Johnathan Gay formally files for candidacy of Commonwealth’s Attorney for the 19th Judicial Circuit.
Johnathan Gay was recently nominated to represent the Republican party in the race for Commonwealth’s Attorney for the 19th Judicial Circuit in November.
The 19th Judicial Circuit covers Bracken, Fleming and Mason counties.
Gay is from Fleming County and currently serves as the assistant commonwealth attorney in the 39th Judicial Circuit.
He is a 10-year veteran of the United States Army and the Kentucky National Guard. Gay credits these entities with helping “pay his way” through college at the University of Kentucky College of Law and Eastern Kentucky University.
Gay began his legal career in 2002 as a licensed attorney. Since then, he has represented clients in dozens of counties in the commonwealth in district and circuit state courts.
Gay has also represented clients in the United States District Court.
According to T.J. Litafik with Solon Strategies, Gay has been associated with the Republican party for 27 years. He noted that Gay was recently a delegate to the Republican National Convention.
Gay was part of the Kentucky delegation that nominated former President Donald J. Trump and United States Sen. J.D. Vance for president and vice president.
According to Gay, his priorities, if elected, will be “threefold.”
One of Gay’s priorities will be to bring a “strong focus and energy” to crime prosecution against special victims. He noted his goal to include women and include.
“Sadly, I’ve seen too many situations where children are exploited and women are victimized. Typically, those cases are difficult to prosecute. I want to make them a special focus of the office,” Gay remarked.
According to Gay, he also plans to be more “strategic” when it comes to prosecuting drug crimes.
“We need to separate the traffickers from those simply trying to feed their addiction,” Gay said. “That starts with working more closely with local law enforcement to try and identify which is which.”
He compared the traffickers and those addicted.
“The first (traffickers) deserve long prison sentences. The second (users), a chance at recovery with the expectation that they will get back in the workforce,” Gay clarified.
Gay said he would also work to “better educate” the public about the role of the office if elected.
“I’ve gone to quite a few events where voters do not know what it is the office does,” Gay began. “Given the way crime is migrating out of the cities and into more rural areas, voters are concerned about a host of issues ranging from fentanyl to gangs.”
He shared his hopes for voters’ understanding.
“I want voters to understand what we can do directly, and where we must hand off issues to federal law enforcement,” Gay continued.
He discussed his planned course of action if elected.
“I’ll hold monthly meetings in each county open to the public to discuss what we are doing and address any concerns of the citizens. This is ultimately their taxpayer money that supports our office, and they deserve to know and have a voice,” Gay concluded.
For more information on Gay and his campaign, please visit www.JohnathanGay.com or visit his campaign on Facebook at Johnathan Gay for Commonwealth’s Attorney.
Gay will be on the November ballot for Commonwealth’s Attorney for the 19th Judicial Circuit.
