Louisville Metro Council’s District 16 seat will remain under Republican control.
Scott Reed narrowly defeated Democrat Gill Holland in the race to replace outgoing Councilman Kelly Downard. Downard announced last year he’d not seek reelection.
Reed won with 51 percent of the vote in the district that encompasses much of northeastern Jefferson county. He works as an executive with his family’s decades-old printing business.
In an interview Tuesday night, Reed said he would focus on dropping the city’s occupational tax and addressing the heroin epidemic.
"And I think [the occupational tax is] one of the reasons businesses don’t want to move to Louisville and one of the reasons businesses have historically been wanting to leave," he said.
Reed’s win allows Republicans to hold on to their nine seat minority on the 26 seat Metro Council.
Holland did not return a request for comment.
In District 14, Democrat incumbent Cindi Fowler defeated her Republican challenger with 52 percent of the vote.
With his win, Republicans retain their nine-seat minority on the council, which has 26 members.
