United States Senate election in Kentucky, 2020 (June 23 Republican primary)
- Primary date: June 23[2]
- Primary type: Closed
- Registration deadline(s): May 26
- Online registration: Yes
- Same-day registration: No
- Early voting starts: Pending
- Absentee/mail voting deadline(s): June 23 (return)
- Voter ID: Non-photo ID
- Poll times: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
2026 →
← 2014
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| U.S. Senate, Kentucky |
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 |
| Democratic primary Republican primary General election |
| Election details |
| Filing deadline: January 10, 2020 |
| Primary: June 23, 2020 General: November 3, 2020 Pre-election incumbent: Mitch McConnell (Republican) |
| How to vote |
| Poll times: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Voting in Kentucky |
| Race ratings |
Inside Elections: Solid Republican Sabato's Crystal Ball: Likely Republican |
| Ballotpedia analysis |
| U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020 |
| See also |
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th Kentucky elections, 2020 U.S. Congress elections, 2020 U.S. Senate elections, 2020 U.S. House elections, 2020 |
A Republican Party primary took place on June 23, 2020, in Kentucky to determine which Republican candidate would run in the state's general election on November 3, 2020.
Incumbent Mitch McConnell advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Kentucky.
| Candidate filing deadline | Primary election | General election |
|---|---|---|
Heading into the election, the incumbent was Mitch McConnell (Republican), who was first elected in 1984.
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.[3]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
This page focuses on Kentucky's United States Senate Republican primary. For more in-depth information on the state's Democratic primary and the general election, see the following pages:
- United States Senate election in Kentucky, 2020 (June 23 Democratic primary)
- United States Senate election in Kentucky, 2020
Election procedure changes in 2020
Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.
Kentucky modified its primary election process as follows:
- Election postponements: The primary election was postponed from May 19, 2020, to June 23.
- Voting procedures: Absentee voting eligibility was extended to all voters in the primary election.
For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.
Candidates and election results
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. Senate Kentucky
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)
Candidate profiles
This section includes candidate profiles created in one of two ways. Either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey or Ballotpedia staff created a profile after identifying the candidate as noteworthy.[4] Ballotpedia staff compiled profiles based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements.
Party: Republican Party
Incumbent: No
Political Office: None
Submitted Biography: "Very concerned DOCTOR who wants to make KENTUCKY great. "
This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. Senate Kentucky in 2020.
Campaign finance
This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.[5] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.[6] The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitch McConnell | Republican Party | $73,952,187 | $67,388,726 | $6,811,701 | As of December 31, 2020 |
| Nicholas Alsager | Republican Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Paul John Frangedakis | Republican Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Louis Grider | Republican Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Naren James | Republican Party | $50,070 | $66,990 | $0 | As of September 30, 2020 |
| Kenneth Lowndes | Republican Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| C. Wesley Morgan | Republican Party | $288,018 | $288,018 | $0 | As of November 23, 2020 |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. 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.[7]
- 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.[8][9][10]
| Race ratings: U.S. Senate election in Kentucky, 2020 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race tracker | Race ratings | ||||||||
| November 3, 2020 | October 27, 2020 | October 20, 2020 | October 13, 2020 | ||||||
| The Cook Political Report | Likely Republican | Likely Republican | Likely Republican | Likely Republican | |||||
| Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | Solid Republican | |||||
| Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball | Likely Republican | Likely Republican | Likely Republican | Likely Republican | |||||
| Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season. | |||||||||
See also
- United States Senate election in Kentucky, 2020 (June 23 Democratic primary)
- United States Senate election in Kentucky, 2020
- United States Senate Democratic Party primaries, 2020
- United States Senate Republican Party primaries, 2020
- United States Senate elections, 2020
- U.S. Senate battlegrounds, 2020
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: Kentucky's primary election was postponed to June 23, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
- ↑ Note: Kentucky's primary election was postponed to June 23, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
- ↑ Kentucky General Assembly, "Ky. Rev. Stat. § 116.055," accessed October 20, 2025
- ↑ Candidate Connection surveys completed before September 26, 2019, were not used to generate candidate profiles. In battleground primaries, Ballotpedia based its selection of noteworthy candidates on polling, fundraising, and noteworthy endorsements. In battleground general elections, all major party candidates and any other candidates with the potential to impact the outcome of the race were included.
- ↑ Fundraising by primary candidates can be found on the race's respective primary election page. Fundraising by general election candidates can be found on the race's general election page.
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "2022 Quarterly Reports," accessed March 2, 2022
- ↑ 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
