By Nick Gray

Voters aged 18 to 20 could vote for Mayor Jim Gray in the mayoral election Tuesday, but they could not greet him in his campaign party.

Belle’s Cocktail House is considered a bar establishment without a kitchen that serves food, so it cannot allow anyone under the age of 21 inside the bar for private or public functions.

That included Gray’s nephew, who was turned away at the door, along with a Kernel photographer and a reporter.

Gray’s campaign manager, Walker Mattox, said that the circumstances were not something the campaign considered.

“We looked at several places, and the place we chose was a vital part of downtown,” Mattox said. “I wouldn’t even call it an oversight.”

Voters 18 to 20 in Lexington were voting in the city mayoral election for the first time. Several other people who had children in tow were told they could not bring those children inside for the party.

Mattox said the inability for the youngest voters to attend the party is not a signal that Gray or his campaign is ignoring young people or young voters.

“Mayor Gray has done two on-campus debates, so I think that statement (is) false,” Mattox said. “We’re focused on the election and none of those other things.”