Lexington Vice Mayor Jim Gray, an openly gay politician who has been critical of the Newberry Administration in the past, confirmed today that he is running for Mayor in 2010 against incumbent Jim Newberry.

Gray ran unsuccessfully for mayor in the past.  In 2006 however, he ran for council-at-large, winning most of the votes, making him vice mayor.

Gray has been critical of issues related to downtown development, particularly, the CentrePointe project.

This makes for a total of four (4) people running for the city’s top office.

Running in the 2010 election for Lexington Mayor, the Commonwealth’s second largest city include current Mayor Jim Newberry, current Vice Mayor Jim Gray, former Mayor Teresa Isaac, and newcomer Erick Patrick Marr.

Both the mayor and vice mayor are members of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council, the legislative and supreme decision making body for the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government.  The mayor is elected to four year terms and holds veto power over resolutions passed by the Council.  The only real authority of the vice mayor is that he or she is the presiding officer of the Council in the absence of the Mayor.