Hancock wins Frankfort state house Dem primary

Frankfort Democrat Erika Hancock will face Republican Kyle Thompson in November for the open House District 57 seat after winning her primary Tuesday night.

Hancock bested Kristie Powe with 67% of the vote. Voter turnout in Franklin County was nearly 30%, high for a Kentucky primary election.

After Democratic Minority Floor Leader Derrick Graham announced his retirement in December, Hancock and Powe threw their hats in the ring.

Hancock is a local State Farm insurance agent well known in the community. Powe serves as chairperson of the Frankfort Human Rights Commission and previously worked with the nonpartisan Legislative Research Commission as a constituent services analyst.

Hancock outraised Powe by approximately $52,00, according to the latest campaign finance reports.

Hancock said her win came down to hard work and sticking to her campaign strategy. While she thinks funding played a role, it wasn’t handed to her, she said.

“That was making the phone calls and putting the time in,” she said. “I mean, there’s a couple hours a day of just calling and having that money in there. The campaign is a business, it takes money to run a successful one.”

She ran on getting state workers and retirees raises and funded pensions, affordable and safe childcare and supporting local growth. Hancock said she’s a “unifier by nature.”

“We all have different experiences that have gotten us to a place in our lives, and to tell somebody that their experiences and their vision for things are incorrect based on their own experiences is just not something that I believe in,” Hancock said in a pre-primary interview.

“…So I think that that’s what I’ll bring up there too, is just the civility and the integrity to talk to each other again.”

Powe ran on a similar platform, focused on women’s health, state worker raises and affordable housing.

Powe was not immediately available for comment.