Paducah Mayor Brandi Harless, who championed a fairness ordinance and supported banning Confederate flags from the city’s annual Veteran’s Day parade, has lost her bid for a second four-term by finishing last in the three-way June 23 primary election.
Vote totals released today by the McCracken County clerk’s office show that businessman George Bray won with 2,992 votes to 1,851 for City Commissioner Richard Abraham and 1,581 for Harless.
Bray, a political newcomer, and Abraham, a council veteran and mayor pro tem, will square off in the Nov. 3 general election.
In 2018, Paducah, the largest town in the Jackson Purchase, became the ninth Kentucky community to approve a measure prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ persons. Last year, the city commission upheld a 2017 ban on Confederate flags in the parade.
Abraham was the only commissioner to oppose the fairness ordinance and the flag ban. He also voted against sustaining the ban in 2019.
In a post on her Facebook page, Harless wrote:
“I ran for office to make the changes my community asked for.
I am beyond proud of the work we accomplished.
I didn’t run to start a career in politics.
I ran because I wanted to serve. And that’s what I did and will continue to do no matter what.
Thank you for all of the support. I’ll keep serving proudly until December and in new roles after that.”
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