Goodwine elected to court of appeals, slate of Clark judges unopposed on ballot

A Fayette County judge, Pamela Goodwine, was elected Tuesday to an unexpired term on the Kentucky Court of Appeals, 5th District 1st Division.

Goodwine, who is currently the chief regional circuit court judge in Fayette Circuit Court, ousted Judge Rob Johnson, who had previously been appointed to the seat.

At press time, Goodwine had garnered more than 57 percent of the votes in the 11-county district with 114,927 votes to Johnson’s 85,821 (42.75 percent).

In Clark County, a slate of judges also ran unopposed in Tuesday’s election, including one newcomer.

Current district judge Brandy Oliver Brown was unopposed to fill the unexpired term of retired circuit Judge William Clouse. The two incumbent district judges, Charles Hardin and Earl-Ray Neal, were unopposed as was newcomer Cole Adams Maier, who will fill Brown’s seat on the district court bench.

Commonwealth’s Attorney David Smith was also unopposed.

Kentuckians by and large also supported Marsy’s Law, an amendment to the state’s constitution that would provide rights to victims of crimes.

According to the state board of elections, 63.52 percent of voters answered yes to the question, “Are you in favor of providing constitutional rights to victims of crime, including the right to be treated fairly, with dignity and respect and the right to be informed and to have a voice in the judicial process?”

However, a recent court ruling the wording of the question was too vague and wouldn’t adequately describe the potential affects of the amendment, has been appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court. The measure may or may not take effect pending the decision of that case.

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