District 4 Magistrate Candidate Q&A

In March 2026, Warren County Conservatives hosted a Q&A session with the two Republican candidates for Magistrate District 4: Rex McWhorter and Terry Hendrick.

We are pleased to share this compilation of the questions asked and each candidate’s response, allowing voters to clearly compare their positions on important issues facing our county.

The Republican primary is set for May 19, 2026, with the winner advancing to face the Democrat challenger, Megan Bailey in the fall general election.

Rex McWhorter (Incumbent)

• Campaign Website: https://rexmcwhorter.com/
• Facebook Page: Rex McWhorter 4th District Magistrate

McWhorter, who has served since 2015 (now in his 12th year), emphasizes his record of fiscal responsibility—including balancing budgets annually, lowering taxes multiple times, expanding rural broadband, blacktopping roads, creating full time staffed positions at the Warren County Fire Department to improve response times, enhancing public safety measures like body cameras and school resource officers, and supporting infrastructure and economic growth in one of Kentucky’s fastest-growing counties.

1. What is the most pressing issue facing Warren County right now? What will you do to address it? Trying to manage the rapid growth of Warren County. Infrastructure is always going to be an issue when you have growth, especially rapid growth. As a county we have to maintain our road department, stormwater and water department in order to manage the growth.

2. You’ve served as Magistrate for 12 years. What do you consider your biggest accomplishments? Establishing Warren County Fire with some full-time firefighters to shorten our emergency response times, rural fiber, School Resource Officers, body cameras for the Sheriff’s Department, lowering your taxes 9 of 11 years and listening to my constituents to try to solve problems by working with the road department, stormwater department and the state highway department.

3. A concern we heard is that citizens have a hard time reaching you to address concerns. How do you respond to this? Throughout my nearly 12 years as a magistrate, I have made every effort to answer or return calls from my constituents. I have maintained the same cell phone number, email address, personal and professional Facebook accounts for over 12 years. This contact information has been widely distributed on door hangers and mailers throughout those 12 years. Until about 2 years ago my home phone was listed in the phone book. Anyone can google me and find my information, which includes the Warren County Fiscal Court website with all my information, or by contacting any office at the Warren County Court House. I apologize to anyone who felt like they could not reach me.

4. Warren county has allocated significant resources to address substance abuse. Consequently, other counties send individuals here for treatment, only for many to remain when treatment is complete. Some call this dumping. With high recidivism rates and the added local strain – what would you do to address this? We need to continue to work with the Health Department and other local agencies such as AA and NA to try to ensure that these individuals get the help they need to become productive citizens of Warren County.

5. A proposed animal control ordinance—the first in Warren County history—was presented recently, and is still under review. Do you support this ordinance? How would you change it? The draft of the ordinance has not been completed at this time. There were several changes that were made after conferring with the Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell regarding the wording of the ordinance. I assure you that farm animals will NOT be included in the ordinance. There is no more concrete information about the ordinance at this time.

6. The Warren County Regional Jail faces ongoing overcrowding (with many state and federal prisoners contributing to the population). What policies, advocacy efforts or Fiscal Court actions would you prioritize to reduce capacity issues? Would this include support for raising taxes to fund a new jail if other options fail? Overcrowding is an issue at this time. I think education and job training will have a huge impact in lowering the rate of recidivism, therefore lowering the jail population and help them to become productive, tax paying citizens of Warren County.

7. Amid recent historic flooding events (e.g., April 2025) and ongoing drainage issues in developing areas due to poor stormwater design, what policies would you support on the Fiscal Court to better manage floodwater impacts, improve drainage, and prevent future property damage in Warren County? The stormwater department is working very hard to solve issues such as those seen last April and prevent it from happening again.

8. As a magistrate, you help approve the annual county budget and make decisions that directly affect residents. Under what conditions would you support a tax increase? It would depend on what the funds were needed for and what other options were completely researched and analyzed and found to be insufficient.

9. Transparency and ethical governance are essential. What steps would you take to maintain open communication, public access to meetings, and accountability on the Fiscal Court? Fiscal Court is always open to the public.

