Douglas defeats Cooperrider for GOP nomination in Senate District 22 race

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - We have the results for the Senate District 22 race, which includes part of Fayette County.

Donald Douglas defeated Andrew Cooperrider for the GOP nomination.

Sen. Douglas took the seat in a special election last year after the death of Senator Tom Buford. Cooperrider is known for trying to impeach Governor Andy Beshear over COVID-19 regulations.

Douglas and about a dozen or so of his supporters were watching the results come in for four hours, seeing Douglas at first with a big lead, then watching it dwindle, but maintain an edge. They started gathering at Sedona Tap House around 6:00 p.m.

Supporters said there needs to be a Republican in the 22nd district, and that Douglas is the person who has accomplished most of the goals they had in the Jessamine County Republican Party.

It was an interesting race, but Douglas said there’s been some things happened that he didn’t like.

“I think there were some things done in this that were not very conservative, and that were not very Republican. We would like to keep our party the way it is,” Douglas said.

While cautiously optimistic all night, Cooperrider ended the watch party sitting quietly with family and friends beside him. Cooperrider ended the primary election at his coffee shop, Brewed, which is where this really all began when he first defied state COVID protocols and refused to close his business in 2020.

“Even if we do lose, I hope Senate Republicans look at the almost $400,000 spent by them Douglas campaign outside groups, and see that we cannot continue to spend this much money in a Senate primary. It’d be much cheaper and easier on us if we just listened to the voters,” Cooperrider said.

There were some interesting developments in the race Tuesday afternoon. Cooperrider went to court over an electioneering dispute, claiming the Fayette County clerk threatened to arrest his volunteers for being too close to the polls. Cooperrider said they were at a legal limit. A judge ruled that electioneering could continue.

Douglas will be up against Democrat Chuck Eddy in November’s general election, who ran unopposed on the other side of the ticket.

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