KY Senator Whitney Westerfield Discusses Campaign For KY Supreme Court

KY Senator Whitney Westerfield stopped by to discuss his run for KY Supreme Court Justice.

Darren Doyle, story and photo:
State Senator Whitney Westerfield, (R) one of the Commonwealth's candidates for Kentucky Supreme Court Justice, first district, stopped by for a chat on Tuesday to discuss his campaign for the open non-partisan seat.

Westerfield, a lifelong Christian County resident, currently serves as KY State Senator in District  3, where for nearly eight years has been the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, serves on the Budget Review Subcommittee on Justice and Judiciary, and is Co-Chair of the Juvenile Justice Oversight Council, which monitors the implementation of justice system reforms. 

"You're going to be seeing lots of ads and discussion about the race for Governor and Attorney General in Kentucky for this November, and those races are important," he said; "however, our Supreme Court seat is just as important, and that's what I want to tell Kentucky voters."

Sen. Westerfield said that the seven justices on KY's supreme court make decisions every day that affect the lives of Kentucky residents, and his past experience as a prosecutor, private attorney, and senator would greatly benefit those same Kentucky lives, if allowed to serve as a Supreme Court Justice in KY. 

"I think what we're seeing sometimes is a justice system where judges' outcomes reflect more of their own opinions and not the current laws that are on the books. A judge must apply all laws, period, even the ones they disagree with, and that's what I'll do, if I have the opportunity to serve as Supreme Court Justice."

Westerfield ran for Attorney General in 2015 against current AG Andy Beshear in an extremely tight race. Beshear edged out Westerfield with 50.1% of the vote, compared to Westerfield's 49.9%.

"I'm proud of my run 4 years ago," he said. "I'm not happy that the winner was someone who never prosecuted a single case and outspent me nearly 10-to-1, but you know, I didn't first run for office with the intentions of running for Attorney General or the Supreme Court, it was to serve. Over the years, I've seen opportunities where I thought I could make a better difference and I see now there's an opportunity for Kentuckians to put a constitutional conservative in a Supreme Court seat."

Senator Westerfield noted that straight-ticket voters will have to add the vote for Supreme Court Justice, as the race is a non-partisan office. Simply voting straight-ticket, whether republican or democrat, will not cast a vote for the open Supreme Court seat.

"You can go ahead and vote straight-ticket if you'd like, but I'm also asking you to add one more for me, for Supreme Court Justice."

When asked what was the bottom line he wanted Edmonson County voters to know about his campaign, he quickly replied:

"I'm a constitutional conservative that will not legislate from the bench. That's what I want them to know."

Kentucky's general election is scheduled for Tuesday, November 5, 2019. 

The Edmonson Voice allows all political candidates participating in local elections the opportunity to schedule an interview with us to discuss their respective platforms. The Edmonson Voice does not support or endorse any political candidate.