A well-known progressive, Louisville Metro Council Member Parrish-Wright launched her mayoral campaign over the weekend during a birthday brunch at Colonial Gardens in the South End. Surrounded by supporters, including former state Rep. Attica Scott, Parrish-Wright said she loves Louisville and it’s where she decided to raise her family.
“I serve this community every day and, like so many of you, I believe Louisville deserves leadership that shows up, tells the truth and delivers results,” she said at the event.
Parrish-Wright, who is the executive director of advocacy group VOCAL-KY, joins a competitive field of candidates. So far, eight people have filed to run, including incumbent Mayor Craig Greenberg. More could jump in before the filing deadline on Friday.
In some ways, the race is shaping up to be a rerun. Parrish-Wright went up against Greenberg in the 2022 Democratic primary, coming in second in a crowded race.
But this year will also be completely different.
It’s the first year that mayor and Metro Council races will be nonpartisan, meaning candidates won’t have a party affiliation next to their name on the ballot. The primary on May 19 will be wide open, with self-described Democrats, Republicans, progressives and conservatives all running against each other.
The two with the most votes will advance to the November general election.
During her campaign launch, Parrish-Wright talked about what's changed for her since the last mayoral election, mainly the work she’s done representing District 3 on Metro Council. That district includes Shively and small parts of the West End.
Parrish-Wright told supporters that she served on “some of the most demanding committees,” including the council’s Budget Committee, Public Safety Committee and the Public Works Committee, where she was vice chair.
“I pushed back when things didn’t add up,” she said. “I advocated for neighborhoods that too often get overlooked and, even when I was outvoted, I stood with the community consistently.”
All odd-numbered Metro Council districts are up for election this year, along with mayor, county sheriff and county clerk.
By running for mayor, Parrish-Wright is giving up the chance to return to her Metro Council seat and other candidates have already stepped into the void.
LPM’s City Government and Politics Reporter Roberto Roldan spoke with Parrish-Wright about what went into her decision to run for mayor and what she thinks is different about this political moment. Their interview, edited for length and clarity, is below:
RR: In order to run for mayor, you've had to give up running for reelection to Metro Council. What were you thinking about when you weighed staying on the council versus trying to get to the top spot in Louisville Metro?
SPW: I've grown in the work with District 3 and understanding the nuances of such a mixed, diverse, transient community, and really lifting up all those neighborhoods in the district. It also gave me insight and inspiration to be able to serve the city in a bigger way. I was able to communicate that with the District 3 folks that showed up for our district advisory board every month. I'm proud to say that at my announcement, more than 12 of them were there for that announcement, and that says that that communication went really well. So, it was a very hard decision. I decided that I can still serve District 3 as mayor of Louisville.
RR: You also ran for mayor in 2022 in a crowded Democratic field. In the primary, you got about 18,000 votes to Mayor Craig Greenberg's 35,000. What do you think is different about this moment that we're in, that you can face him as an incumbent and you can win?
SPW: We still operate as a small town where people pick up the phone and shut you down, and sometimes people equate richness with [thinking] they're automatically ready to be a leader because they're connected to money. I think the people power that we've been building with all of my campaigns and all of the work in between shows that the opportunity to vote and engage in our democracy, it matters. It shouldn't matter how much money you have in your bank account. It should matter that you can vote for the people who are going to represent you in the best way.
I don't think that Greenberg wakes up and he's a bad person, but I think he's very disconnected from the everyday lives that Louisvillians lead. I knew even back then that I represented more of those lives, even as somebody who wasn't born in Louisville.
We have to make sure that we're grounded, that we're that we're focused on the people, and that, yes, tourism matters, revenue matters, but it's important that people feel connected. We always say, we can't get rid of all the red tape, but we can help our communities navigate that. They can call and get services and care that they deserve.
I think that I'm best positioned to do that, not just because I come from the nonprofit sector, but I also come from being homeless here. I also come from working and working through poverty here, becoming middle and working class here. Putting someone like me in office, it's more of a chance for people in those spaces to come in and co-govern and I want to bring that to Louisville. I want to unify Louisville in a way we haven't seen before.
RR: I think that you sort of touched on it there, and I know we still have five months until the primary, but big picture, what's your message to voters about why they should elect you mayor?
RR: I think the voters, I hope they're fed up enough to know that they deserve better, and that when I say we get there together, that is because there is power in their votes. There's power in their needs.
Too many times we hear millions of dollars have been spent here and invested here, but none of us feel those millions of dollars. I can promise them any investments, any millions of dollars that come into the city, you will feel it. You will see it. You will be connected to it.
RR: You'll still have all of 2026 to represent District 3 on Metro Council. Now that you've made your decision not to seek reelection, what would you like to do in the time that you have left?
SPW: We need an expanded library in our district. Shively is our closest library. It's one of the most used libraries, and it is the one of the smallest libraries we have in Jefferson County. I've already put a note into the new library director that I want to see where that is. This is not a new library, it's an expansion.
I want to make sure we do a real accounting of city-owned, Metro-owned properties that can be put to public use and good. I want to see that we're able to help people stay in their places, support landlords, but also support renters and tenants who are trying to stay where they can. And that can happen through mediation, through rental assistance, through emergency assistance, for people who are being evicted.
Keeping families together and housed is important, access to swimming pools, access to 24-hour community centers where young people can go.
SPW: This year will be the first nonpartisan election cycle in Louisville after a state law change. So that means not only will you be up against Greenberg, you'll also be up against folks like Tina Burnell, a transparency activist who worked for a Republican Metro Council member. What kind of impact do you expect that that's going to have?
SPW: I'm excited about it. For some reason, I attract crowded races. Even when I ran for school board, there were eight candidates. When I ran for mayor, there were all these candidates. I was the only woman and I came in second in the Democratic primary.
I think people are jumping in because they see that it's an opportunity to change things at the local level. Politics are how things get done: who gets what, when, where and how. Local politics are everything. Local politics are tangible things that you can do. And with the federal government and all those things in flux. I think more of those people who want to run for office are coming in and attaching themselves to local offices to kind of weather the storm and to be able to get things done.
