Kentucky's 4th Congressional District election, 2026

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Kentucky's 4th Congressional District
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 4th 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 Alabama U.S. House racesAlaska U.S. House raceArizona U.S. House racesArkansas U.S. House racesCalifornia U.S. House racesColorado U.S. House racesConnecticut U.S. House racesDelaware U.S. House raceFlorida U.S. House racesGeorgia U.S. House racesHawaii U.S. House racesIdaho U.S. House racesIllinois U.S. House racesIndiana U.S. House racesIowa U.S. House racesKansas U.S. House racesKentucky U.S. House racesLouisiana U.S. House racesMaine U.S. House racesMaryland U.S. House racesMassachusetts U.S. House racesMichigan U.S. House racesMinnesota U.S. House racesMississippi U.S. House racesMissouri U.S. House racesMontana U.S. House racesNebraska U.S. House racesNevada U.S. House racesNew Hampshire U.S. House racesNew Jersey U.S. House racesNew Mexico U.S. House racesNew York U.S. House racesNorth Carolina U.S. House racesNorth Dakota U.S. House raceOhio U.S. House racesOklahoma U.S. House racesOregon U.S. House racesPennsylvania U.S. House racesRhode Island U.S. House racesSouth Carolina U.S. House racesSouth Dakota U.S. House raceTennessee U.S. House racesTexas U.S. House racesUtah U.S. House racesVermont U.S. House raceVirginia U.S. House racesWashington U.S. House racesWest Virginia U.S. House racesWisconsin U.S. House racesWyoming U.S. House raceSubmit

All U.S. House districts, including the 4th Congressional District of Kentucky, are holding elections in 2026. The general election is November 3, 2026. The primary is May 19, 2026. The filing deadline is January 9, 2026. For more information about the primaries in this election, click on the links below:

• Kentucky's 4th Congressional District election, 2026 (May 19 Democratic primary)
• Kentucky's 4th Congressional District election, 2026 (May 19 Republican primary)

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

General election

The primary will occur on May 19, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4

Jesse Brewer, Monica Dean, and Elizabeth Mason-Hill are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4 on May 19, 2026.

		Candidate
		Jesse Brewer
		Monica Dean
	Submit photo	Elizabeth Mason-Hill

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4

Incumbent Thomas Massie and Nicole Lee Ethington are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4 on May 19, 2026.

		Candidate
		Thomas Massie
		Nicole Lee Ethington

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined.
= 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

There are currently no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles will appear here as they are created. Encourage the candidates in this race to complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey so that their profile will appear here.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Kentucky

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

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

No candidate in this race has completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Ballotpedia is seeking 100 percent participation so voters can learn more about all the candidates on their ballots.

Campaign finance

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Thomas Massie	Republican Party	$1,031,357	$200,621	$1,737,747	As of June 30, 2025
Jesse Brewer	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Monica Dean	Democratic Party	$9,190	$5,518	$3,671	As of June 30, 2025
Elizabeth Mason-Hill	Democratic Party	$0	$0	$0	Data not available***
Nicole Lee Ethington	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.

General election race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

• Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
• Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
• Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.
• Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.

Race ratings: Kentucky's 4th Congressional District election, 2026
Race tracker	Race ratings
	9/2/2025	8/26/2025	8/19/2025	8/12/2025
The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Decision Desk HQ and The Hill	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican	Solid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican	Safe Republican
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Ballot access

This section will contain information on ballot access related to this state's elections when it is available.

District history

The section below details election results for this office in elections dating back to 2020.

2024

See also: Kentucky's 4th Congressional District election, 2024

Kentucky's 4th Congressional District election, 2024 (May 21 Republican primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Kentucky District 4

Incumbent Thomas Massie defeated Benjamin Middendorf in the general election for U.S. House Kentucky District 4 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Thomas Massie (R)	99.6	278,386
	Submit photo	Benjamin Middendorf (Independent) (Write-in)	0.4	1,131

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 279,517
= 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Matthew Lehman (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4

Incumbent Thomas Massie defeated Michael McGinnis and Eric Deters in the Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4 on May 21, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Thomas Massie	75.9	39,929
		Michael McGinnis	12.6	6,604
		Eric Deters	11.5	6,060

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 52,593
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2022

See also: Kentucky's 4th Congressional District election, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. House Kentucky District 4

Incumbent Thomas Massie defeated Matthew Lehman and Ethan Osborne in the general election for U.S. House Kentucky District 4 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Thomas Massie (R)	65.0	167,541
		Matthew Lehman (D)	31.0	79,977
		Ethan Osborne (Independent)	3.9	10,111

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 257,629
= 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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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Matthew Lehman advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Patrick Rottinghaus (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4

Incumbent Thomas Massie defeated Claire Wirth, Alyssa Dara McDowell, and George Washington in the Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4 on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Thomas Massie	75.2	50,301
		Claire Wirth	15.7	10,521
	Submit photo	Alyssa Dara McDowell	5.2	3,446
	Submit photo	George Washington	3.9	2,606

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 66,874
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2020

See also: Kentucky's 4th Congressional District election, 2020

General election

General election for U.S. House Kentucky District 4

Incumbent Thomas Massie defeated Alexandra Owensby in the general election for U.S. House Kentucky District 4 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Thomas Massie (R)	67.1	256,613
		Alexandra Owensby (D)	32.9	125,896

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 382,509
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4

Alexandra Owensby defeated Shannon Fabert in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4 on June 23, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Alexandra Owensby	58.4	41,531
		Shannon Fabert	41.6	29,557

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 71,088
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4

Incumbent Thomas Massie defeated Todd McMurtry in the Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4 on June 23, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Thomas Massie	81.0	68,591
		Todd McMurtry	19.0	16,092

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 84,683
= 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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

District analysis

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

See also

Kentucky	2026 primaries	2026 U.S. Congress elections
Kentucky congressional delegation Voting in Kentucky Kentucky elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018	Democratic primary battlegrounds Republican primary battlegrounds U.S. Senate Democratic primaries U.S. Senate Republican primaries U.S. House Democratic primaries U.S. House Republican primaries	U.S. Congress elections U.S. Senate elections U.S. House elections Special elections Ballot access

External links

• Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

[show]

Kentucky's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Mitch McConnell (R)

Rand Paul (R)

Representatives

District 1

James Comer (R)

District 2

Brett Guthrie (R)

District 3

Morgan McGarvey (D)

District 4

Thomas Massie (R)

District 5

Hal Rogers (R)

District 6

Andy Barr (R)

Republican Party (7)

Democratic Party (1)

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