June 22, 2010 - LEO Weekly

The political action committee of the Fairness Campaign, C-FAIR, has endorsed former Metro Council candidate Ken Herndon for the appointment to fill the 6th District seat left vacant by the sudden death of George Unseld.

“Given Councilman Unseld’s legacy of service to his district and commitment to civil rights, C-FAIR urges the Metro Council to appoint the candidate who best reflects George’s passionate devotion to his constituency and to social justice,” says Nick Wilkerson, the committee’s co-chair. “We believe that person is undeniably Ken Herndon.”

The group’s political arm had previously endorsed Unseld in every election that he ran, including his first bid for a seat on the Louisville Board of Alderman in 1999. It was during Unseld’s tenure on the board where he co-sponsored the original Fairness Ordinance, which prohibited discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the city.

C-Fair also gave the late councilman the nod during his 2008 Democratic primary race against Herndon, who is a Fairness Campaign co-founder. In that race, Herndon narrowly lost to Unseld by 112 votes, due in part to a nasty, homophobic mailer — which Unseld adamantly denied any connection to — that likely changed more than a few minds.

The filing deadline for the 6th District was last Friday, and a total of 20 people have applied for consideration to fill the seat. The applicants must be appointed by a majority vote of the council. The council has scheduled two special meetings later this month, the first on June 29 to interview the candidates and another on June 30 to vote for the replacement.