Editor’s note: A previous version of this story incorrectly listed the election date as Nov. 4, not Nov. 5. The correct date has been listed in the article. The Herald regrets this error. 

Patti Minter, former Kentucky State Representative for District 20, announced her candidacy for Bowling Green mayor Thursday morning.

“Bowling Green deserves leaders who lift people up instead of leaving people out,” Minter wrote on social media. “That’s been my life’s work. And that’s why I’m running for mayor.”

She explained that through her campaign, she plans to focus on affordable housing, infrastructure improvements and passing the Fairness Campaign’s Fairness Ordinance in Bowling Green.

Minter served as a state representative from 2019 to 2022 and was elected to the Kentucky Commission on Women in 2023. 

“Just as I’ve always stood up and showed up for the people of Bowling Green when I represented them in the state House of Representatives, now it’s time to show up locally in a period of great growth and great change in our city,” Minter said.

Minter additionally works at WKU as a history professor and coordinator of the legal studies program.

She said she plans to maintain her role as a professor throughout the campaign and if elected as mayor.  

“I will continue to teach classes, advise students, and do all of the normal duties of my job that I’ve loved doing for the last 30 years,” Minter said.

Minter will run against current mayor Todd Alcott in the mayoral race. The election will take place Nov. 5.

“I will be talking with the people of Bowling Green, as I always have, and listening to them and learning from them what their concerns are, what issues are important to them, and what they want from their next mayor,” Minter said.

News Reporter Ali Costellow can be reached at [email protected]