ziegler
    • Ken Wynn
    • Meagan Guthrie
    • Paula Graszus

    Park Hills

    Mayor: Kathy Zembrodt

    City Legislative Body — 6 seats, recount possible if requested

    1. Pamela Spoor (654 votes, 12%)
    2. Dan Lutz (607 votes, 11.2%)
    3. Greg Claypole (607 votes, 11.2%)
    4. Joe Brandner (569 votes, 10.5%)
    5. Marty Boyer (545 votes, 10%)
    6. Joe Daugherty and Steve Elkins, each with 530 votes (9.7%)

    Candidate Carlton Trinkle is currently ranked eighth with 511 votes (9.4%)

    Kenton County Clerk Gabrielle Summe said in the case of perfect ties, the law states it is “luck of the draw.”

    “By Kentucky Law it is basically the luck of the draw and there are several ways to do that. For example, a coin toss,” Summe said. “Once we discuss we will contact the candidates and set up a time to deal with the tie.”

    Ryland Heights

    Mayor — uncontested: John Cole

    City Legislative Body

    • Carrol Bowman
    • Jason Ponder
    • Jill Smith
    • Ralph Collins

    Taylor Mill

    Mayor: Daniel Bell

    City Legislative Body

    • Ed Kuehne
    • James Bertram
    • Mark Kreimborg
    • Rose Merritt

    Villa Hills

    Mayor — uncontested: Heather Jansen

    City Legislative Body

    • Cathy Stover
    • Chad Bilz
    • Matthew Hayden
    • Pamela McQueen
    • Scott Ringo
    • Seth Thompson

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    Politics 2026 midtermsAdam R. Scripps FellowshipKentuckyDaily View
    Dany Villarreal Martinez, WVXU
    Dany joined WVXU as the first Adam R. Scripps Fellow in 2026.
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