Republican incumbent Mary Beth Imes defeated Democrat opponent Lauren Hines for the District 5 seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives. Imes secured 63.41% of the votes while Hines secured 36.59% in Calloway County and 76% to 24% in Trigg County.
The 5th District includes Calloway and Trigg counties.
Imes said she’ll do the right thing
Imes, former director of Imes Funeral Home and Crematory, has been the incumbent representative of District 5 to the Kentucky House of Representatives.
At her election party, Imes said her interest is to do the right thing, as it’s the way she lives her life.
“No matter what,” Imes said.
Imes said she tries to be fiscally minded and responsible when voting on the budget.
“I try to get as much of that budget down here in Calloway and Trigg county,” Imes said. “As they have in eastern Kentucky, I try to get our share of it.”
While she didn’t know much about her opponent, Lauren Hines, Imes said she thought she ran a great campaign effort.
“Lauren has worked hard on this campaign,” Imes said. “I commend her on that.”
James Humphreys, history professor, said he voted for Imes because he usually votes Republican. Humphreys said Imes is doing a good job, and she’s good for education.
During Imes’s next term, Humphreys said he’d like to see more pay raises for teachers in public education.
“We always need pay raises…and the state retirement system, we need to keep working on that,” Humphreys said.
Bob Emmy, veteran who served in the 3rd Armored Division, said he voted for Imes because she’s a Republican.
“I believe she’s got the same convictions I have as far as education and right to life,” Emmy said.
Emmy, while he has not been in the area long compared to others at Imes’ election party, expressed his full confidence in her. He said he hopes in her next term that Kentucky sees another chance at Amendment 2.
“I would like to see that come up again, and hit harder,” Emmy said.
Imes has worked to create a veterinary school at Murray State, something she said would be the first of its kind in Kentucky.
“I have worked with (President) Dr. Jackson, (Vice President of Public Affairs) Jordan Smith and (State Rep.) Richard Heath,” she said.
The vet school at Murray State was a popular subject at her election party.
“We need more veterinarians, especially large animal veterinarian schools,” said Thomas Collins, a retired dairy farmer who attended her party.
Humphreys said he wants Murray State to get a vet school.
“I hope we get a vet school here,” he said. “I think that’ll be good for Murray State, good for (Kentucky).”
Hines gains experience despite loss
Hines is a former teacher and real estate agent in Murray. Her campaign ran on the platforms of affordable healthcare, higher wages and public education.
Despite her loss, Hines said she was grateful for the experience of running. She said she plans to move forward gracefully, with pride in what she and her supporters have accomplished thus far.
“This was a very new experience for me,” Hines said. “If you had asked me a year ago, I would have told you I would absolutely not be running for legislature, but at the end of the day, I believed it was time for us – young people – to step up and run, even when the odds are against us, even when it’s a difficult position.”
Hines said she recognized that this would be a difficult race to win as a first-time candidate. She said she let go of all expectations on the race’s outcome from the moment she put her name on the ballot.
“It has been an incredibly interesting and rewarding journey full of learning and new experiences,” Hines said. “But most importantly, I have loved the opportunity to reconnect with people that I’ve known throughout my life that live in this community and I’ve gained really great training opportunities from people across the state.”
Hines said she hoped Imes will represent the people of Kentucky’s 5th District well.
“I respect [Imes] for stepping up to run in a place where we don’t have a lot of people stepping up to run,” Hines said. “I think we actually share a lot in common and that we are both doing this race because we feel the need to make sure that our community has the best representation possible.”
Hines said she is encouraged by the rejection of Amendment 2, which would have allowed state funding to be put toward private education. Throughout her campaign, Hines opposed the amendment.
“I’ve been very vocal about my thoughts on that amendment,” Hines said. “As a teacher, I’ve always done my best to remain neutral in the classroom, but this is one of those cases where it’s impossible for me to remain neutral.”
