Kentucky's 5th Congressional District election, 2026 (May 19 Republican primary)

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Kentucky's 5th Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: January 9, 2026
Primary: May 19, 2026
General: November 3, 2026
How to vote
Poll times:

6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Voting in Kentucky

Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican
DDHQ and The Hill: Pending
Inside Elections: Solid Republican
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
See also
Kentucky's 5th Congressional District
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th
Kentucky elections, 2026
U.S. Congress elections, 2026
U.S. Senate elections, 2026
U.S. House elections, 2026

A Republican Party primary takes place on May 19, 2026, in Kentucky's 5th Congressional District to determine which Republican candidate will run in the district's general election on November 3, 2026.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
January 9, 2026
May 19, 2026
November 3, 2026



A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Kentucky utilizes a closed primary process, in which only registered party members can participate.[1]

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

This page focuses on Kentucky's 5th Congressional District Republican primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Democratic primary and the general election, see the following pages:

Candidates and election results

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

  • Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
  • Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 5

Incumbent Hal Rogers, Benjamin Hurley, and Jacob Trimble are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 5 on May 19, 2026.

Candidate
Image of Hal Rogers
Hal Rogers
Image of Benjamin Hurley
Benjamin Hurley Candidate Connection
Image of Jacob Trimble
Jacob Trimble

Incumbents are bolded and underlined.

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Benjamin Hurley

Image of Benjamin Hurley

WebsiteFacebookX

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography:  "My name is Ben Hurley. I was born in Pikeville and raised in Phelps, Kentucky, and I’ve seen the struggles that Eastern Kentucky families have faced my entire life. I’m running for Congress because I believe our region deserves better, better jobs, stronger infrastructure, quality healthcare, and opportunities for our children to succeed. I served six years in the United States Army as an Infantryman with the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment. That experience taught me discipline, leadership, and the value of hard work, lessons I carry with me every day. I’m not a career politician, I’m a reformer, a steady hand, and a fighter for working families. I’m ready to take the grit and determination of our Appalachian heritage to Washington and make sure the voices of Eastern Kentucky are heard."

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

I want an infrastructure boom for Eastern Kentuckians that live in KY-5. Eastern Kentucky is falling apart and is continuing to get worse. Without direct action small towns like Phelps or Elkhorn will continue to shrink and eventually become ghost towns.

The coal industry has recessed over the last decade making the average joe unemployed. Jobs are few and far between and have caused many people to move away from Appalachia. I want to bring a variety of jobs for the working class. For too long majority of Eastern Kentuckians have lived in poverty, I want to change that.

Healthcare access has always been hard for Eastern Kentuckians. Whether its cost, distance or time delays from emergency services, this has impacted many Eastern Kentuckians lives negatively and needs to change.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Kentucky

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.

Campaign finance

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Hal Rogers Republican Party $376,701 $272,493 $1,075,459 As of September 30, 2025
Benjamin Hurley Republican Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***
Jacob Trimble Republican Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available***

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.
*** Candidate either did not report any receipts or disbursements to the FEC, or Ballotpedia did not find an FEC candidate ID.

District analysis

This section will contain facts and figures related to this district's elections when those are available.

Ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Kentucky in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Kentucky, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2026
State Office Party Signatures required Filing fee Filing deadline Source
Kentucky U.S. House Ballot-qualified party 2 500 1/9/2026 Source
Kentucky U.S. House Unaffiliated 400 500 6/2/2026 Source

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Kentucky General Assembly, "Ky. Rev. Stat. § 116.055," accessed October 20, 2025


Kentucky's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Mitch McConnell (R)
Rand Paul (R)
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
Andy Barr (R)
Republican Party (7)
Democratic Party (1)


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