Greg Fischer (Kentucky)

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Greg Fischer

Democratic Party

Prior offices

Mayor of Louisville

Successor: Craig Greenberg

Predecessor: Jerry Abramson

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Education

High school

Trinity High School

Bachelor's

Vanderbilt University

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Personal website

Greg Fischer (Democratic Party) was the Mayor of Louisville in Kentucky. Fischer assumed office on January 3, 2011. Fischer left office on January 2, 2023.

Fischer (Democratic Party) ran for re-election for Mayor of Louisville in Kentucky. Fischer won in the general election on November 6, 2018.

Fischer won a second term in office on November 4, 2014, and he won a third term on November 6, 2018. In 2018, he won 61.3 percent of the vote, defeating Angela Leet (R).

Biography

Fischer was born on January 14, 1958. He earned his B.S. in economics from Vanderbilt University. His professional experience includes founding and operating several businesses such as SerVend International, Iceberg Ventures and bCatalyst. Fischer and his wife, Dr. Alexandra Gerassimides, have four children: Eleni, George, Nick and Mary.

Elections

2018

See also: Mayoral election in Louisville, Kentucky (2018)

General election

General election for Mayor of Louisville

The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Louisville on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Greg Fischer (D)	61.3	177,749
		Angela Leet (R)	36.5	105,853
		Jackie Green (Nonpartisan)	0.7	1,979
		Chris Thieneman (Nonpartisan)	0.4	1,296
		Sean Vandevander (Nonpartisan)	0.3	995
		Billy Ralls (Nonpartisan)	0.3	873
		Henry Owens (Nonpartisan)	0.1	415
		Douglas Edward Lattimore (Nonpartisan)	0.1	315
		Isaac Marion Thacker IV (Nonpartisan)	0.1	306

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 289,781 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Mayor of Louisville

Incumbent Greg Fischer defeated Ryan Fenwick, Lawrence Williams Jr., Daniel Gillette, and Dave Biggers in the Democratic primary for Mayor of Louisville on May 22, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Greg Fischer	74.7	54,554
		Ryan Fenwick	16.5	12,052
		Lawrence Williams Jr.	3.4	2,466
		Daniel Gillette	2.7	1,999
		Dave Biggers	2.6	1,933

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 73,004
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Mayor of Louisville

Angela Leet defeated Bob DeVore in the Republican primary for Mayor of Louisville on May 22, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Angela Leet	66.1	16,273
		Bob DeVore	33.9	8,357

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 24,630
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2014

See also: Louisville, Kentucky mayoral election, 2014

Elections for the Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky were held on November 4, 2014. A primary took place on May 20, 2014. Incumbent Greg Fischer (D) was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Bob DeVore (R) was unopposed in the Republican primary. Fischer defeated DeVore in the general election.

Mayor of Louisville, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Greg Fischer Incumbent	68.5%	172,810
	Republican	Bob DeVore	31.3%	78,870
	Other	Write-in	0.2%	511
Total Votes				252,191
Source: Jefferson County Clerk's Office - 2014 General Election Results

2010

In 2010, Fischer defeated Hal Heiner (R), Nimbus Couzin (I) and Jerry Mills (I).

Mayor of Louisville, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Greg Fischer	51.1%	132,050
	Republican	Hal Heiner	48.5%	125,178
	Independent	Nimbus Couzin	0.2%	499
	Independent	Jerry Mills	0.2%	474
Total Votes				258,201
Source: Jefferson County Elections Results 2010

Issues

Minimum wage

In September 2014, Democratic members of the Louisville City Council proposed an ordinance to raise the city's minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour over the course of a three year period. Mayor Fischer's office expressed interest in the proposal and noted the mayor's support for raising the minimum wage at the federal level. However, according to Louisville's Courier Journal, Fischer wanted to hear from "businesses, advocates, citizens, and faith groups," before establishing a stance. Bob DeVore (R), Fischer's opponent in the 2014 election, spoke out against the proposal, saying that it would "place a large burden on small businesses in providing quality services to our customers with fewer employees."

