We are 6.7% of the way done with Kentucky’s 2026 legislative session, hundreds of not-super-spicy bills have been filed, and we also know who is gonna be on the ballot in May’s primaries — and who is almost guaranteed to get their seat back since they’re running uncontested.
I am only moderately overwhelmed, so let’s just get started, OK? OK.
Who is running for office in 2026?
Kentucky’s deadline to file to run for office passed not with a bang, but with Secretary of State Michael Adams pausing for comedic effect outside of his new temporary office with a digital wall clock, garnering an awkward silence and exactly half a chortle from the media watching.
This deadline was just for partisan primaries in May, so nonpartisan races like school board and third-party candidates have a bit longer to file. But as far as Democrats and Republicans go, here’s a quick look at the numbers:
- 190 people are running for 100 Ky. House seats.
- 42 people are running for 18 Ky. Senate seats.
- 41 people are running for six U.S. House seats
- And 19 people are running to replace Mitch McConnell in the U.S. Senate.
The federal races have been pretty well-advertised, so let’s focus on the state-level stuff.
The main trendline? A whole lot of Republicans in the state legislature are going to hang onto their seats for another term, solely because the Dems couldn’t find someone to run against them.
Of the 18 seats up for election in the Senate, eight are running unopposed — all of them Republican incumbents. And that list includes some of the Senate GOP’s top leaders: Majority Floor Leader Max Wise, Majority Caucus Chair Robby Mills and Majority Whip Mike Wilson.
Another Senate district is a Republican-only primary — incumbent Sen. Brandon Smith vs. Rep. Bill Wesley.
Factoring in the other half of the Senate which is not up for election this year, and the Dems look poised to remain in the superminority.
And on the House side, 40 seats are unopposed — 35 Republicans and 5 Dems. Both sides also have a handful of party-only primaries, so those seats won’t flip.
It is not looking great for the Dems to grow in their numbers in this chamber, either. Right now, they have 20 (well, technically, Rep. Daniel Grossberg got kicked out of the Dem caucus, so I guess it is 19) members to the 80 Republicans. And while they did get a decent amount of Dems to run, they’d have to run, like, dozens of incredibly strong campaigns across the state to make any serious movement before the 2027 session.
Meanwhile, the GOP just needs to get, like, a dozen of their folks reelected. And it is easier to get an incumbent reelected.
Which incumbents aren’t running?
We have a few incumbents who aren’t running for reelection for their current seat — * means they’re a Dem:
- Sen. Jimmy Higdon
- Rep. Scott Lewis
- Rep. Nancy Tate
- House Minority Floor Leader Pam Stevenson*
- Rep. Ken Upchurch
- Rep. William Lawrence
- Rep. Ryan Dotson
- Rep. David Hale
- Rep. Bill Wesley
- Rep. Ashley Tackett Laferty*
One thing to note: The more right-leaning, kinda culture wars-focused GOP squad in the House is taking some hits. They’re losing Wesley, who is running for state Senate (against a seemingly popular incumbent Republican) and is best known for going after a transgender woman outside a Capitol restroom last spring. Hale, Dotson, and Tate are all known for some of their takes on social issues, from reversing a ban on “conversion therapy” to trying to force students to watch a scientifically problematic anti-abortion video.
(Early) hot takes on races to watch
Grossberg is likely going to be beaten in the Dem primary (three solid contenders are running against him, including the person who nearly beat him last election cycle) and fully return HD 30 to the Democratic caucus. (There is no Republican running in HD 30, so winner will take it all.)
I feel pretty confident about the House Dems being able to hold onto all but maybe two of their seats. Those two would be Rep. Adam Moore’s seat around Lexington and outgoing Rep. Ashley Tackett Laferty’s seat in EKY.
Moore flipped the seat from the GOP last election, but former Rep. Killian Timoney — a more moderate Republican — is running again. Timoney now has to survive a primary, and if he does, this race will absolutely be one to watch. This one is HD 45.
And for Laferty’s soon-to-be former seat in HD 95: EKY has been increasingly going red in recent elections. Laferty is running for district judge, but former state Sen. Johnny Ray Turner is running to take her seat. Will he win versus the eventual GOP candidate in November? We’ll see.
On the Senate side, I already noted to watch Sen. Lindsey Tichenor’s district, where she’ll face a Democratic challenger for the first time this November.
But a new Senate race to follow! Sen. Julie Raque Adams — a well-respected GOP lawmaker out of Louisville — could end up facing former JCPS school board member Sarah Cole McIntosh in November.
Both have to get through primaries. McIntosh has to beat former U of L basketball player Luke Whitehead, who, with all due respect, I first thought was a popular Kentucky food TikToker — but I think this could be a fascinating matchup. A lot of the initial public reaction has been pro-JRA, especially because it appears having any tie to JCPS right now is not a good thing politically, but ~i don’t know~. I covered McIntosh while she was on JCPS’ board, and I think she could give Adams some competition.
Meanwhile in Frankfort
Lawmakers will kick off day 5/60 Monday afternoon after a pretty slow start to the legislative session. Since we last spoke, we haven’t had too many must-watch or even sorta-kinda-watch legislation get filed — outside of a few measures from GOP Rep. Shane Baker to restrict non-natural born citizens from holding local office, which pushed Dem Rep. Nima Kulkarni’s dad to run for statehouse at the last second.
We’re starting to see some committee agendas for the first few committee meetings this week, so we will slowly start to pick up the pace here soon.
Bookmark these links
For the 2026 legislative session…
- All of the links to bills, resolutions, votes, and more are here.
- This is the committee schedule.
- This is the session calendar.
- This is each day’s lineup of meetings, agendas and start times.
- Legislative action will be livestreamed on KET and the LRC’s YouTube page.
How to follow my work this session
- Subscribe to The Gallery Pass and read it religiously.
- Follow my social media accounts for more real-time updates:
- Read Queer Kentucky — the home to my full-length reporting this session.
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