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Karen Berg

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Karen Berg
Kentucky State Senate District 26
Tenure
2020 - Present
Term ends
2027
Years in position
5
Compensation
Base salary
$203.28/calendar day for legislators elected before December 31, 2024. $221.94/calendar day for legislators elected after January 1, 2025.
Per diem
$195.80/day
Elections and appointments
Last election
November 8, 2022
Education
High school
Graduate Central High School
Bachelor's
University of Kentucky
M.D.
University of Louisville
Contact

Karen Berg (Democratic Party) is a member of the Kentucky State Senate, representing District 26. She assumed office on July 13, 2020. Her current term ends on January 1, 2027.

Berg (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Kentucky State Senate to represent District 26. She won in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Biography

Karen Berg graduated from Graduate Central High School in Louisville. She earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Kentucky and a M.D. from the University of Louisville. Berg's career experience includes working as a diagnostic radiologist.[1]

Committee assignments

2025-2026

Berg was assigned to the following committees:

2023-2024

Berg was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Berg was assigned to the following committees:

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2022

See also: Kentucky State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Kentucky State Senate District 26

Incumbent Karen Berg defeated James Peden in the general election for Kentucky State Senate District 26 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Karen Berg
Karen Berg (D)
 
60.5
 
28,850
Image of James Peden
James Peden (R)
 
39.5
 
18,859

Total votes: 47,709
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Karen Berg advanced from the Democratic primary for Kentucky State Senate District 26.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Kentucky State Senate District 26

James Peden defeated Mark Hignite Downer and Everett Corley in the Republican primary for Kentucky State Senate District 26 on May 17, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of James Peden
James Peden
 
42.6
 
2,774
Image of Mark Hignite Downer
Mark Hignite Downer
 
36.4
 
2,368
Image of Everett Corley
Everett Corley Candidate Connection
 
21.0
 
1,370

Total votes: 6,512
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2020

See also: Kentucky state legislative special elections, 2020

General election

Special general election for Kentucky State Senate District 26

Karen Berg defeated Bill Ferko in the special general election for Kentucky State Senate District 26 on June 23, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Karen Berg
Karen Berg (D)
 
57.0
 
24,771
Image of Bill Ferko
Bill Ferko (R)
 
43.0
 
18,705

Total votes: 43,476
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2018

See also: Kentucky State Senate elections, 2018

General election

General election for Kentucky State Senate District 26

Incumbent Ernie Harris defeated Karen Berg and Jody Hurt in the general election for Kentucky State Senate District 26 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ernie Harris
Ernie Harris (R)
 
51.8
 
29,625
Image of Karen Berg
Karen Berg (D)
 
46.3
 
26,524
Image of Jody Hurt
Jody Hurt (Independent)
 
1.9
 
1,078

Total votes: 57,227
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Kentucky State Senate District 26

Karen Berg defeated Matt Kaufmann in the Democratic primary for Kentucky State Senate District 26 on May 22, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Karen Berg
Karen Berg
 
67.3
 
7,112
Image of Matt Kaufmann
Matt Kaufmann
 
32.7
 
3,451

Total votes: 10,563
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Kentucky State Senate District 26

Incumbent Ernie Harris defeated Alex White in the Republican primary for Kentucky State Senate District 26 on May 22, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ernie Harris
Ernie Harris
 
52.2
 
5,193
Alex White
 
47.8
 
4,750

Total votes: 9,943
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Karen Berg did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Karen Berg did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


Karen Berg campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2022Kentucky State Senate District 26Won general$342,778 $0
2018Kentucky State Senate District 26Lost general$183,812 N/A**
Grand total$526,589 N/A**
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Kentucky

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Kentucky scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.


2024


2023


2022


2021


2020







See also


External links

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
-
Kentucky State Senate District 26
2020-Present
Succeeded by
-


Current members of the Kentucky State Senate
Leadership
Senate President:Robert Stivers
Majority Leader:Max Wise
Minority Leader:Gerald Neal
Senators
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
Max Wise (R)
District 17
Matt Nunn (R)
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
Vacant
District 38
Republican Party (32)
Democratic Party (5)
Vacancies (1)