LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Breckinridge County Sheriff William "Billy" Richardson won the Republican primary for reelection Tuesday night, beating out a field that included former Sheriff Todd Pate.
The other Republican on the ballot was Duke Foster. No Democrats ran on the other side of the primary election, but an independent could file to run in November's general election.
The race was called just before 9 p.m. Richardson won with 55% of reported votes. Pate was close behind with 43% of reported votes.
Pate was first elected Breckinridge County sheriff in 2003 but retired in February 2020 after facing assault and DUI charges. He was arrested in March 2019 on his second DUI charge and was under court order not to drive or carry a gun.
In July 2020, Pate entered a pretrial diversion program in which he pleaded guilty to DUI and was required to serve 75 days in jail but, with credits, only served 29 days in jail.
Because of the pretrial diversion program, Pate's charges were dismissed.
Pate was also arrested for DUI in October 2015 in a Waffle House parking lot in Bowling Green. In that case, he was charged with DUI, reckless driving and terroristic threatening.
He didn't spend any time in jail because his 30-day sentence was suspended. He paid an $800 fine.
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