In Bowling Green’s Preservation Tasting Room and Bottle Shop, about 40 WKU students, faculty, staff and community members roared with applause on Tuesday as the final results of the 2018 general election trickled in, declaring WKU history professor Patti Minter the new 20th District Kentucky State Representative.
Minter, the Democratic candidate, received 6,253 votes, or 53.5 percent of the vote, while Republican candidate Ben Lawson received 5,436 votes, or 46.5 percent.
After former State Rep. Jody Richards announced his retirement on Jan. 8, Minter announced her candidacy. She said she initially planned to run for Bowling Green city commissioner, but she was recommended to run for state representative.
Working about 100 hours a week near the end of her campaign, Minter said she and her campaign supporters knocked on about 14,000 doors in Bowling Green.
“The most difficult part is the time that I had to spend away from family,” Minter said. “Running is a life-changing experience.”
Minter said she will focus on the issues from her campaign’s platform, including investing in education, raising the minimum wage, guarding animal welfare, protecting health care and increasing affordable housing, as previously reported by the Herald.
She said she also looks forward to co-sponsoring the first statewide fairness bill, which would provide housing and work protections for LGBTQ people in Kentucky.