The Political 43rd: Aspects of the District as Political Motivators - Darryl T. Owens

Representative Owens spoke much less specifically or openly about his motivations in running for office. In response to the same question that Mr. Czerwonka answered at length, Rep. Owens’ response was typical of most of his answers: concise, and to the point. He did not put his district in such abstract nor actually such concrete terms as his opponent. In response to the question, “Were there specific aspects of this district that made you want to run,” Owens referred to his professional public service experience, and the ethnic and economic demographics of the constituency.

First Owens referred to his recent experience in what he considered a similar representative situation. This suggests a close mental connection between his former experiences with how he views his position now. “The district was similar to the district I represented as ‘C’ District Commissioner.” Jefferson County, Kentucky, is divided into three districts, lettered “A” through “C.” Owens originally won the “C” district seat in 1983. Though he failed to win his Mayoral bid in 1985, he went on to hold his seat representing Jefferson County “C” District for five terms, completing his last term in 2002. The “C” District encompasses the southwest third of the county. Since the Jefferson County/Louisville merger on January 6, 2003, the county government and Louisville City governments were all but dissolved and replaced by a new Louisville Metropolitan are government. Though the district positions were not going to be dissolved, the responsibilities and pay of the commissioners would be negligible as the positions were no longer needed. For this reason Owens left the position in 2002 and sought election in 2004 for the position he now holds.

“C” District, according to Owens, was made up of roughly two-thirds white and one third black voters, of widely varying income levels similar to the 4rrd Kentucky House District for which he was now running in his 2004 race. Having held this Commissioner position for twenty years, he felt that the ethnic and income diversity of the State House district, located in roughly the same region, more than qualified him to represent it in Frankfort.