Sustainability

A study conducted by the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2012 found that "since the 1960s, urban Louisville, Ky., saw its temperature rise above that of its surroundings at a rate greater than any other city in the country and more than double the warming rate of the planet as a whole." The causes of Louisville's rising temperatures that the study pointed out were many, ranging from the ecology of the Ohio River Valley to the city's trees, but urban planning was cited as a significant contributor. Fischer campaigned on the issue in 2010 - after preliminary studies had already hinted at the problem. After being elected, he created the Office of Sustainability to spearhead environmental and sustainability initiatives. In January 2013, he released a list of nineteen goals for the city to achieve between 2013 and 2040. The goals touched upon issues such as transportation, sustainable farming and land usage.

Natural gas

Fischer supported a measure that increased the cost of natural gas in Louisville by 2% - an increase that many of the measure's opponents argued would be passed on to consumers. The fee increase was part of Fischer's 2014 budget, forming a core part of his plan to increase funding for public safety and youth programs. He claimed that it would raise enough revenue to hire twenty-four new police officers. City council approved the measure twelve to ten on June 5, 2014. Afterwards, Fischer released a statement saying, "[t]his is a great day for public safety in Louisville. The vote is a strategic investment in our city that will put more police officers on the street and increase programs for youth while benefiting our entire community."

Notable endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

This section displays endorsements this individual made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope.

Notable candidate endorsements by Greg Fischer

Endorsee	Election	Stage	Outcome
Joe Biden  source  (D, Working Families Party)	President of the United States (2020)	Primary	Won General
Michael Bloomberg  source	President of the United States (2020)		Withdrew in Convention

Noteworthy events

Events and activity following the death of George Floyd

See also: Events following the death of George Floyd and responses in select cities from May 29-31, 2020

Fischer was mayor of Louisville during the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, when events and activity took place in cities across the U.S. following the death of George Floyd. Events in Louisville over the death of George Floyd combined into ongoing protests in the city following the death of Breonna Taylor. Taylor was killed in an officer-related shooting on March 13, 2020, after police entered her apartment with a no-knock warrant. Upon entering the residence, Taylor's boyfriend shot at the officers, who returned fire, killing Taylor. Officers alleged they identified themselves before entering. Taylor's boyfriend disputed that claim, saying he thought they were intruders. No body cameras were active at the time of the shooting.

On May 30, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) activated the Kentucky National Guard and deployed 350 members to the city. The same day, Mayor Greg Fischer instituted a dusk-to-dawn curfew.

Overnight on May 31 to June 1, police officers and members of the Kentucky National Guard arrived at a parking lot in response to a crowd violating curfew. The crowd was not demonstrating at that time. Upon arriving, a shot was fired. Law enforcement officers fired into the crowd, killing David McAtee. Beshear requested that body camera footage from the incident be released. It was later revealed that the officers had not activated their body cameras. On June 1, Fischer fired police chief Steve Conrad following the revelation, saying, "This type of institutional failure will not be tolerated."

To read more about the death of George Floyd and subsequent events, click [show] to the right.

On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officers arrested Floyd, a Black man, after receiving a call that he had made a purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd died after Derek Chauvin, a white officer, arrived at the scene and pressed his knee onto Floyd's neck as Floyd laid face-down on the street in handcuffs. Both the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and an independent autopsy conducted by Floyd's family ruled Floyd's death as a homicide stemming from the incident. The medical examiner's report, prepared by Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson, said that it was "not a legal determination of culpability or intent, and should not be used to usurp the judicial process." On April 20, 2021, Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in relation to Floyd's death. Floyd's death was filmed and shared widely, leading to activity regarding racism, civil rights, and police use of force. The first events took place in Minneapolis-St. Paul on May 26. An event in Chicago organized by Chance the Rapper and Rev. Michael Pfleger took place the same day, making it the first major city outside of Minneapolis to host an event in response to Floyd's death.

See also

Louisville, Kentucky	Kentucky	Municipal government	Other local coverage

External links

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Candidate

Mayor of Louisville

Website

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Personal

Website

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Jerry Abramson (D)	Mayor of Louisville 2011-2023	Succeeded by Craig Greenberg (D)