LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Come election time, more candidates may have to identify with a political party.

State Sen. Damon Thayer, R-District 17, and Sen. Phillip Wheeler, R-District 31, introduced Senate Bill 50 this legislative session. The bill proposes making elections like school board, city council, and mayoral races partisan.

"I just think the time has come to give the voters more information," Sen. Thayer said. "I think this is a fairly benevolent approach to let people know where people stand by declaring a political party affiliation."

Senate Bill 50 would also make county commissioner, cityward, and soli and water conservation officers partisan elections.

Some current officeholders disagree with turning non-partisan races to partisan.

Jefferson County Public Schools board member James Craig disagrees with the bill.

Craig said knowing a candidate's political affiliation in a school board race should not matter, and that education topics are not the same as political topics.

"The types of issues that we debate that we work on at the school board, don't lend themselves to the traditional partisan splits that we see in other governments," Craig said.

Jeffersontown Mayor Carol Pike is also against the bill.

"The city has gotten along all these years, and we've done really well being a non-partisan community," Pike said. "We're not here to represent the Republican, Democrat, or Independent parties, we're here to represent our citizens."

Both Craig and Pike say creating more partisan races will do more harm than good to local government.

Sen. Thayer argues it's what constituents want, and will better inform voters in future elections.

"I think people end up electing somebody with a lot of name ID, who may not exactly reflect the kind of values that they hold," Sen. Thayer said.

A similar bill, called a "companion bill,"  has also been introduced in the state's House of Representatives.

Sen. Thayer said if the bill passed, it would take effect before the 2024 election.

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