United States Senate election in Kentucky, 2020 (June 23 Republican primary)

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2026
2014
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
Cook Political Report: Likely Republican
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, Kentucky
U.S. Senate1st2nd3rd4th5th6th
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
January 10, 2020
June 23, 2020
November 3, 2020


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 the selection of a party's candidates in an election is limited to registered party members.[3][4][5]

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:

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 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
Image of Mitch McConnell
Mitch McConnell
 
82.8
 
342,660
Image of C. Wesley Morgan
C. Wesley Morgan
 
6.2
 
25,588
Louis Grider
 
3.3
 
13,771
Image of Paul John Frangedakis
Paul John Frangedakis Candidate Connection
 
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 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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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

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.[6] Ballotpedia staff compiled profiles based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements.

Image of Paul John Frangedakis

WebsiteFacebook

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: None

Submitted Biography "Very concerned DOCTOR who wants to make KENTUCKY great. "


Key Messages

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


KY Healthcare is 44th in the nation


KENTUCKY is 38th in education in the nation


Immigration Needs to be redone

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.[7] 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.[8] 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."
** 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.[9]
  • 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.[10][11][12]

Race ratings: U.S. Senate election in Kentucky, 2020
Race trackerRace ratings
November 3, 2020October 27, 2020October 20, 2020October 13, 2020
The Cook Political ReportLikely RepublicanLikely RepublicanLikely RepublicanLikely Republican
Inside Elections with Nathan L. GonzalesSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal BallLikely RepublicanLikely RepublicanLikely RepublicanLikely Republican
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. Note: Kentucky's primary election was postponed to June 23, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  2. Note: Kentucky's primary election was postponed to June 23, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
  3. NCSL,"State Primary Election Types," February 06, 2024
  4. Ballotpedia research conducted December 26, 2013, through January 3, 2014, researching and analyzing various state websites and codes.
  5. Kentucky State Board of Elections,"Key Information," accessed July 26, 2024
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. Federal Election Commission, "2022 Quarterly Reports," accessed March 2, 2022
  9. Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
  10. Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
  11. Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
  12. Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018


Senators
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
Andy Barr (R)
Republican Party (7)
Democratic Party (1)