Court of Appeals Judge Shea Nickell will be the next Supreme Court justice for western Kentucky after defeating Senator Whitney Westerfield of Christian County.
Judge Nickell won by a margin of about 15 percent and says he will work hard to maintain the trust given to him by the voters of western Kentucky.
Senator Westerfield says he’s disappointed with the results, but he’s ready to get back to Frankfort in 2020 for the budget session.
Both thanked their supporters for their hard work during the campaign season.
Judge Nickell will fill out the unexpired term of retired Justice Bill Cunningham.
That wasn’t the only non-partisan judicial race in the area, as Joe Hendricks defeated Joe Ross by about 900 votes to become the new circuit judge in Todd and Logan County.
Todd County boasted a voter turnout of about 32 percent and Trigg County led the southern Pennyrile region with a 37 percent turnout.