Republican Party primaries in Kentucky, 2026

← 2024

Republican Party primaries, 2026

Primary Date

May 19, 2026

Federal elections

Republican primaries for U.S. House

State party

Republican Party of Kentucky

State political party revenue

This page focuses on the Republican primaries that will take place in Kentucky on May 19, 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.

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

Federal elections

U.S. Senate

See also: United States Senate election in Kentucky, 2026 (May 19 Republican primary)

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

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Kentucky

The following candidates are running in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Kentucky on May 19, 2026.

		Candidate
		Andy Barr
		Daniel Cameron
		Mike Faris
	Submit photo	Wende Kennedy
		Nate Morris
	Submit photo	Andrew Shelley

---

	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.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jacob Trimble (R)
• Mitch McConnell (R)

U.S. House

See also: United States House elections in Kentucky, 2026 (May 19 Republican primaries)

The U.S. House of Representatives elections in Kentucky are scheduled on November 3, 2026. Voters will elect six candidates to serve in the U.S. House from each of the state's six U.S. House districts. The primary is May 19, 2026. The filing deadline is January 9, 2026. To see a full list of candidates in the primary in each district, click "Show more" below.

Show more

District 1

 Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

• James Comer Jr. (Incumbent)

District 2

 Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

• Brett Guthrie (Incumbent)

District 3

 Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

District 4

 Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

• Thomas Massie (Incumbent)
• Nicole Lee Ethington 
• Ed Gallrein
• Robert Wells Jr.

---

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

District 5

 Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

• Hal Rogers (Incumbent)
• Benjamin Hurley 
• Jacob Trimble

---

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

District 6

 Republican primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

• Ralph Alvarado
• Ryan Dotson
• Deanna Frazier Gordon
• Pete Lynch
• Greg Plucinski

Did not make the ballot:

• Andy Barr (Incumbent)

State elections

State Senate

See also: Kentucky State Senate elections, 2026

Elections for the Kentucky State Senate will take place in 2026. The general election is on November 3, 2026. The primary is May 19, 2026. The filing deadline is January 9, 2026. To see a full list of state Senate candidates in the Republican primaries, click "Show more" below.

Show more

Kentucky State Senate elections, 2026
Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name. The candidate list in this election may not be complete. Please contact Ballotpedia about candidate additions, withdrawals, or disqualifications.
Office	Democratic	Republican	Other
District 2
District 4		Robby Mills (i)
District 6		Lindsey Tichenor (i)
District 8		Gary Boswell (i)
District 10		Matthew Deneen (i)
District 12	Bill O'Brien
District 14		Stephen Carney Dallas Robinson Did not make the ballot: Jimmy Higdon (i)
District 16
District 18
District 20		Gex Williams (i)
District 22		Donald Douglas (i)
District 24		Shelley Funke Frommeyer (i)
District 26
District 28		Greg Elkins (i)
District 30
District 32		Mike Wilson (i)
District 34		Jared Carpenter (i)
District 36		Julie Raque Adams (i)
District 38		Mike Nemes (i) Larry Miller

House of Representatives

See also: Kentucky House of Representatives elections, 2026

Elections for the Kentucky House of Representatives will take place in 2026. The general election is on November 3, 2026. The primary is May 19, 2026. The filing deadline is January 9, 2026. To see a full list of state House candidates in the Republican primaries, click "Show more" below.

Show more

Voting information

See also: Voting in Kentucky

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

Context of the 2026 elections

Kentucky Party Control: 1992-2025
Eight years of Democratic trifectas  •  Three years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Governor	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

State party overview

Republican Party of Kentucky

See also: Republican Party of Kentucky

State political party revenue

See also: State political party revenue and State political party revenue per capita

State political parties typically deposit revenue in separate state and federal accounts in order to comply with state and federal campaign finance laws.

The Democratic Party and the Republican Party maintain state affiliates in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and select U.S. territories. The following map displays total state political party revenue per capita for the Republican state party affiliates.

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

One of 120 Kentucky counties—0.83 percent—is a pivot county. Pivot counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 pivot counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County	Trump margin of victory in 2016	Obama margin of victory in 2012	Obama margin of victory in 2008
Elliott County, Kentucky	44.13%	2.50%	25.17%

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Kentucky with 62.5 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 32.7 percent. In presidential elections between 1792 and 2016, Kentucky voted Democratic 45.6 percent of the time and Republican 26.3 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, Kentucky voted Republican all five times.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Kentucky. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 18 out of 100 state House districts in Kentucky with an average margin of victory of 24.5 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 18 out of 100 state House districts in Kentucky with an average margin of victory of 25 points. Clinton won one district controlled by a Republican heading into the 2018 elections.

