Chet Hand
Candidate for: Boone County judge/executive;
Party: Republican;
Status: Challenger;
Chet Hand is a Republican candidate for Boone County Judge/Executive and a current member of the Boone County Fiscal Court, where he has served as a county commissioner for the past three years.
Hand narrowly defeated longtime Judge/Executive Gary Moore in May’s GOP primary. He will face libertarian-leaning independent Timothy Dean Johnson in the general election this November.
A Boone County resident for roughly a decade, Hand lives on a farm in Walton along with his wife, Elizabeth, and their seven children.
Hand’s professional background includes both the public and private sectors. He spent over a decade in the fire service as a firefighter, medic, and training captain in Alaska, an experience he publicly says influences his support for law enforcement and first responders.
In his private sector career, Hand has experience in corporate risk management, including holding a leadership position with a global retailer where he has managed large-scale operations and budgets.
“The biggest thing is that I’m for conservative fiscal policy and lower taxes,” Hand said during a Northern Kentucky Tea Party candidate forum in February. “I also am very defensive of individual property rights.”
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On the fiscal court, Hand is a proponent of conservative fiscal policies, advocating for limited government, fewer regulations, and strong protections for individual property rights.
Hand describes himself as a proponent of transparency and accessibility in local government and has pushed to expand the county’s communications staff and modernize public-facing information systems.
Hand supports strategic, long-term planning that uses defined metrics and aligns with the county’s comprehensive plan. During a Northern Kentucky Tea Party candidate forum in February, Hand said his goal is to ensure responsible growth while protecting Boone County’s future for the next generation, rejecting the label of “anti-development” that critics have levied against him.