Jeffersontown mayoral race down to two

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By Jon Chrisos – bio | email
Posted by Charles Gazaway - email

JEFFERSONTOWN, KY (WAVE) - The race for Louisville Metro mayor is not the only mayoral race voters will be casting ballots for in November. The mayor's seat in Jeffersontown is also up for grabs.

Current Mayor Clay Foreman and City Councilman Bill Dieruf both want your vote. They were the top two vote-getters in the May 18 primary and will now move on to the general election in November. Dieruf got almost half of all the votes cast among the 4 candidates.

"It's was overwhelming," said Dieruf, who we caught with while running the registers at his hardware store. "You never know when people say they're going to vote for you, how many people are going to go out."

According to Dieruf, so many people voted for him because they are ready for a change in leadership.

"When I grew up here, J'town was the city everyone wanted to live in and we've lost that so the people feel that and they want to rally around," Dieruf said.

Dieruf would not speak in specifics saying he's running a positive campaign with integrity.

Foreman has had to deal with his share of scandals during his 9 years as mayor. In 2008, we reported about the city's former public works director being charged with possessing crack cocaine. Foreman also came under fire amid accusations of employees filling up their personal vehicles with gasoline on city accounts. But Foreman said he is proud of his record as mayor.

"Nine years of balanced budgets with a budget surplus, no layoffs in city government, and we enjoy the finest services," said Foreman.

Foreman blames low voter turnout as the reason he got about a quarter of the vote.

"I've met with hundreds and hundreds of residents on their front doorsteps, and by and large, they are very pleased in what's going on in the city of Jeffersontown," Foreman said.

The general election is Tuesday, November 2.