Tagged: Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer

Republican Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw is not interested in a run for Louisville mayor despite encouragement to take on Democratic incumbent Greg Fischer.

In April, Fischer announced his intentions to run for a second term in 2014, and Occupy Louisville member Ike Thacker told WFPL last week he plans to run for mayor as an independent.

No GOP challenger has voiced interest in the race thus far despite observers pointing out that Fischer barely won in 2010.

Some have tossed Holsclaw's name out there as a potential opponent, citing her overall popularity and 16 years in office.

Holsclaw says the GOP needs to field a credible contender and a woman needs to run for mayor, but she is seeking a fifth term as clerk next year.

"Right now, today I’m running for re-election for Jefferson County clerk," she says.

Asked if that means she would re-consider at some point, Holsclaw told WFPL she has the right to change her mind before next year’s filing deadline.

By now we know who won the 139th Kentucky Derby, but there are still questions about other political horse races.

At this point Republican Mitch McConnell does have one official opponent—Owensboro Democrat Ed Marksberry—who is a little known contender in the 2014 U.S. Senate race.

Longtime social justice advocate Ike Thacker announced this week he is running for mayor of Louisville as an independent.

Thacker is a local writer and community activist who serves on the boards of the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and the Fellowship of Reconciliation. He also served as a spokesman for Occupy Louisville, which held a six month long protest in downtown against U.S. economic policies.

Thacker says he is running to help the poor, and plans to advocate for cuts to military spending as mayor to help invest in low-income parts of the city.

"I simply believe that all 7 billion of us on this planet and the 750,000 or so of us in Louisville are absolutely, equally human regardless of everything. That’s every black or brown person in west or south Louisville just as much as the Ivy League east enders," he says.

Democratic Mayor Greg Fischer announced last month he is seeking re-election.

In a message to supporters, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced he is running for re-election in 2014.

The mayor had avoided the question when asked about seeking a second term in recent weeks, and the timing of the announcement had changed from January to mid-summer.

At the time, there were rumors Fischer was considering a bid for Kentucky's U.S. Senate seat held by Republican Mitch McConnell, but the mayor later said he was leaning towards running for re-election.

Fischer acknowledged at a press conference Tuesday afternoon that the decision to run for a second term was based in part on continued rumors he was thinking about the U.S. Senate race in 2014 or the 2015 gubernatorial contest.

"I felt it was best to go ahead and make my intentions clear that I want to be mayor for a second term. There’s an awful lot of work that still needs to be done. We’ve got good momentum as a city. My family’s excited and has been fully behind me so I felt like now was a good time to make the statement," he says.