A seat on the Kentucky Supreme Court unexpectedly became open following last month's officially nonpartisan primary, when incumbent Justice Sam Wright narrowly failed to earn one of the top two spots that would have allowed him to advance to the November general election in the 7th Appellate District.
Instead, the race will feature a face-off between Circuit Court Judge Bob Conley, who took first with 40% of the vote, and Democratic state Rep. Chris Harris, who edged out Wright 30.2 to 29.8. (All seven justices are elected by district but serve together with statewide jurisdiction.) Conley is a longtime judge in Greenup and Lewis counties, right near where Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia meet at the confluence of the Ohio River and Big Sandy River. He's also an arch-conservative who touts an endorsement from Kentucky Right to Life on his campaign site.
Harris, meanwhile, represents an extremely red district in Martin and Pike counties on the very eastern tip of the state, but during the primary, Wright attacked him as an "anti-NRA Democrat" allied with "Louisville radicals." Louisville is home to the largest Black population in the state and has been the site of major protests against police violence following the death of Breonna Taylor, an African American woman, at the hands of law enforcement in March, so Wright's dog-whistle was unmistakable, if unsuccessful.
The ideological makeup of the current Supreme Court is somewhat difficult to assess, but a Conley victory, which would give him an eight-year term on the bench, would push it to the right. And on paper, he might appear to be favored, since the 7th District, which spans Eastern Kentucky's coal country, voted for Donald Trump by a 74-22 margin.
However, in last year's race for governor, Republican Matt Bevin won it by just a 52-46 spread. This part of the state is also one of the last reliable bastions of ticket-splitting in the country, as Harris' own district went for Trump 83-15 but has re-elected him twice. There's a good chance, though, that conservative interests will seize the opportunity to move the court in their direction and spend accordingly.