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United States Senate election in Kentucky, 2026
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← 2022
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| U.S. Senate, Kentucky |
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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. |
| Race ratings |
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 |
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 |
Voters in Kentucky will elect one member to the U.S. Senate in the general election on November 3, 2026. The primary is May 19, 2026. The filing deadline is January 9, 2026. On February 20, 2025, incumbent Mitch McConnell (R), who first took office in 1985, announced that he would not seek re-election in 2026.[1]
According to NBC News' Ben Kamisar, "McConnell's departure opens up a plum political office in a state that's been good to Republicans at the federal level — no Democrat has won a Senate race there in the 21st century. But there's been less room for Republicans to move up the ladder in the state than one might think: Kentucky has only had four senators since McConnell first won his seat in 1984. Though Beshear’s recent success could encourage some Democrats to run for the seat, it would still be considered an uphill battle, even if the political environment becomes more favorable for the party."[2]
As of May 20, 2025, noteworthy declared and potential candidates included the following. Click here to view all of the candidates for the seat:
- U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R) who has represented Kentucky's 6th Congressional District since 2013 (Declared)[3]
- Daniel Cameron (R), who was the Attorney General of Kentucky from 2019 to 2024 (Declared)[4]
- Nate Morris, founder and CEO of the Lexington-based holding company Morris Industries (Declared)[5][6]
- State Rep. Pamela Stevenson (D), who has served in the Kentucky House since 2021 and was elected minority leader in 2024 (Declared)[7]
- Rocky Adkins (D), a senior advisor in Gov. Andy Beshear's (D) administration who served in the state House from 1987 to 2019 (Potential) [7]
- Kelly Craft (R), who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 2019 to 2021 during President Donald Trump's (R) first term. (Potential) [2]
- Scott Jennings (R), a CNN political contributor and public relations consultant (Potential)[8]
- Ryan Quarles (R), who was the Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture from 2016 to 2024 (Potential)[2]
Beshear and U.S. Rep. James Comer (R) also received media attention as possible candidates but representatives for both said they will not run for the seat.[9][10]
Five of the six U.S. Representatives from Kentucky are Republicans and one is a Democrat. McConnell and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul are both Republicans.
Paul defeated Charles Booker (D) 61.8%-38.2% in the 2022 general election. McConnell defeated Amy McGrath (D) 57.8%-38.2% in the 2020 general election. The last time a Democrat won a U.S. Senate election in Kentucky was Wendell Ford in 1992.[11]
In the seven presidential elections from 2000 to 2024, Republican presidential candidates won the state's electoral votes. The last time a Democratic presidential candidate won the state's electoral votes was Bill Clinton (D) in 1992.
Kentucky has had a divided government since 2020. Republicans control both chambers of the state legislature, and Gov. Andy Beshear is a Democrat.
For more information about the primaries in this election, click on the links below:
- United States Senate election in Kentucky, 2026 (May 19 Democratic primary)
- United States Senate election in Kentucky, 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. Senate Kentucky
Jared Randall, Pamela Stevenson, and Vincent Thompson are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Kentucky on May 19, 2026.
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 = 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. Senate Kentucky
The following candidates are running in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Kentucky on May 19, 2026.
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| = 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)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jared Randall | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Pamela Stevenson | Democratic Party | $225,321 | $176,656 | $48,665 | As of June 30, 2025 |
| Vincent Thompson | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Andy Barr | Republican Party | $3,269,336 | $853,170 | $6,109,243 | As of June 30, 2025 |
| Daniel Cameron | Republican Party | $893,223 | $361,190 | $532,033 | As of June 30, 2025 |
| Mike Faris | Republican Party | $3,926 | $5,807 | $-1,881 | As of June 30, 2025 |
| Wende Kennedy | Republican Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Nate Morris | Republican Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Andrew Shelley | Republican Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
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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." |
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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.[12]
- 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.[13][14][15]
| Race ratings: U.S. Senate election in Kentucky, 2026 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race tracker | Race ratings | ||||||||
| 9/9/2025 | 9/2/2025 | 8/26/2025 | 8/19/2025 | ||||||
| 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.
Election history
The section below details election results for this state's U.S. Senate elections dating back to 2016.
