Republicans maintain control of Kenton County Fiscal Court

Republicans have maintained control of the Kenton County Fiscal Court.

Now that election night results are in, all three Republican candidates have beaten their Democratic opponents. Republican incumbent Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann ran unopposed this year.

Two incumbents, Jon Draud and Joe Nienaber (both Republicans), decided not to run for reelection this year. So, only one incumbent, Beth Sewell, a Republican who lives in county district 1, appeared on the ballot. This year also marked the first time in decades that Democrats have run candidates for seats on the fiscal court. This made the county commissioners’ races, both in the primary election and in the general election, one of the more robust slates in the region.

County commissioners are legislators on the fiscal court, the county’s central government. In spite of its name, the fiscal court has no judicial role. Instead, it exercises legislative and executive power, similar to a city council. Commissioners are primarily responsible for passing countywide ordinances (laws) and setting the county budget. Commissioners, like city council members, also serve as representatives for their constituents who advocate for their interests at higher levels of government, such as the general assembly.

Commissioners are assigned districts based on where they live, but they represent the county at-large, meaning as a whole. This means any county voter can cast votes for every district. County commissioners serve four-year terms.

Fiscal courts are headed up by a judge/executive, who serves as the central executive of the county government.

County governments have several roles, namely to provide essential public services, including infrastructure, road maintenance, parks, jails and animal control.

Counties also administer elections (note: Fiscal courts themselves do not administer elections; that duty falls to county boards of election), keep important records, and collect and allocate tax funding for the aforementioned public services. Other services, such as law enforcement dispatch services, are also administered at the county level. The county clerk, jailer and sheriff are responsible for submitting budgets to the fiscal court, which then votes on whether they’re appropriate.

The commissioner positions are usually not full time, unlike other elected positions at the county level. Thus, fiscal courts often employ full-time county administrators and other administrative staff to handle the day-to-day.

Check out the results for this year’s Kenton County commissioner races below. Winners are set off in bold text. Figures are results as of election night, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026.

District 1

District 2

District 3