Linda Gorton, the city’s mayor-elect, will be inaugurated on UK’s campus this upcoming Sunday. Admission is free and all members of the public are welcome. 

The inauguration will begin at 2 p.m. in the Gatton Student Center in the Grand Ballroom, a city spokesperson said. Gorton, and the rest of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council will be sworn in at the ceremony. 

Gorton, 70, was voted to be Lexington’s next mayor in the November election. With over 63 percent of the vote, she defeated her opponent, Ronnie Bastin, a former city police chief.

Gorton previously served on the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council for 16 years and previously as the city’s vice mayor for four years. She graduated from UK. 

Before the election, Gorton told the Kernel that she will focus on growing he economy and preserving jobs in the community. 

UK currently serves as the county’s largest employer, employing about 14,000 people, according to statistics from UK. This makes these jobs, and even those for recent graduates, important to the “health” of the city, according to Gorton.

“One really important thing to me is that we make a concerted effort to have enough available jobs here that our UK graduates can stay here,” Gorton said.

Lexington’s outgoing mayor, Jim Gray, had been the city’s mayor since 2010. Last year, Gray opted to run for Kentucky’s 6th Congressional seat, but was defeated in the Democratic primary by Amy McGrath.

Jacob Eads contributed reporting.