LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Bryan Whittaker received 28% of the vote Tuesday night to win the race for Bullitt County jailer, unseating controversial incumbent Paul Watkins.

"His behavior has actually affected Bullitt County and given the county a bad image," Whittaker said Wednesday. "What I need to do is put the weight on my shoulders, take the ball and run with it and bring the image back that we need to have. That we're all good people out here."

Whittaker, who is unopposed for the November election for now, believes he can change the public's perception of the jail.

"It's all about relationships we have and relationships we have to rebuild with the public, the media," he said. "We have to get this thing right and we will get it right."

Watkins has been the subject of backlash and lawsuits for years centered around racist and sexist behavior. In April, a WDRB News investigation unveiled a secret recording of Watkins' hurling racial slurs at work.

He is heard repeatedly using the “N-word” and other demeaning language in the recording filed as evidence in a lawsuit in state court. Watkins, who was voted into office in 2018, is seeking reelection for a second term.

The conversation took place March 3 among Watkins, former Bullitt County Sheriff Dave Greenwell and a mutual acquaintance of the men, Ronnie Miller. Greenwell recorded the meeting.

“I’m saying this, like, to you all. I don’t say this in public,” Watkins said. “See, my granddaughter’s married to a f****** n***** and he is a n*****. There’s a thing — there’s a difference between a black guy and a n*****, and this bastard…”

Among other slurs, Watkins is heard using the “N-word” six times in the nearly 64-minute recording. It is now part of a whistleblower lawsuit filed against Watkins last year by two former employees of the Bullitt County Detention Center.

In this most recent lawsuit, Anthony Maddox, a deputy at the Bullitt County Jail, claimed Watkins forced him to go to a GOP fundraiser — the Lincoln Reagan Dinner 2022 at the Paroquet Spring Conference Center in Shepherdsville — on April 9. The dinner featured U.S. Sen. Rand Paul as the keynote speaker.

Two days before that dinner, Maddox said Watkins asked him to join him there. When Maddox replied that he was not comfortable attending the fundraiser, Watkins allegedly told him that "other jail employees want your neck" but Watkins could protect his job. When Maddox again reiterated that he was uncomfortable going, Watkins allegedly asked if he'd like to be promoted to sergeant and given a raise. Maddox replied that he'd like that, and Watkins allegedly told him to meet him at Table No. 12 at the fundraiser and "dress nice."

Maddox then reported the conversation to three different supervisors, who allegedly told him he was only getting this treatment because he was Black.

Maddox attended the April 9 fundraiser with Watkins and two other Black employees. According to the  lawsuit, Watkins, "paraded Anthony and his black coworkers around as his good  friends and employees." But during that dinner, while Watkins was away, several attendees of the fundraiser approached Maddox and told him he should contact an attorney because a "powerful video" was coming out April 11 that would expose him as a racist and "would be a bombshell."

Watkins’ attorney, Carol Petitt, said the comments were made while Watkins was “enduring a period of significant personal stress.”

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