10. Rural areas face unique challenges with services and connectivity. Building on past efforts, what would you prioritize to improve quality of life and economic opportunities in District 4? N/A

11. Many voters like to know a candidate’s background with the Republican party. How long have you been a registered Republican? And what inspired you to join the party? I have been a registered Republican for about 15-20 years. Most of my like-minded friends and coworkers were Republicans. It was pretty simple that if I aligned with the conservative party and voted as a conservative, I needed to change my party to align with my values. That party was the Republican Party.

12. There have been several annexations of county land into the City of Bowling Green in recent years, which can affect property taxes, services, and rural character. As Magistrate, what is your position on annexation? The county has no input when it comes to city annexation.

13. Bowling Green and Warren County share many services and face overlapping growth challenges. What are your thoughts on the concept of a merged city-county government? I think it is something we may consider in the future. When that time comes, we weigh the pros and cons and come to a decision based on what is best for the citizens of Warren County.

14. Large-scale developments such as solar farms, data centers, and warehouses often consume significant local resources (including energy, water, and land), can contribute to higher energy prices for residents during peak demand periods, and typically generate few permanent jobs in the community. As Magistrate, what is your overall view on allowing such projects in Warren County, and what specific policies would you support to protect residents from these potential downsides? These large scale developments are discussed at our continuing education meetings we have 4-5 times a year. We interact with county magistrates, county commissioners, and County Judge Executives from around the state. We gather information about things that work and those things that don’t from a lot of outside resource people. At this time, I don’t think Warren County would be able to support any such projects. If it ever comes up for discussion, again we weigh the positive and negative factors and as always come to a decision based on what is best for our county and its citizens.

15. Warren County has seen a lot of farmland converted into subdivisions and new housing developments in recent years, which many residents feel is changing the rural character and way of life we value. Would you support stricter zoning protections for farmland and rural areas, incentives for developers to build in already urbanized zones, standards for fewer houses per acre or lower-density development, or other measures to balance rural life with growing demands for housing? We do need to protect our farmland and rural areas, but I think farmers have the right to sell their land if they so choose.

Donors / Campaign Finance (Updated April 28, 2026)

Kentucky candidates running for local offices must file periodic campaign finance reports with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance (KREF).

Rex McWhorter Rex McWhorter has filed a 30-Day Pre-Primary Report (Report ID 215665) that includes itemized contributions.

Major Itemized Donors:

Additional Donors: The full report contains approximately 45 itemized contributions (many smaller donations of $50–$100).

View the complete list on all pages: Full Donor Report →

Terry Hendrick (Republican Challenger)

• Facebook Page: Terry Hendrick for Magistrate

Hendrick, a retired Bowling Green Municipal Utilities employee and farmer who previously ran as a Democrat in 2022, prioritizes public safety (especially fire and sheriff’s office needs), jail expansion to address overcrowding, and proactive infrastructure improvements like water lines, fire hydrants, and road staffing to manage rapid county growth.

1. How do you differentiate yourself from your opponent. What new ideas do you offer and what would you like to change? Unlike my opponent, I can promise the citizens of the 4th District that I will be out in the community meeting with people and addressing their concerns. I like the idea of hosting community meetings with the district. I would like to have as many department heads within Warren County Government attend these community meetings so that citizens can ask questions and get the best answer possible.

2. In a Daily News article you said that you would focus on jail expansion, enhancing infrastructure and possibly increasing staffing in the county’s road department if you hold this office. Would you vote to raise taxes to accomplish these goals? No. I feel that these tasks could be accomplished without the need to raise taxes.

3. Warren county has allocated significant resources to address substance abuse. Consequently, other counties send individuals here for treatment, only for many to remain when treatment is complete. Some call this dumping. With high recidivism rates and the added local strain – what would you do to address this? My first reaction is to send those individuals back to the county that they came from. Whether or not this is even a possibility is something I don’t know.

4. A proposed animal control ordinance—the first in Warren County history—was presented recently, and is still under review. Do you support this ordinance, how would you change it? I can’t give a complete answer to this question since I have not read the revised animal ordinance, but I am in favor of an ordinance that deals with vicious or nuisance animals. The original ordinance contained statements that had Warren County farmers really upset. If the revised version is viewed as not being harmful to our farmers then I would support it.

