Magistrate primary candidates face off in debate

The League of Women Voters debate was held Thursday evening between those running for Christian Fiscal Court magistrates who will face off in the May primary.

Three debates were held in the Hopkinsville City Council chambers, the first being between District 1 Democrat incumbent Kenneth Bates and his challenger, Democrat Magaline Ferguson. Bates says the biggest issue facing his district is flooding, which hurts quality of life.

Ferguson says the eastside of the city needs help with flooding and says that the roads across the county need improvement.

Incumbent Democrat Rich Liebe has an opponent in Buddy Oglesby for the District 5 seat. When asked the most pressing needs were for infrastructure in the county, Oglesby says sidewalks need to be put on main roads to help keep people safe.

Liebe says expansion to county water is vital and also increasing the support the Christian County Regional Animal Shelter receives.

Two Republicans are running for District 3, and the winner of the primary will face against incumbent Democrat Mark Cansler. When asked how they would generate revenue, besides raising taxes, Robert Webb says he would advocate to apply for grants and find ways to keep younger generations here.

George Barnett says the tax base needs to be increased, so there needs to be more jobs and attractions to bring people into the community.

All candidates agreed that roads in the county need improvement and other topics included a how the candidates felt about a library tax and how they would stay up-to-date on issues facing the county.

Hear the debates in full below:

https://soundcloud.com/user-350001776/district-1-magistrate-primary-debate

https://soundcloud.com/user-350001776/district-3-magistrate-primary-debate

https://soundcloud.com/user-350001776/district-5-magistrate-primary-debate