Just three days after the death of Republican state Sen. Johnnie Turner — and 11 days before Election Day — a crowded field has filed to run for the Senate district in eastern Kentucky as write-in candidates. The winner will land a four-year term in office.
The name of Turner and independent candidate Davis Suhr will both appear on the already-printed ballots in the five-county district. However, votes for neither candidate will count, as Turner is deceased and Suhr withdrew from the race on Oct. 15.
The only eligible candidates who can receive votes in the general election are those who file to run as write-in candidates for the seat before the deadline, which is this Friday afternoon at 4 p.m.
Two candidates already filed to run as write-in candidates on Thursday — Tyler Ward, a Whitesburg attorney and former Letcher County prosecutor, and Willie Crase, the owner of a development company and car wash who lost a race for Floyd County judge-executive in 2022.
Ward is a registered Republican and Crase is a Democrat.
Seven more candidates had filed with the secretary of state’s office by Friday afternoon, including Scott Madon, the three-term Republican mayor of Pineville. Madon received the quick backing of state GOP leadership after he filed, as the Senate Republican Campaign Caucus Committee issued a statement announcing their endorsement.
The GOP statement called Madon a proven leader who had served as mayor with “integrity and commitment for nearly a decade,” along with supportive quotes from Senate President Robert Stivers and Sen. Phillip Wheeler of Pikeville.
Three additional candidates have filed with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance to indicate they may raise or spend money on a run for the seat, but have not yet filed with the secretary of state.
Former Knott County Judge-Executive Randy Thompson was going to run as a write-in candidate, but was declared ineligible because he had already run and lost the Republican primary against Turner this May.
Turner of Harlan nearly served one full term in office, but was severely injured in September when he drove his riding lawn mower into the deep end of an empty pool at his home. Though his health was reported to have improved weeks later, his death from the injuries was announced Tuesday.
Had Turner died after this filing deadline for write-in candidates, a special election would have been called to take place at a later date.
Write-in candidates typically receive far fewer votes than candidates whose name appears on the ballot, but the one who receives the most in Senate District 29 will still receive a four-year term as senator, with no special election coming into play.
The Senate district includes Bell, Floyd, Harlan, Knott and Letcher counties, where there are 92,704 registered voters. The majority of these are registered Democrats, though voters in the Appalachian region typically favor Republican candidates for state and federal offices.
This story has been updated to include additional details.
