'We're not going to go away': Black Louisville mayor candidates frustrated but undeterred

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After racial justice protests in 2020, continuing calls for change following Breonna Taylor’s death and several candidates of color running in this year's mayoral primary, one thing is certain.

Louisville’s next mayor will be like all its previous mayors — a white man.

That and the fact both Republican nominee Bill Dieruf and Democratic pick Craig Greenberg vastly outraised other candidates in their primaries were on the mind of Shameka Parrish-Wright.

The co-chair of the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and manager of the Louisville Bail Project finished second behind Greenberg in the Democratic primary.

Businessman vs. businessman: How Dieruf and Greenberg stack up in Louisville mayor race

Parrish-Wright, who was seeking to become the first woman and first Black resident to serve as Louisville's mayor, received 22% of the vote compared with Greenberg's 41% in the eight-candidate Democratic field.

Dieruf racked up 78% of votes in the four-candidate GOP field.

She wondered if having several Black candidates in the Democratic field ultimately "put a dent" in her vote totals.

Parrish-Wright told The Courier Journal her supporters included not only those who have protested against racial inequities and police brutality but also doctors, lawyers and teachers.

But she raised only roughly $70,900 during her campaign, while Greenberg raised about $1.4 million, much of it from wealthy donors.

"We have to keep big money out if it," she said. "Greenberg had those relationships and I didn’t, right? He hasn’t been mayor before either. … He just has money."

The Rev. Tim Findley Jr., another Black candidate who came in fourth place among Democrats with nearly 16% of the vote, said he plans to run for mayor again in the next election.

Despite Greenberg having TV ads, "mass mailers," and backing from political action committees as well as endorsements from several Metro Council members, Findley, pastor of Kingdom Fellowship Christian Life Center, said he and Parrish-Wright still had a "very respectable showing" amid a low countywide voter turnout of nearly 21%.

"That should be concerning to individuals that put all this money into these campaigns," Findley said. "… because we're not going to go away."

Findley felt he performed well in the predominantly Black neighborhoods of the West End and Newburg and said Greenberg also enjoyed support in the West End.

But the pastor said the Democratic Party locally and nationally needs to "figure out how we can get more Black and brown engagement within the party."

"There were too many rooms I was going into as a mayoral candidate where it was almost as if the look is, 'Why are you even here? There's no way we're voting you in,'" Findley added.

Colin Hardin, who came in sixth in the Democratic field with a little over 1% of the vote and who identifies as half-black and half-white, said as a restaurant industry worker with "no major influence, money or name recognition," he is "incredibly satisfied and proud of our performance."

"Am I disappointed that Louisville elected two white men to run against each other for Mayor of this city? No. I am not, because I never looked at them and saw their race as the reason they got elected, nor why I was running against them," Hardin wrote in an email. "I am sad that money has had such a large impact on the race, but ultimately, we can only fight to change that over time."

"I have hope that Greenberg will be everything he's promised he will be, and I hope that I can do my part to make sure that he is," Hardin added. "We can sit around angry at who won, or we can throw our voices into the conversation and try to change it ourselves."

Chartrael Hall, the lone Black candidate in the Republican primary who finished second with 11% of the vote, said "it has been this same way for centuries and change to mindsets takes time."

"I believe this election sparked that," said Hall, a minister at Quinn Chapel AME Church, life coach and motivational speaker who previously played professional basketball overseas after graduating from Bellarmine University.

"There’s a mountain to climb for sure," Hall wrote in an email. "I knew this wouldn’t be an easy process and that’s exactly why I entered the race. The city has been shaken up and even with the outcome that a large majority predicted, there were many small victories that occurred. ...The people still have needs and I must keep serving."

For November, Parrish-Wright added she has not yet decided to back Greenberg because she feels he has to do more to inspire people and create "real change."

Dieruf could otherwise beat Greenberg thanks to his experience as Jeffersontown mayor, Parrish-Wright said.

Rather than focusing on race or money, Raoul Cunningham, president of the Louisville Branch of the NAACP, had a more pragmatic outlook on the mayoral election.

"I will be waiting to see what position on the issues they take, and I’ll also be looking at their background deeper and to see whom I think will best serve the city and my philosophy," Cunningham told The Courier Journal.

"… The voters of their respective parties have spoken, and that's what we've got to choose from, no matter whom we supported in the primary. That's the hand we've been dealt, and we've got to play it."

Reach Billy Kobin at bkobin@courierjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Black Louisville mayor candidates vow, 'we're not going to go away'