In the 2020 general election on Nov. 3, a former Dunbar teacher’s name will be on the ballot. Killian Timoney is running for the Kentucky House of Representatives 45th District seat.

When Republican candidate Stan Lee announced his withdrawal from the election for the Kentucky House of Representatives’ 45th district on Jan. 3, the primary for this office on June 23 was canceled, and Timoney became the Republican candidate.

Timoney goes up against Shirley Mitchell, who won the Democratic nomination with 69% of the vote in the primary.

Killian Timoney has old ties to the Dunbar community. He began teaching at Dunbar in 1998. He taught social studies classes such as AP Human Geography and Government. He also coached track, JV girls’ basketball, and boys’ and girls’ golf, and was the assistant athletic director and a member of the site-based decision-making council (SBDM). Timoney also co-sponsored a Latino Outreach boys’ group during his time at the high school.

After leaving Dunbar, he went into administration and became an assistant principal at an elementary school in Jefferson County. Then, he worked as an assistant principal at Winburn Middle for six years and is currently working as the Director of Physical Plant Support Services here in Fayette County.

“Kids really liked him and he was a real people person,” social studies teacher Mrs. Sharessa Crovo said. “He was a great historical storyteller, and he connected well with students.”

She said that she didn’t know about his interest in running for office while he was a teacher at Dunbar, but she’s not surprised by it.

“Timoney kept up with politics as a teacher,” she said.

Referring to himself as “an everyday person who wants to serve and has a passion for helping others,” Timoney said that one of the main aspects of his platform is that he is not a career politician, but he does have plans for the job.

“I have a wide agenda,” Timoney said. He has proposed policies that would benefit local businesses and farms.

Timoney referenced his time as a teacher as a reason why he hasn’t been able to narrow down his plans to just a few actions. “It all goes back to the different content areas that I taught,” he said, describing how he was met with a variety of people and topics that allowed him to see more points of view and led him to want to do so much in office.

He believes the education system to be a core piece of critical infrastructure, and that his experiences as a teacher gave him critical skills needed to become a successful politician. “We have to be able to effectively get our points across using data, logic, and facts,” said Timoney. He also believes that working as a teacher forced him to learn to work with any kind of person which will translate well to politics in Frankfort.

The State House of Representatives is a part-time job. Not everyone who works as a representative quits their previous job. “I plan on retiring from this job [Director of Physical Plant Support Services],” Timoney said, whether he wins or not.

“I’ll be honest, I lead a really good life,” said Timoney. “I have a really good job where I get to impact change,” explaining that he will still be content with where he is if the votes don’t go his way on Nov. 3.