2022
General election
General election for U.S. Senate Kentucky
Incumbent Rand Paul defeated Charles Booker, Charles Lee Thomason, and Billy Ray Wilson in the general election for U.S. Senate Kentucky on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Rand Paul (R) | 61.8 | 913,326 |
 | Charles Booker (D) | 38.2 | 564,311 | |
| Charles Lee Thomason (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 145 | ||
 | Billy Ray Wilson (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 48 | |
| Total votes: 1,477,830 | |||
| = 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
- David Biery (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Kentucky
Charles Booker defeated Joshua Blanton Sr., John Merrill, and Ruth Gao in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Kentucky on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Charles Booker | 73.3 | 214,245 |
| Joshua Blanton Sr. | 10.6 | 30,980 | ||
 | John Merrill | 9.9 | 28,931 | |
 | Ruth Gao | 6.2 | 18,154 | |
| Total votes: 292,310 | |||
| = 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. Senate Kentucky
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Kentucky on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Rand Paul | 86.4 | 333,051 |
 | Val Fredrick | 3.6 | 14,018 | |
 | Paul Hamilton | 3.5 | 13,473 | |
| Arnold Blankenship | 2.6 | 10,092 | ||
 | Tami Stainfield | 2.5 | 9,526 | |
 | John Schiess | 1.4 | 5,538 | |
| Total votes: 385,698 | |||
| = 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
General election
General election for U.S. Senate Kentucky
The following candidates ran in the general election for U.S. Senate Kentucky on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mitch McConnell (R) | 57.8 | 1,233,315 |
 | Amy McGrath (D) | 38.2 | 816,257 | |
 | Brad Barron (L) | 4.0 | 85,386 | |
 | Paul John Frangedakis (Unaffiliated) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 70 | |
 | Daniel Cobble (Unaffiliated) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 18 | |
 | Randall Lee Teegarden (Unaffiliated) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 9 | |
| Total votes: 2,135,055 | |||
| = 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
- Derek Leonard Petteys (Reform Party)
- Alyssa Dara McDowell (Independent)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Kentucky
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Kentucky on June 23, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Amy McGrath | 45.4 | 247,037 |
| Charles Booker | 42.6 | 231,888 | |
 | Mike Broihier | 5.0 | 27,175 | |
 | Mary Ann Tobin | 2.0 | 11,108 | |
 | Maggie Jo Hilliard | 1.1 | 6,224 | |
| Andrew Maynard | 1.1 | 5,974 | ||
 | Bennie Smith | 0.9 | 5,040 | |
 | Jimmy Ausbrooks | 0.7 | 3,629 | |
 | Eric Rothmuller | 0.6 | 2,995 | |
| John Sharpensteen | 0.5 | 2,992 | ||
| Total votes: 544,062 | |||
| = 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
- Kevin Elliott (D)
- Loretta Babalmoradi Noble (D)
- Matt Jones (D)
- Joshua Paul Edwards (D)
- Steven Cox (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. Senate Kentucky
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Kentucky on June 23, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mitch McConnell | 82.8 | 342,660 |
 | C. Wesley Morgan | 6.2 | 25,588 | |
| Louis Grider | 3.3 | 13,771 | ||
| Paul John Frangedakis | 2.9 | 11,957 | |
| Naren James | 2.6 | 10,693 | ||
| Kenneth Lowndes | 1.3 | 5,548 | ||
| Nicholas Alsager | 0.9 | 3,603 | ||
| Total votes: 413,820 | |||
| = 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
- Karl Das (R)
- Wendell Crow (R)
Libertarian convention
Libertarian convention for U.S. Senate Kentucky
Brad Barron advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. Senate Kentucky on March 7, 2020.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Brad Barron (L) |
| ||||
| = 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. | ||||
2016
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Rand Paul Incumbent |
57.3% | 1,090,177 | |
| Democratic | Jim Gray | 42.7% | 813,246 | |
| N/A | Write-in | 0% | 42 | |
| Total Votes | 1,903,465 | |||
| Source: Kentucky Secretary of State | ||||
Election analysis
This section will contain facts and figures related to this state's elections when those are available.
See also
| Kentucky | 2026 primaries | 2026 U.S. Congress elections |
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Voting in Kentucky Kentucky elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 |
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. Senate elections U.S. House elections Special elections Ballot access |
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Mitch McConnell Official Website, "McConnell Remarks on Final Senate Term," February 20, 2025
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 NBC News, "Potential Mitch McConnell successors begin lining up for Kentucky's Senate race," February 20, 2025
- ↑ Spectrum News 1, "Rep. Andy Barr officially joins 2026 Senate race," April 22, 2025
- ↑ Politico, "Daniel Cameron launches Senate bid in the wake of McConnell’s retirement," February 20, 2025
- ↑ Associated Press, "Kentucky Senate hopeful Nate Morris pledges his loyalty to President Trump," accessed June 26, 2025
- ↑ New York Times, "Wealthy Business Executive Enters Senate Race to Fill Mitch McConnell’s Seat,"June 27, 2025
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Associated Press, "Pamela Stevenson, the top Democrat in the Kentucky House, launches campaign for the US Senate," March 31, 2025
- ↑ The Hills, "CNN’s Scott Jennings responds to reports about possible Kentucky Senate run," May 17, 2025
- ↑ WHAS, "Will Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear run for Mitch McConnell's Senate seat?" February 20, 2025
- ↑ The Hill, "Comer won’t run for McConnell’s Kentucky Senate seat in 2026," February 20, 2025
- ↑ WYMT, "Kentucky political landscape shifts ahead of Senate race," May 27, 2025
- ↑ Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
