Circuit Court Clerk King to run for State Representative

Local candidates begin filing for 2022 election.

Although still in the process of completing his official registration, McCreary County Circuit Court Clerk Othel King told The Voice he will be a candidate for the Republican nominee for Kentucky State Representative in the 52nd District.  Well-known to McCreary Countians, King will complete his thirtieth year as McCreary County’s Circuit Court Clerk in 2022.  King and his wife Kathy have been married for thirty-six years and have two sons and daughter-in-laws as well as grandchildren.  King is the son of the late Denzil and Laura Jane King.  King’s mother, Laura Jane, was active and served as an officer in McCreary County’s Republican Party for many years.

State Representative candidates must register with the Secretary of State’s Office through a two-step process-first by completing online registration and then by submitting “hard” (paper) copies of all documents.  According to King’s campaign treasurer, King has completed the online process and is waiting to receive one more “hard” copy before submitting all of his paperwork to the Secretary of State’s office.  Once the documents are received in Frankfort, King’s registration will be complete.

The 52nd District seat is currently held by Republican State Representative Kenneth Upchurch.  Although Upchurch has not officially registered his candidacy for the 2022 election, he confirmed to “The Voice” that he does plan to run for reelection.  Upchurch has served twenty-one years as State Representative for the 52nd District with sixteen of those years spent as a member of the minority party before Democrats lost control of the State House.  Upchurch is currently serving his fifth year as Transportation Committee Chairperson.  Upchurch and his wife, Melissa, have two children.

The 52nd District encompasses McCreary, Wayne, and the southern part of Pulaski Counties.

In other campaign news, local candidates running for county offices began arriving last week at the McCreary County Court Clerk’s Office to officially register their intent to run in the 2022 election.  As of Wednesday morning, several local candidates had registered. 

David Sampson filed to be the Republican nominee for the Sheriff’s position in the May Primary.  McCreary County’s current Sheriff, Randy Waters, filed as a Democrat seeking re-election.

For other offices, the following candidates have filed thus far:

Judge Executive-Jimmie “Bevo” Greene (R)

County Court Clerk-Eric Haynes (R)

County Attorney-Austin Price (R)

PVA-Dwight Ross (R)

Magistrates:  District 1-William “Bill” D. Hale (R) /District 2- Roger Phillips (R) / Magistrate District 3- Bobby Strunk (R) and Clayton Worley (R) / Magistrate District 4-Randy Maxwell (R)

Constable:  District 3-Kenny Kidd (R)

Incumbents Jessie Hatfield and Tim Corder (both Republican) have filed for Jailer and Coroner, respectively.

Seth Reeves of Corbin, KY has filed with the Secretary of State’s Office to run as a non-partisan candidate for District Judge in the 34th/1st District which includes McCreary County.

Candidates have until January 7, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. to officially declare and register their candidacy for office in the 2022 election.  Write-in candidates have until October 28, 2022.  Primary Election Day this year falls on May 17, 2022 with the General Election on November 8, 2022.