Mediaboss Marketing

Louisville Metro Councils District Nine has been a Democratic stronghold for years.

But thats not dissuading Republican Laura Rice from running for the seat, or giving Democrat Bill Hollander a false sense of entitlement.

Hollander says hes been campaigning every day -- knocking on doors, attending public events and reaching out to voters in the district.

We're working hard, he said. The only way to win any race in my opinion is to pretend like you're 20 points behind.

Nobody is handicapping the race, but retiring Democrat Tina Ward-Pugh easily won election to three terms on the Louisville Metro Council after being elected to the City of Louisvilles Board of Aldermen in 1999.

The popular Democrat beat her Republican opponent by 6,985 votes to 4,046 votes in 2002. She didnt have a Republican challenger in 2006, and beat her conservative contestant in 2010 by 7,621 votes to 4,226 votes, according to the Jefferson County Board of Elections.

Still, Rice believes she has a few factors in her favor.

Despite the fact that I'm a Republican, I do think a lot of Democrats are going to cross party lines in this race in particular, she said.

She points to 2011 redistricting, which added some conservative precincts from Republican Ken Flemings seventh district to the edge of the ninth district.

She also believes many voters will want to keep a woman in the seat because men already dominate the council by a 16:10 ratio.

See the original post:
Republican, Democrat square off in traditionally Democratic Ninth District