Poll:
Who is your pick for Mayor of Louisville?
With the primaries to decide the candidates in the Louisville mayor's race ten weeks away, on Tuesday, a big sign that the election is not that far away -- the first tv commercial for one of the candidates.
There have been no public polls in the mayor's race yet. So, it's anyone's guess which one of eight Democrats and which one of three Republicans will join the independent candidates on the fall ballot.
Hal Heiner and Chris Theineman are the main contenders in the GOP primary. And, Heiner is getting the jump on the entire field by releasing the first TV ad in the campaign, revealed Tuesday on WHAS11 News.
As our city councilman, Hal Heiner is improving our neighborhoods and helping keep us safe, and fighting everyday to hold city government accountable.
Hal Heiner is a Metro Councilman, an engineer and the founder of a real estate investment firm. But this ad is his first introduction to many voters.
"In this race, there's really no overwhelming personality," Heiner said in an interview, "someone that this community has voted for again and again, and quite frankly with 14 candidates there's a lot of confusion."
As both a critic of Mayor Jerry Abramson and now as a candidate, one of Heiner's main themes is an open and transparent Metro government.
"Nothing will kill a community faster than if there's perception of self dealing within government, people don't want to invest their lives, don't wanty to invest in their business, and that is really paramount moving forward," he said.
Hal turned an old dried up cow pasture into a thriving business park and 4000 new jobs.
His main Republican rival argues that the jobs Heiner claims to have created were simply moved to Southern Jefferson County - and in some cases, to Southern Indiana.
"We're going to eventually because of actions that he is doing, we're going to be forced to raise our property taxes if we continue to get the companies to leave Louisville but yet maintain their homes right here back home," Thieneman said
Thieneman revealed his own news today -- the endorsement of the Jefferson County Teachers Association - which is also endorsing Democrat Jim King.
"The mayor's position doesn't have direct authority over the education system," Thieneman explained, "but what I can do as mayor is bring more nurses into the schools to help the children, bring in family resources so the teachers don't have to worry about the family issues."
Thieneman is a real estate developer and builder who - alongside Heiner - succesfully fought the proposed library tax. A third Republican, Jonathan Robertson owns a small business that provides IT support.
Heiner's campaign is making a major ad buy on all four local network affiliates, and targeted cable, more than $100,000 in commercials that begin airing tomorrow night during the college basketball conference tournaments.
And so it begins...
