Incumbent Tom Watson easily won his reelection bid, earning more than 40% of the vote to secure his third overall term as Owensboro’s mayor.
“It’s just such an honor,” Watson said. “I truly mean that. It’s extremely humbling that this community would allow me to serve again. I think that we have the best town in the Commonwealth. I’m just glad that there’s a continuation of the same philosophy that we’ve used the last four years to keep our community growing going forward.”
Challengers Larry Conder and Pam Smith-Wright — both sitting City Commissioners — received about 29% and 22% of the votes, respectively. Dracin Williams grabbed about 9%.
Nearly 24,000 votes were cast for Owensboro’s mayor as of Tuesday night. Though there are some outstanding ballots, election officials said they will not affect the race.
Watson said he wasn’t sure what to expect heading into Election Day but trusted that whatever happened would be the right outcome.
“I always take these things as they come,” he said. “I’ve run three times, I’ve won three times. I really don’t take it for granted. I always believe that that good Lord is going to put me where he needs me to be. If I did not win, he’d find something else for me to do. Right now, it looks like I’ve got an opportunity to serve again.”
Watson won’t waste any time in continuing his duties, as he said meetings begin Monday regarding Owensboro being designated as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, “so we can work with our meth issues and get some federal funding to help with that.”
Watson said some other unfinished projects were a big reason why he decided to run again, such as creating an “outer loop” on KY 231.
“Just keep doing the same things and working with the great staff we have at the City with people that truly work hard and want to produce a product for our community,” Watson said of his short-term vision. “I’m just proud to be part of it.”
Watson said he wasn’t sure what specifically might have made him stand out so much in a crowded race, but pointed to his involvement with so many things in the community — including spending 15-20 years coaching sports at different levels from youth to college.
“You build relationships with all those kids, then they grow up and all of a sudden they can vote, I think that helps me,” he said.
Plus, he played a role in some major projects in the City during his last term.
“All the good things that have happened to Owensboro in the last four years, I don’t try to take credit for all of them,” Watson said. “I kind of take credit for being the head coach and getting everybody on board with the ideas.”
