Richard Heath Explained

Richard Heath (born August 9, 1955) is an American politician who has served as a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives since November 2012. He represents Kentucky's 2nd House district, which includes Graves County and part of McCracken County.^[1] Currently, Heath serves as chair of the House Standing Committee on Agriculture.

Background

Heath graduated from Cuba High School in 1973. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in agricultural education in 1984, and a Master of Arts in agriculture in 1989, both from Murray State University.^[2]

Heath is the owner of Heath Building Materials, located in Mayfield, Kentucky. He identifies as a Baptist, and is currently a member of the Graves County Chamber of Commerce, Graves County Rotary Club, National Rifle Association of America (NRA), Associated General Contractors of America, National Frame Building Association, and Home Builders Association.

Elections

• 2012 On May 31, 2012, Kentucky's 2nd House district incumbent Fred Nesler resigned to accept a position with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. Subsequently, Governor Steve Beshear called for a special election to be held on November 6, 2012, the same day as the general election. Heath won the 2012 Republican Primary with 752 votes (78.6%)^[3] and won the November 6, 2012 General election with 9,681 votes (54.8%) against Democratic nominee Kelly Whitaker.^[4] He also won the special election for the remaining two months of Nesler's term.
• 2014 Heath was unopposed in the 2014 republican primary, and won the 2014 general election with 9,181 votes against Democratic candidate Jesse Wright.^[5]
• 2015 Heath was defeated by Ryan Quarles in the 2015 republican primary for Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture by a margin of 1,427 votes.
• 2016 Heath was unopposed in the 2016 republican primary, and won the 2016 general election with 11,699 votes against Democratic candidate Jesse Wright.
• 2018 Heath was unopposed in the 2018 republican primary, and won the 2018 general election with 10,880 votes against Democratic candidate Charlotte Goddard.
• 2020 Heath was unopposed in the 2020 republican primary, and won the 2020 general election with 15,484 votes against Libertarian candidate Joshua Gilpin.
• 2022 Heath was challenged in the 2022 republican primary by Kimberly Holloway, however Holloway was disqualified from the ballot due to one of her signatories for her campaign filing not being a registered republican. Holloway chose to continue her campaign as a write-in candidate during the 2022 general election, which Heath would win with 10,922 votes.^[6]
• 2023 Heath was defeated by Jonathan Shell in the 2023 republican primary for Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture by a margin of 33,802 votes.
• 2024 Heath was defeated in the 2024 Republican primary, garnering garnering 1,743 votes (47.8%) against Kimberly Holloway.

External links

• Official page at the Kentucky General Assembly
  • Richard Heath at Ballotpedia
• Richard Heath at OpenSecrets

Notes and References

1. Web site: Legislator-Profile - Legislative Research Commission . 2024-05-29 . legislature.ky.gov.
2. Web site: Richard Heath's Biography . April 23, 2014 . Project Vote Smart.
3. Web site: Commonwealth of Kentucky May 22, 2012 Official 2012 Primary Election Results . 22 . . Frankfort, Kentucky . April 23, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120927171457/http://elect.ky.gov/SiteCollectionDocuments/Election%20Results/2010-2019/2012/2012offpriresults.pdf . September 27, 2012 . dead .
4. Web site: Commonwealth of Kentucky November 6, 2012 Official 2012 General Election Results . 25 . Secretary of State of Kentucky . Frankfort, Kentucky . April 23, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121224231741/http://elect.ky.gov/SiteCollectionDocuments/Election%20Results/2010-2019/2012/2012genresults.pdf . December 24, 2012 . dead .
5. Web site: Richard Heath . 2024-05-29 . Ballotpedia . en.
6. Web site: 2024-05-24 . Kim Holloway says primary upset over GOP incumbent for Ky. House was DIY effort . 2024-05-29 . WKMS . en-us . https://web.archive.org/web/20240524222321/https://www.wkms.org/2024-05-24/kim-holloway-says-primary-upset-over-gop-incumbent-for-ky-house-was-diy-effort . 2024-05-24 . live .