Ackerson Squares Off Against Tea Party Challenger in District 18

In the Louisville Metro Council District 18 race, Republican voters will choose between incumbent Jon Ackerson and Tea Party activist Marilyn Parker in Tuesday's primary.The race has caught local attention after the majority of GOP council members endorsed Parker over Ackerson. Council Republicans have said Ackerson has sided with council Democrats too often on several issues and have criticized their colleague as self-serving and untrustworthy in the past.Ackerson says he is a conservative Republican, adding he will let voters decide if his bipartisan work on the council deserves re-election."I don’t know what the vote is going to be on Tuesday, but I’m confident in the sense that I have done the kind of job that was expected of me by the constituents that I represent," he says. "All 16 of the suburban cities that I represent every mayor has publicly endorsed me for election because of the work that I’ve done on behalf of Metro Government."Despite Ackerson's assurances that he is a loyal Republican, campaign finance records show he has backed only council Democrats in the 2012 primary cycle. But the incumbent may have a slight advantage if voters reject some of Parker's more controversial stances, such as her questioning President Obama’s citizenship.Parker has pledged to cut the council's discretionary funds will beef up transparency and ethics rules."I have been out there espousing those values for the past four years and Jon Ackerson is at City Hall and he’s working against those principles,” she says.Parker says former mayoral candidate Hal Heiner has  endorsed her campaign.