In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 82 out of 100 state House districts in Kentucky with an average margin of victory of 32.8 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 82 out of 100 state House districts in Kentucky with an average margin of victory of 42 points. Trump won 20 districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.

2016 presidential results by state House district
District	Obama	Romney	2012 Margin	Clinton	Trump	2016 Margin	Party Control
1	28.28%	70.29%	R+42	21.07%	75.71%	R+54.6	R
2	28.39%	70.02%	R+41.6	19.66%	76.54%	R+56.9	R
3	40.47%	57.82%	R+17.3	36.33%	58.93%	R+22.6	D
4	28.50%	70.01%	R+41.5	19.59%	76.79%	R+57.2	R
5	34.38%	63.66%	R+29.3	28.15%	66.52%	R+38.4	R
6	32.05%	66.22%	R+34.2	22.63%	73.37%	R+50.7	D
7	34.35%	64.05%	R+29.7	25.60%	69.99%	R+44.4	R
8	45.14%	53.78%	R+8.6	40.22%	56.32%	R+16.1	R
9	29.19%	69.46%	R+40.3	22.92%	73.34%	R+50.4	R
10	40.43%	57.99%	R+17.6	29.06%	66.06%	R+37	D
11	43.65%	55.17%	R+11.5	34.91%	60.53%	R+25.6	R
12	31.04%	67.42%	R+36.4	20.94%	75.28%	R+54.3	R
13	46.17%	51.87%	R+5.7	39.24%	54.05%	R+14.8	R
14	31.99%	66.02%	R+34	22.42%	73.01%	R+50.6	R
15	35.13%	63.22%	R+28.1	23.89%	72.90%	R+49	R
16	31.83%	66.81%	R+35	24.20%	72.59%	R+48.4	R
17	29.65%	69.19%	R+39.5	26.55%	68.13%	R+41.6	R
18	30.68%	67.92%	R+37.2	21.96%	74.00%	R+52	R
19	36.66%	61.97%	R+25.3	28.23%	67.66%	R+39.4	R
20	47.55%	50.21%	R+2.7	47.28%	45.81%	D+1.5	D
21	29.72%	68.87%	R+39.2	19.57%	77.59%	R+58	R
22	30.68%	68.01%	R+37.3	22.20%	73.97%	R+51.8	D
23	32.54%	65.99%	R+33.5	23.11%	72.94%	R+49.8	R
24	35.21%	63.25%	R+28	24.18%	72.15%	R+48	R
25	36.11%	62.25%	R+26.1	29.69%	64.91%	R+35.2	R
26	32.43%	66.01%	R+33.6	25.01%	70.56%	R+45.6	R
27	42.17%	56.05%	R+13.9	30.64%	64.67%	R+34	D
28	44.94%	53.71%	R+8.8	37.86%	57.69%	R+19.8	D
29	39.17%	59.62%	R+20.5	38.23%	56.76%	R+18.5	R
30	71.73%	26.98%	D+44.8	69.58%	25.88%	D+43.7	D
31	50.04%	48.33%	D+1.7	50.75%	43.48%	D+7.3	D
32	43.38%	55.29%	R+11.9	47.38%	46.66%	D+0.7	R
33	41.13%	57.48%	R+16.3	43.59%	50.25%	R+6.7	R
34	59.79%	37.94%	D+21.9	65.14%	28.16%	D+37	D
35	56.21%	41.52%	D+14.7	53.85%	39.87%	D+14	D
36	32.23%	66.72%	R+34.5	35.92%	58.96%	R+23	R
37	49.68%	48.67%	D+1	44.50%	49.97%	R+5.5	D
38	54.21%	44.14%	D+10.1	48.62%	46.39%	D+2.2	D
39	33.35%	64.62%	R+31.3	30.32%	63.52%	R+33.2	D
40	67.80%	30.82%	D+37	64.07%	31.32%	D+32.8	D
41	76.55%	21.94%	D+54.6	75.28%	19.22%	D+56.1	D
42	85.66%	12.50%	D+73.2	84.31%	10.77%	D+73.5	D
43	76.26%	23.02%	D+53.2	74.36%	21.81%	D+52.6	D
44	60.58%	38.30%	D+22.3	55.32%	41.13%	D+14.2	D
45	37.40%	60.69%	R+23.3	41.04%	51.95%	R+10.9	R
46	54.38%	44.35%	D+10	50.32%	44.79%	D+5.5	D
47	40.04%	58.29%	R+18.3	25.17%	70.32%	R+45.2	D
