> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.shayinformed.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Before you vote: Louisville’s mayoral candidates answer the same five questions - URL: https://www.shayinformed.com/before-you-vote-louisvilles-mayoral-candidates-answer-the-same-five-questions/ - Published: 2026-10-29T11:05:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-29T13:01:57.000Z - Author: Shay McAlister - Tags: Covering Kentucky I asked both candidates for Louisville mayor the same five questions. Questions I don't think anyone else has asked. Here's what they said. --- *I'm Independent Journalist Shay McAlister, and this is Shay Informed.* *I believe some stories are too important to stay behind a paywall. That's why I'm making this piece free to read for everyone. Informed communities make better decisions, and that can only happen when people have access to honest, thorough reporting.* *Shay Informed is 100% reader-funded. No ads. No corporate backing. Just journalism that answers to you. If you'd like to help keep this work going, please consider* [*subscribing*](https://www.shayinformed.com/#/portal/signup)*.* --- This year, Louisville's mayor's race is nonpartisan, which means there is no party label on the ballot to guide you. Incumbent Craig Greenberg and Metro Councilwoman Shameka Parrish-Wright are both Democrats, so voters have to decide on the person and the plan. The two candidates have answered questions about gun violence, data centers, and police funding for multiple other outlets, so I tried to ask questions I haven't seen anywhere else. I asked each of them what their first big decision would look like in office, what voters should hold them to (and how we'll track progress), a decision they would make differently from their time in public office, what Louisville needs from Frankfort and the Metro Council, and what problem Louisvillians have given up on solving (and how they can still fix it). Here are their answers. If you want to read the summary, scroll to the bottom of the page. ## Craig Greenberg ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8c/19/8c19890d-f21a-4442-8055-5db9783cac58/content/images/2026/10/CG-official-headshot.jpg) Craig Greenberg is the incumbent. He was elected in 2022 and is asking voters for a second four-year term. Greenberg didn't point to a single first decision for a second term. He said it starts with the people on his team. "As mayor, you can't do this job alone," he said, pointing to Louisville Metro Government's 30 departments and nearly 6,000 employees, from parks and libraries to police, fire and EMS. Having the right people leading those departments, starting in his own office, is what he says will drive the next four years. "As mayor, you don't have the luxury of just focusing on one thing," he said, adding that he has "an incredibly ambitious agenda" he wants to keep implementing. When I asked for one number voters should hold him to, he chose public safety. He said violent crime has dropped by about 50 percent since he took office, with roughly half as many homicides and shootings over four years. Those figures, he said, are published regularly on a live public dashboard. His measure going forward is a continued reduction in homicides and non-fatal shootings. "There's still too much violent crime. We can and we must do more," he said. He then offered a bonus answer on housing. Greenberg set a goal of 15,000 new affordable housing units, which he said also has a live dashboard. He said the city is at around 7,000 units created or preserved. He also pointed to his Home for Good initiative, which aims to add 250 units of permanent supportive housing by the end of next year. He said the city is approaching 100 of those, a little under a year in. Asked what he would do differently from his first term, Greenberg went to a proposal that drew public pushback: the plan to turn the historic tennis courts at Joe Creason Park into a new tennis and pickleball facility. A developer brought the idea to the city, he said, and he thought it had merit. But he said the community took it as a done deal when he saw it as the first inning. "The response was rapid. It was loud. It was clear," he said. He said he listened, ended those conversations for that site, and learned lessons that have improved how the city handles community engagement on other projects. On what Louisville needs from Frankfort and the Metro Council, Greenberg said the relationship with the state is "night and day" better than when he took office, describing both a strong working relationship with Gov. Andy Beshear and with the Republican supermajorities in the General Assembly. He said the state invested more than $1 billion in Louisville in each of the last two budget sessions. Where he wants more: local autonomy for cities like Louisville to address gun violence, which he called a problem Louisville faces more than other Kentucky communities. He also wants a change in how TARC is funded. He said it has been funded the same way since 1974 and that Indiana contributes more to TARC than Kentucky does. And he wants more state money for Thrive by Five, his early childhood and child care initiative, which the state has supported with mineral severance tax funds in the last two budgets. On a problem residents have stopped believing can be fixed, Greenberg chose homelessness. He said that in the first year of a second term, "Louisvillians will see even more progress." He pointed to the community care campus with Volunteers of America and Home for Good with the Coalition for the Homeless. He also cited the annual point-in-time count, which found about a 20 percent drop in people living on the street between 2025 and 2026\. He acknowledged that 521 people were still living outside on cold January nights, and said that is "521 too many." He also said some people who appear to be homeless have a place to live but are struggling with mental health or addiction, and said the city needs to do more on both. ## Shameka Parrish-Wright ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/8c/19/8c19890d-f21a-4442-8055-5db9783cac58/content/images/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-27-at-2.42.34---PM.png) Shameka Parrish-Wright is a member of the Louisville Metro Council and the challenger in this race. She ran for mayor in 2022 as well. On the first question, Parrish-Wright said what would set her apart is how she would approach public safety and public health: bringing the people who work on those issues to the table and acting on the reports that, in her words, "just sit on the shelf." She wants to take action "as democratically as possible," listening to everyone who has said they want to help and don't know how to show up. She pointed to violence prevention and intervention, including youth programs led by young people, and called for an office of violence reduction and suicide reduction. "Our suicide rates outpace our murder rates," she said, so mental health and other services need to be part of the response. On the number to be held to, Parrish-Wright didn't name a single figure. "I never want to overpromise and underdeliver," she said, adding that Louisville has had too much of that. She said voters will see public restroom access, more activity getting people who are homeless into housing instead of just "cleared away," and an office for small businesses, with worker-owned cooperatives as part of how small businesses are supported. She wants to move away from what she called ineffective corporate subsidies and toward community investment, including community land trusts. On transparency, she promised "dashboards, and quarterly updates on every initiative" the city plans, from mental health to addiction services. She described the mayor's role as a convener. "My whole goal is making sure Metro government works for everyone, no matter your zip code, no matter what's in your pocket," she said. Asked what she would do differently from her time on the Council, Parrish-Wright said she would start sooner. As a new council member, she said, she waited to learn her colleagues and the lay of the land, and she dove into the issues they brought forward. She said she signed onto more than 60 pieces of legislation. "I would do more of my own," she said, though she added that it is "really hard to get it to the floor." On what Louisville needs from Frankfort or the Metro Council, her answer centered on affordability. "Louisville should definitely be a place where you can afford to live," she said. She said public safety is also about housing and jobs, and that too many young people tell her they don't see a path to home ownership because wages don't match real estate prices. She named more grocery stores, even if they are grocery co-ops, food justice, and finding ways to offset energy costs and make energy providers more accountable. She also said she believes the city is not ready for a major natural disaster or severe weather event. And she said the biggest thing she hears from residents is opposition to hyperscale data centers. On a problem residents have given up on, Parrish-Wright chose public transit. She said Louisville should look at peer cities within about 100 miles that have invested in their transit systems. TARC's past financial problems and management issues, she said, shouldn't mean the city suffers forever. She said she would work with the state, but also push for a local tax referendum to increase TARC funding, within what state law allows. She noted the funding structure hasn't changed since the 1970s. "It is time for our public transit to meet up with the tourism, all the connectedness that Louisville deserves," she said. ## Where they overlap, and where they differ The two candidates agreed on more than the campaign tone might suggest. Both said TARC's funding structure is outdated: Greenberg said it has been the same since 1974, and Parrish-Wright said it hasn't changed since the 1970s. Both talked about homelessness, mental health and addiction, and both promised public dashboards to track progress. Greenberg said his already exist. The differences show up in how each one answered. - **Record vs. plan.** Greenberg answered mostly with his record and specific numbers: a roughly 50 percent drop in violent crime, about 7,000 of 15,000 affordable housing units, a 20 percent drop in people living on the street. Parrish-Wright answered mostly with what she would build or change: an office of violence reduction and suicide reduction, an office for small businesses, community land trusts and worker-owned cooperatives. - **Frankfort.** Greenberg described a strong relationship with the governor and the Republican-led legislature and asked for more local to combat gun violence. Parrish-Wright's answer on that topic was about affordability, energy costs, disaster readiness, and data centers, and she did not name a specific ask of the state or the Council. - **A decision they'd change.** Greenberg named a specific project, the Joe Creason Park proposal, and what he took from the backlash. Parrish-Wright described a pattern from her time on the Council: starting sooner and sponsoring more of her own legislation. - **The measure to be held to.** Greenberg picked violent crime and offered housing as a second measure. Parrish-Wright didn't pick a single number but promised quarterly dashboard updates on every initiative. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3\. Louisville voters can see their ballot [here](https://elections.jeffersoncountyclerk.org/MyBallot/?ref=shayinformed.com). Many Louisville voters will also see a mayor's race for their own small city on the same ballot. [You can read about some of those candidates here](https://www.shayinformed.com/before-you-vote-meet-the-candidates-in-louisvilles-small-city-mayor-races/)! [Before you vote: meet the candidates in Louisville's small-city mayor racesLouisville has 84 mayors, and most voters only hear about one race. I asked every candidate in a contested small-city race for 10 minutes on Zoom. This is who said yes. 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