Sinnette beats Woods in 100th District

By CARRIE KIRSCHNER - The Independent

CATLETTSBURG May 21, 2008 12:21 am

— Ashland’s assistant city attorney, Kevin Sinnette, has won a close race for the Democratic nomination for the 100th District seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives.
Sinnette narrowly defeated Bobby Jack Woods, a former Kentucky State Police detective, garnering 3,006 votes in Tuesday’s primary to 2,750 for Woods.
He will face Republican Mike Stewart in the general election for the seat being vacated by Republican John Vincent.
Vincent, who has held the seat for 12 years, said last fall he wished to spend more time with his family and therefore would not seek re-election.
Returns in the 100th District contest also showed 764 votes cast for Cyrus “Cy” Reynolds, despite his having withdrawn from the race.
“I’m extremely humbled and I’m extremely thankful for the Democratic party to allow me to represent them in the general election,” said Sinnette, 46. “I’d like to thank my opponent because we ran an above board campaign and he’s a gentleman. Also, more than anything else, I’d like to thank the people who are too numerous to name who helped me on this. They were awesome,” Sinnette added.
Woods also commended Sinnette on his victory, saying, “He ran an exceptional race and won. All I can say is congratulations, Kevin — he’ll do a great job. I didn’t run against Kevin; I ran for the job.”
Woods attributed Sinnette’s victory in part to the amount of money his campaign spent. “What it says for me is we both got our message out in two different ways — me through some grassroots work and him through a lot of money,” he said.
“Last Tuesday or Wednesday I felt comfortable about this race. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday he mass mailed people in this county. I think that made the difference. It was wise on his part and that’s probably what won him this election,” Woods added.
“We both worked extremely hard and I think it was a situation where the voters cared and they looked at the issues,” Sinnette said, adding “more than anything else we both worked very very hard. It’s a very very close victory. I’m just extremely humbled.”
Sinnette said he expects his race against Stewart in the fall to be just as close. “Between now and November I’m going to do the exact same thing I’ve done in this election, that is: Meet the people, tell them what I am all about and what I stand for.
“I think it’s going to be just as tough as it was in this primary. My goal is to try to meet every single voter in my district.”
CARRIE KIRSCHNER can be reached at ckirschner@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.