48	41.16%	57.55%	R+16.4	46.46%	48.29%	R+1.8	R
49	32.77%	65.53%	R+32.8	23.27%	72.25%	R+49	D
50	41.07%	57.59%	R+16.5	30.97%	64.66%	R+33.7	R
51	26.66%	72.21%	R+45.5	19.84%	76.57%	R+56.7	R
52	22.27%	76.72%	R+54.4	15.23%	82.44%	R+67.2	R
53	30.93%	67.34%	R+36.4	21.74%	73.75%	R+52	R
54	30.10%	68.30%	R+38.2	26.05%	69.78%	R+43.7	R
55	28.09%	70.49%	R+42.4	23.18%	70.94%	R+47.8	R
56	42.41%	55.60%	R+13.2	40.91%	52.53%	R+11.6	D
57	50.60%	47.40%	D+3.2	45.10%	49.31%	R+4.2	D
58	35.55%	63.19%	R+27.6	30.51%	64.14%	R+33.6	R
59	30.49%	67.97%	R+37.5	30.74%	63.05%	R+32.3	R
60	27.40%	70.85%	R+43.4	24.75%	69.46%	R+44.7	R
61	30.41%	68.03%	R+37.6	21.75%	73.63%	R+51.9	R
62	37.00%	61.15%	R+24.2	31.04%	63.50%	R+32.5	R
63	31.20%	66.99%	R+35.8	31.78%	61.61%	R+29.8	R
64	31.06%	67.21%	R+36.2	26.56%	67.11%	R+40.5	R
65	56.23%	41.12%	D+15.1	50.32%	42.57%	D+7.8	D
66	28.55%	69.70%	R+41.2	25.31%	68.35%	R+43	R
67	48.32%	49.06%	R+0.7	44.07%	48.71%	R+4.6	D
68	31.30%	66.80%	R+35.5	29.27%	64.48%	R+35.2	R
69	38.90%	58.93%	R+20	34.35%	58.94%	R+24.6	R
70	35.60%	62.91%	R+27.3	23.57%	72.93%	R+49.4	D
71	22.53%	75.99%	R+53.5	18.98%	77.49%	R+58.5	R
72	40.10%	58.03%	R+17.9	32.18%	63.34%	R+31.2	D
73	32.99%	65.40%	R+32.4	28.17%	67.15%	R+39	R
74	36.76%	61.45%	R+24.7	26.75%	69.75%	R+43	R
75	56.44%	40.17%	D+16.3	59.29%	32.42%	D+26.9	D
76	54.20%	43.37%	D+10.8	54.52%	39.06%	D+15.5	D
77	70.90%	26.97%	D+43.9	67.96%	26.00%	D+42	D
78	35.41%	62.52%	R+27.1	25.41%	70.22%	R+44.8	R
79	52.52%	44.89%	D+7.6	54.48%	38.07%	D+16.4	D
80	25.27%	73.15%	R+47.9	18.88%	77.48%	R+58.6	R
81	41.73%	55.80%	R+14.1	39.31%	54.03%	R+14.7	R
82	20.17%	78.63%	R+58.5	14.96%	82.26%	R+67.3	R
83	18.35%	80.19%	R+61.8	13.46%	83.72%	R+70.3	R
84	18.79%	79.76%	R+61	17.84%	79.62%	R+61.8	R
85	16.98%	81.77%	R+64.8	13.26%	83.41%	R+70.1	R
86	21.03%	77.60%	R+56.6	14.55%	82.39%	R+67.8	R
87	21.56%	76.86%	R+55.3	15.69%	81.91%	R+66.2	D
88	37.91%	60.16%	R+22.3	42.13%	50.98%	R+8.8	R
89	21.00%	77.27%	R+56.3	17.30%	78.99%	R+61.7	R
90	14.04%	84.43%	R+70.4	11.55%	85.97%	R+74.4	R
91	26.26%	71.89%	R+45.6	21.15%	75.56%	R+54.4	R
92	26.17%	71.86%	R+45.7	20.45%	76.99%	R+56.5	R
93	22.68%	75.61%	R+52.9	15.01%	82.81%	R+67.8	D
94	20.88%	76.88%	R+56	17.76%	78.99%	R+61.2	D
95	30.76%	66.72%	R+36	23.50%	73.36%	R+49.9	R
96	33.82%	63.97%	R+30.1	20.35%	76.02%	R+55.7	R
97	25.32%	72.56%	R+47.2	17.72%	79.37%	R+61.6	R
98	39.52%	58.63%	R+19.1	25.37%	71.06%	R+45.7	R
99	40.29%	57.31%	R+17	28.36%	67.88%	R+39.5	D
100	41.11%	56.89%	R+15.8	29.95%	65.87%	R+35.9	D
Total	37.81%	60.51%	R+22.7	32.69%	62.54%	R+29.8	-
Source: Daily Kos

See also

2026 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel Union Station

External links

Suggest a link

• Search Google News for this topic