U.S. President

Barack Obama

Obama is the Democratic nominee and incumbent president. His running mate is Vice President Joe Biden, a six-time senator for Delaware, and is an advocate for women’s rights. Biden also is a former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Obama served as senator for Illinois for four years, from 2004-08. Prior to that, he served as an Illinois state senator for the 13th district.

During his first term as president, Obama has signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act; the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009; and the Budget Control Act of 2011.

He has taken troops out of Iraq to end Operation Iraqi Freedom and was responsible for the New START nuclear weapons reduction treaty with Russia and the death of terrorist Osama bin Laden.

Obama has doubled funding for Pell Grants, passed the largest college tax credit in history and prevented the interest rates attached to federal college loans from increasing over the past three years.

Mitt Romney

Romney is a businessman turned politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 2003-07 until he ran for president for the first time in 2008.

While he was governor, Romney closed tax loopholes (raising $300 million for his state during the extent of his term), brought universal health care to his state and cut Massachusetts’ spending by $1.6 billion.

Romney also cut more than $140 million in higher-education funding while serving as governor. However, now he believes everyone should be able to attend the college that best suits his or her needs.

He says he wants to defend human rights, strengthen the U.S. relationship with countries in East Asia such as India and Indonesia, and implement a strategy in Afghanistan that will allow the U.S. military to leave by the end of 2014.

Rocky Anderson

Anderson is the Justice Party candidate for president. Luis Rodriguez is Anderson’s running mate and a poet, novelist and journalist.

Anderson was a lawyer and mayor of Salt Lake City. While in office he was an advocate for climate protection, immigration reform and LGBT rights. He is a former member of the Democratic Party but transitioned to the Justice Party after disagreeing with the direction of his former party.

He wants to make the U.S. the world’s leader in green energy, prevent countries in the Middle East from possessing nuclear weapons, strengthen U.S. labor laws, and give domestic manufacturers tax incentives.

Virgil Goode

Goode is the Constitution Party’s candidate for president. His running mate is James Clymer, a politician from Lancaster, Pa., who had an unsuccessful bid for his home state’s senate seat in 2004.

Goode was a U.S. Congressman for Virginia from 1997-2009. He originally was a Democrat and became a Republican before becoming a member of the Constitution Party. His main initiatives as a congressman were increasing veteran’s health benefits, increasing U.S. border patrol on the Mexican border, and voting against the troop surge in Iraq.

He wants to follow the Constitution closely, stop illegal immigration and cut spending to balance the federal budget. He believes the country should become more sovereign by scaling back U.S. involvement in foreign affairs.

Gary Johnson

Johnson is the Libertarian Party’s candidate for president. He was the governor of New Mexico from 1995-2003. His running mate is James Gray, who was the presiding judge of the Superior Court of Orange County, Calif.

Johnson acted to reduce New Mexico’s budget, cut taxes, prevent growth of bureaucratic institutions and decriminalize marijuana during his time as governor.

The fiscally conservative candidate wants to reduce the federal budget by 43 percent, end the war in Afghanistan as soon as possible, and implement a fair tax on Americans.

Jill Stein

Stein is the Green Party’s nominee for president. Cheri Honkala, a human-rights activist, is her running mate.

Stein, a physician, unsuccessfully ran for governor of her home state of Massachusetts in 2002 and 2010.

She wants to implement what she calls a “Green New Deal.” It theoretically would create a job for every American by investing in renewable energy services and fighting environmental issues. Stein wants to cut defense spending by 30 percent and wants to increase taxes on capital gains, money made off property sales and investments.

3rd District Council

Diane Lawless

Lawless is the incumbent 3rd District city councilwoman. She is a graduate of UK and has been involved in community service since the 1970s.

Lawless is chair of the council’s Standing Public Safety Committee and serves as part of the Special Events Committee, Mayor’s Public Safety Commission, Development Authority Advisory Board, Downtown Lexington Corporation and Town and Gown Commission.

The former small-business owner wants to keep UK students safe and improve upon her efforts to build a better relationship between UK and neighborhoods in the 3rd District.

Stephanie Spires

Spires is the challenger for 3rd District council seat. She is a UK alumnus and former employee, historical preservationist, foster mother and small-business owner.

She was appointed to the Commission on Youth Development and Public Safety, serving as an adviser to the Kentucky House majority whip and the Kentucky House of Representatives.

Spires wants the 3rd District to flourish as Lexington’s economic center, improve safety for UK students, update infrastructure and strengthen the relationship between the city and UK.

6th Congressional District

Ben Chandler

Chandler is the incumbent congressman and Democratic nominee for Kentucky’s 6th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. He graduated from UK with a history degree, and earned a law degree from the UK College of Law.

Chandler served as Kentucky’s state auditor from 1991-95 and the state attorney general from 1995-2003.

While serving Kentucky’s 6th district, Chandler voted for the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. He also serves on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Randolph Vance

Vance is running as an independent candidate for the 6th Congressional District seat.

This is the first election that the former UK student, Vance, has run in.

Vance’s initiatives are centered around improving the environment.

They include legalizing industrial hemp for use as a biofuel and developing safer nuclear power.

Vance also wants to reorganize food-stamp benefits to a rationed system.

Andy Barr

Barr is the Republican candidate for Kentucky’s 6th congressional district. He is a graduate of the UK College of Law and teaches constitutional law at Morehead State University.

Barr’s government experience and involvement consists of working as deputy general counsel to Gov. Ernie Fletcher and as a legislative assistant to Missouri Congressman Jim Talent from 1996-98.

Barr wants to help figure out ways to get Americans back to work, cut back regulations and bureaucracy, and repeal health-care reform.

He also promotes domestic energy production.