2026 Kentucky Senate election

Not to be confused with 2026 United States Senate election in Kentucky.

2026 Kentucky Senate election

←  2024 November 3, 2026 2028 →
19 out of 38 seats in the Kentucky Senate 20 seats needed for a majority
Leader Robert Stivers Gerald A. Neal Party Republican Democratic Leader since January 8, 2013 January 3, 2023 Leader's seat 25th – Manchester 33rd – Louisville Last election 31 7 Current seats 32 6 Seats needed 14 Seats up 18 1
Map of the incumbents:      Republican incumbent     Republican incumbent retiring      Democratic incumbent     No election
Incumbent Senate President Robert Stivers Republican

The 2026 Kentucky Senate election will be held on November 3, 2026. The Republican and Democratic primary elections will be held on May 19. Half of the senate (all even-numbered seats) are up for election. Following the 2024 election, Republicans and Democrats held 31 and seven seats, respectively. However, the party switch of Robin L. Webb in May 2025 increased the Republican majority to 32 seats. The deadline for candidates to file was January 9, 2026. ^[1]

Overview

Party		Candidates		Votes	%	Seats
		Opposed	Unopposed			Before	Won	After	+/−
	Republican	10	9			32
	Democratic	10	0			6
Total		20	9			38	19	38	±0

Retiring incumbents

One senator, a Republican, has announced his retirement, and is not running for another office.

Republican

1. 14th: Jimmy Higdon (Lebanon): Retiring. ^[2]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball [3]	Safe R	January 22, 2026

Summary by district

† – Incumbent not seeking re-election

District	Incumbent	Party		Elected	Party
2	Danny Carroll		Rep
4	Robby Mills		Rep
6	Lindsey Tichenor		Rep
8	Gary Boswell		Rep
10	Matthew Deneen		Rep
12	Amanda Mays Bledsoe		Rep
14	Jimmy Higdon†		Rep
16	Max Wise		Rep
18	Robin L. Webb		Rep [a]
20	Gex Williams		Rep
22	Donald Douglas		Rep
24	Shelley Funke Frommeyer		Rep
26	Karen Berg		Dem
28	Greg Elkins		Rep
30	Brandon Smith		Rep
32	Mike Wilson		Rep
34	Jared Carpenter		Rep
36	Julie Raque Adams		Rep
38	Michael J. Nemes		Rep

Special elections

District 37 special

2025 Kentucky Senate 37th district special election

←  2024 December 16, 2025 2028 →

Nominee Gary Clemons Calvin Leach Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 3,752 1,297 Percentage 72.6% 25.1%

Precinct results Clemons:     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80-90%     >90% Leach:     >90% Tie:     30-40%

Senator before election David Yates Democratic Elected Senator Gary Clemons Democratic

David Yates resigned from the senate on October 8, 2025, in order to become the county clerk of Jefferson County. A special election was held on December 16, 2025.

2025 Kentucky Senate 37th district special election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Gary Clemons	3,752	72.6
	Republican	Calvin Leach	1,297	25.1
	Libertarian	Wendy Higdon	121	2.3
Total votes			5,170	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 2

Republican primary

Candidates

• Danny Carroll, incumbent senator

District 4

Republican primary

Candidates

• Robby Mills, incumbent senator

District 6

Republican primary

Candidates

• Lindsey Tichenor, incumbent senator ^[5]

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Chaz Stoess ^[6]
• Christian Furman ^[7]

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Chaz Stoess
	Democratic	Christian Furman
Total votes				100.0

District 8

Republican primary

Candidates

• Gary Boswell, incumbent senator

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Vicki Quisenberry ^[8]

District 10

Republican primary

Candidates

• Matthew Deneen, incumbent senator ^[9]
• Louis Grider, perennial candidate ^[b]

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Matt Deneen (incumbent)
	Republican	Louis Grider
Total votes				100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Christopher Gatrost

District 12

Republican primary

Candidates

• Amanda Mays Bledsoe, incumbent senator ^[10]

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Tyler K. Dean ^[11]

District 14

Republican primary

Candidates

• Brian Bayers
• Stephen Carney, Washington County magistrate (2023–present) ^[12]
• Ben Mudd ^[13]
• Dallas Robinson ^[14]
• Lynn Shelburne, member of the Spencer County Board of Education (2015–present) ^[15]
• Peggy Brady Smith
• James Victery

Declined

• Jimmy Higdon, incumbent senator ^[2]

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Brian Bayers
	Republican	Stephen Carney
	Republican	Ben Mudd
	Republican	Dallas Robinson
	Republican	Lynn Shelburne
	Republican	Peggy Brady Smith
	Republican	James Victery
Total votes				100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Malcolm W. Jones
• Carrie Gribbins Truitt, member of the Marion County Board of Education (2017–present)

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Malcolm W. Jones
	Democratic	Carrie Gribbins Truitt
Total votes				100.0

District 16

Republican primary

Candidates

• Max Wise, incumbent senator

District 18

Republican primary

Candidates

• Robin L. Webb, incumbent senator

District 20

Republican primary

Candidates

• Gex Williams, incumbent senator ^[16]

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Stella R. Pollard ^[17]

District 22

Republican primary

Candidates

• Donald Douglas, incumbent senator

District 24

Republican primary

Candidates

• Shelley Funke Frommeyer, incumbent senator ^[18]

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Joshua Baker ^[19]

District 26

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Karen Berg, incumbent senator

Republican primary

Candidates

• Everett C. Corley, perennial candidate ^[c]
• Sheeba Jolly, candidate for the 36th district in 2018

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Everett C. Corley
	Republican	Sheeba Jolly
Total votes				100.0

District 28

Republican primary

Candidates

• Greg Elkins, incumbent senator

District 30

Republican primary

Candidates

• Brandon Smith, incumbent senator
• Bill Wesley, state representative from the 91st district (2021–present)

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Brandon D. Smith (incumbent)
	Republican	Billy Wesley
Total votes				100.0

District 32

Republican primary

Candidates

• Mike Wilson, incumbent senator

District 34

Republican primary

Candidates

• Jared Carpenter, incumbent senator

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Jessica D. McIntosh

District 36

Republican primary

Candidates

• Julie Raque Adams, incumbent senator
• David J. Farley

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Julie Raque Adams (incumbent)
	Republican	David J. Farley
Total votes				100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Sarah Cole McIntosh, member of the Jefferson County Board of Education (2021–2025) ^[20]
• Luke Whitehead, former University of Louisville basketball player

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sarah Cole McIntosh
	Democratic	Luke Whitehead
Total votes				100.0

District 38

Republican primary

Candidates

• Michael J. Nemes, incumbent senator

See also

• 2026 Kentucky elections
  • 2026 Kentucky House of Representatives election
  • 2026 United States Senate election in Kentucky
  • 2026 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky

Notes

1. Switched parties in May 2025. ^[4]
2. Candidate for sheriff of Hardin County in 2010, 2014, 2018; candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2020.
3. Candidate for this district in 2022, the 43rd house district in 2018, and Kentucky's 3rd congressional district in 2016.

References

1. "Kentucky State Senate elections, 2026". Ballotpedia . Middleton, Wisconsin: Lucy Burns Institute. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
2. George, Dennis (September 3, 2025). "Higdon will not seek re-election in 2026". The News-Enterprise. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
3. Jacobson, Louis (January 22, 2026). "Handicapping The 2026 State Legislative Map: A First Look". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved January 22, 2026.
4. Pinski, Hannah (May 30, 2025). "Last rural Democrat in Kentucky senate leaves party, growing GOP supermajority". The Courier Journal . Retrieved May 30, 2025.
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