5. The Warren County Regional Jail faces ongoing overcrowding (with many state and federal prisoners contributing to the population). What policies, advocacy efforts or Fiscal Court actions would you prioritize to reduce capacity issues? Would this include support for raising taxes to fund a new jail if other options fail? Since the county population is growing at around 15% per year, I don’t know of anything that county government could do to lower jail capacity. If anything, I feel like it’s just going to continue to increase. If the state of Kentucky would pay their fair share for the state inmates housed at the jail that would certainly help a great deal. I think that a new jail is a real possibility in the near future, but no I don’t think that we will have to raise taxes to finance it.

6. Amid recent historic flooding events (e.g., April 2025) and ongoing drainage issues in developing areas due to poor stormwater design, what policies would you support on the Fiscal Court to better manage floodwater impacts, improve drainage, and prevent future property damage in Warren County? The short answer to this is to not build homes in known floodplains. If a home is built in a known floodplain and flooding occurs causing extensive damage to the home then someone besides Warren County Government should be held accountable and Warren County taxpayer’s money should not be used to purchase those homes.

7. As a magistrate, you help approve the annual county budget and make decisions that directly affect residents. Under what conditions would you support a Tax increase? I don’t know of any situation at this time that would be a reason to raise taxes.

8. Transparency and ethical governance are essential. What steps would you take to maintain open communication, public access to meetings, and accountability on the Fiscal Court? As I stated earlier, I am in favor of holding community meetings throughout the 4th District to help keep the citizens informed about what is going on in county government and upcoming projects. Any person in Warren County is welcome to attend fiscal court.

9. Rural areas face unique challenges with services and connectivity. Building on past efforts, what would you prioritize to improve quality of life and economic opportunities in District 4? I feel that much needed, improved infrastructure is essential to improve quality of life and to also provide for more economic opportunities.

10. Many voters like to know a candidate’s background with the Republican party. How long have you been a registered Republican? And what inspired you to join the party? I’ve answered this question no less than four or five times and I feel that everyone that has heard my response has been more than satisfied. It is stated in question 8 that transparency and ethical governance is essential, yet there’s not a single question being asked about why my opponent used taxpayer’s money to buy gravel and then had that gravel delivered and spread at my home church in an obvious effort to buy votes away from me. These activities are both illegal and highly unethical. My comments can be verified by the front page story of the April 5th issue of the Bowling Green Daily News.

11. There have been several annexations of county land into the City of Bowling Green in recent years, which can affect property taxes, services, and rural character. As Magistrate, what is your position on annexation? I’m not happy about the property that is annexed into the city each year since it does have an economic impact on the county. It’s a process that has been happening for many years so I’m not sure if there is a way for county government to control or stop it, but if a solution is presented to fiscal court I would certainly be interest in listening to it.

12. Bowling Green and Warren County share many services and face overlapping growth challenges. What are your thoughts on the concept of a merged city-county government? At the current time I’m not in favor of a merged government, but that is something that would be decided by the voters so who knows what the future holds.

13. Large-scale developments such as solar farms, data centers, and warehouses often consume significant local resources (including energy, water, and land), can contribute to higher energy prices for residents during peak demand periods, and typically generate few permanent jobs in the community. As Magistrate, what is your overall view on allowing such projects in Warren County, and what specific policies would you support to protect residents from these potential downsides? At this time I don’t think that Warren County has a need for any of these developments but no one knows what the needs for the county will be in the future. As far as policies are concerned, I think that guidance would have to come from the county attorney.

14. Warren County has seen a lot of farmland converted into subdivisions and new housing developments in recent years, which many residents feel is changing the rural character and way of life we value. Would you support stricter zoning protections for farmland and rural areas, incentives for developers to build in already urbanized zones, standards for fewer houses per acre or lower-density development, or other measures to balance rural life with growing demands for housing? Since I farm, I personally hate to see the amount of farmland that is being swallowed up for development but I also realize that a landowner has the right to do with his land what he sees fit to do. I would like to see less houses built per acre but I believe that is the responsibility of the City County Planning Commission.

Donors:

According to the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, Hendrick has accepted no donations for his campaign through April 21, 2026.

You can check the most up-to-date information yourself directly on the official KREF public search portal here: https://secure.kentucky.gov/kref/publicsearch/CandidateSearch/