Daviess County Clerk Leslie McCarty has announced she’ll be seeking a third term in office, saying she loves serving the people of Daviess County and believes her team has made significant progress during her tenure.
“It’s an honor and a privilege,” McCarty said. “I feel like I’ve made some great strides in the office in my last two terms. There are things I’ve been able to do — like recently updating the contactless payment options with Apple, Google, and Samsung. We’ve run smooth elections despite criticisms. We offer property fraud alert, we’ve made records available online for free, and we’ve done two remodels. I just feel like I’ve done some good things here, and I want to keep up the good work.”
McCarty, who is running as a Republican, said her focus moving forward will be on continuing to improve election operations, maintaining accurate and accessible records, and providing strong customer service.
“I want to focus on still having smooth elections,” she said. “The way we’ve transitioned to vote centers and the experience we’ve had with that — elections are smooth sailing. I think in terms of organization, those have gone pretty well.”
McCarty said she also intends to keep improving the county’s permanent land records, which are overseen by her office.
“We did a remodel in my first term, and now we’re continuing to offer free services to the public,” she said. “We’ve restored probably 15 to 20 books. Since we are the permanent record keepers of the county, I want to be sure those records last forever.”
Beyond technology and preservation efforts, McCarty said she’s particularly proud of the progress her staff has made in changing the perception of the clerk’s office.
“Customer service has really improved,” she said. “I think we’ve made a lot of improvements in staff and in the culture. I’m very proud of the staff — they’ve worked really hard over the last eight years.”
McCarty noted that her two terms have been filled with challenges.
“My whole tenure has been all baptisms by fire,” she said. “We’ve had a recount, we’ve had a change in systems, we’ve had natural disasters. I feel like my staff has worked twice as hard as I have to provide excellent service.”
Elections have occasionally drawn public criticism and scrutiny, but McCarty said transparency and adherence to state law have always guided her approach.
“All of our meetings are public, so anyone can come,” she said. “They can even attend trainings and observe what we do. I don’t break the law. That’s the big one. We follow the statutes so we can have fair elections. The machines are not hooked up to the internet; that’s against the law.”
McCarty said she’s aware of misinformation and false claims that circulate about election systems, but she’s confident in the integrity of the process and her office’s work.
“I’m not going to pick a vendor that’s going to rig elections,” she said. “We’ve never had any issue with our election vendor. I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing and keep calling out their false narrative. My name has integrity and honesty attached to it. Why would I want to ruin that?”
McCarty said collaboration has also been key to her success as clerk, crediting strong working relationships with other local offices.
“I’m very proud of the relationships we’ve created and fostered,” she said. “We work really well with Fiscal Court, PVA, and the Sheriff’s Department. A lot of other elected offices sometimes don’t have great relationships, but we’re really fortunate that we get along with our Fiscal Court and other offices.”
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