Mayor Jim Gray re-elected by healthy margin
November 5, 2014
By Joshua Huff
Mayor Jim Gray cruised to victory on Tuesday night, defeating challenger Anthany Beatty by nearly 28,000 votes. Gray will have four more years as mayor of Lexington after receiving 65 percent of the votes, while Beatty conceded defeat after earning 35 percent with all precincts reporting.
The victory for Gray means that he will now turn his attention to what he calls his three goals: creating jobs, running government effeciently and building a great American city.
“And it’s working,” Gray said during his victory speech at Belle’s Cocktail House in Lexington. “Nine thousand new jobs in four years. 150 thousand people employed in Lexington, the most ever in our history.”
Gray opened his victory speech thanking Beatty for running a clean campaign that focused not on thrashing the opposition but on building a new Lexington.
“They waged a vigorous campaign,” Gray said. “In fact, Anthany and I have five more debates than Lincoln and Douglas … campaigns in America are all about ideas that keep us on our toes. In this election we didn’t tear each other apart. We tried to lift up our city.”
Gray focused on the future and what can be done for the city in his speech.
“Our city is growing,” he said. “That means jobs are essential. We will keep on looking for deficiciencies in savings and continuous improvement. Getting up every morning, thinking how can we improve today what we did yesterday.”
According to the Herald Leader, Gray outraised Beatty nearly three-to-one.
Gray raised $847,238 $75,000 of which he contributed to his campaign. Beatty raised $289,203.78, of which $120,000 was either loaned money or a direct contribution by himself.
With the lack of funding, Beatty struggled to reach audiences. He did not release a single television advertisement while Gray reached out to voters starting in September. He released a new round of ads before the election.
The main arguments between the two were the failed attempt at renovating Rupp Arena and the increase of violent crime after police officers were pulled off the street. Gray said he will focus on improving the safety of the city.
Gray also said he will now “seize the moment for our city.”
“No Washington style politics infecting our progress in Lexington. And that’s because we know where we are going and we know how we’re going to get there,” he said. “In Lexington we work together. Across political boundaries, across generations. Following in the footprints of giants who dreamed big dreams for our city and made them come true.”
