2026 Kentucky Senate election

2025 Kentucky Senate 37th district special election
December 16, 2025
	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

2026 Kentucky Senate election
November 3, 2026
19 out of 38 seats in the Kentucky Senate; 20 seats needed for a majority
	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
Party		Opposed	Unopposed	Votes	%	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

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

Summary by district

† – Incumbent not seeking re-election

District	Incumbent
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

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^[4]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Chaz Stoess^[5]
Christian Furman^[6]

Results

Democratic primary results
Party		Candidate	%
	Democratic	Chaz Stoess
	Democratic	Christian Furman
Total votes			100.0

District 8

Republican primary

Candidates

Gary Boswell, incumbent senator

Democratic primary

Candidates

Vicki Quisenberry

District 10

Republican primary

Candidates

Matthew Deneen, incumbent senator^[7]
Louis Grider

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	%
	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^[8]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Tyler K. Dean

District 14

Republican primary

Candidates

Brian Bayers
Stephen Carney^[9]
Ben Mudd^[10]
Dallas Robinson
Lynn Shelburne
Peggy Brady Smith
James Victery

Declined

Jimmy Higdon, incumbent senator^[11]

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	%
	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

Results

Democratic primary results
Party		Candidate	%
	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^[12]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Stella R. Pollard^[13]

District 22

Republican primary

Candidates

Donald Douglas, incumbent senator

District 24

Republican primary

Candidates

Shelley Funke Frommeyer, incumbent senator

Democratic primary

Candidates

Joshua Baker^[14]

District 26

Democratic primary

Candidates

Karen Berg, incumbent senator

Republican primary

Candidates

Everett C. Corley
Sheeba Jolly

Results

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

Democratic primary

Candidates

Sarah Cole McIntosh
Luke Whitehead

Results

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

District 38

Republican primary

Candidates

Michael J. Nemes, incumbent senator

Notes

^ Switched parties in May 2025.^[3]

References

^ "Kentucky State Senate elections, 2026". Ballotpedia. Middleton, Wisconsin: Lucy Burns Institute. Retrieved February 10, 2025.
^ George, Dennis (September 3, 2025). "Higdon will not seek re-election in 2026". The News-Enterprise. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
^ Pinski, Hannah (May 30, 2025). "Last rural Democrat in Kentucky senate leaves party, growing GOP supermajority". The Courier Journal. Retrieved May 30, 2025.
^ Campaign website
^ Campaign website
^ Campaign website
^ Campaign website
^ Campaign website
^ Campaign website
^ Campaign website
^ George, Dennis (September 3, 2025). "Higdon will not seek re-election in 2026". The News-Enterprise. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
^ Campaign website
^ Campaign website
^ Campaign website

[4] Switched parties in May 2025.^[3]

[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] Pinski, Hannah (May 30, 2025). "Last rural Democrat in Kentucky senate leaves party, growing GOP supermajority". The Courier Journal. Retrieved May 30, 2025.

[5] Campaign website

[6] Campaign website

[7] Campaign website

[8] Campaign website

[9] Campaign website

[10] Campaign website

[11] Campaign website

[12] George, Dennis (September 3, 2025). "Higdon will not seek re-election in 2026". The News-Enterprise. Retrieved September 3, 2025.

[13] Campaign website

[14] Campaign website

[15] Campaign website