Republicans failed to overtake longtime judge Phillip Shepherd in Franklin County Kentucky, and rejected the partisan bid of GOP Rep. Joe Fischer in the Northern Kentucky Kentucky Supreme Court race.
The race for Franklin County Circuit Court saw record spending for a circuit court race as the nonpartisan turned political with Republicans backing Joe Bilby. Phillip Shepherd, who has faced criticism from Republicans for some of his rulings, defeated Bilby with 63 percent of the vote, according to the Franklin County Clerk.
“I congratulate Judge Shepherd on his hard-fought victory,” Bilby said. “I’m very proud of the effort my team put forward in this campaign. We placed before the voters a different view of how a judge should behave within our constitutional order.”
Republican Rep. Joe Fischer was also defeated on Tuesday night as he sought to oust incumbent Supreme Court Justice Michelle Keller in the nonpartisan election. Fischer, a northern Kentucky attorney, lead a coalition of Republicans in the state legislature in attempts to end abortions in Kentucky.
Keller won a second eight-year term to the Kentucky high court.
