William Compton (Kentucky)
William Compton (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Kentucky's 2nd Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on May 19, 2026.[source]
Compton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
William Compton was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Compton earned a high school diploma from Warren East High School and a bachelor's degree in music education from Western Kentucky University in 2016. His career experience includes working as an orchestra director and as a teacher with Warren East High School. Compton has been affiliated with the Poor Peoples Campaign, Footprints Outreach, and the Kentucky Democratic Rural Council.[1][2][3]
Elections
2026
See also: Kentucky's 2nd Congressional District election, 2026
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 2
William Compton, Hank Linderman, and Megan Wingfield are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 2 on May 19, 2026.
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 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 2
Incumbent Brett Guthrie is running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 2 on May 19, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Brett Guthrie | |
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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. | ||||
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2024
See also: Kentucky's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024
Kentucky's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (May 21 Republican primary)
Kentucky's 2nd Congressional District election, 2024 (May 21 Democratic primary)
General election
General election for U.S. House Kentucky District 2
Incumbent Brett Guthrie defeated Hank Linderman in the general election for U.S. House Kentucky District 2 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Brett Guthrie (R) | 73.1 | 252,826 |
 | Hank Linderman (D) | 26.9 | 93,029 | |
| Total votes: 345,855 | |||
| = 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 2
Hank Linderman defeated William Compton in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 2 on May 21, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Hank Linderman | 57.3 | 12,515 |
 | William Compton | 42.7 | 9,313 | |
| Total votes: 21,828 | |||
| = 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
The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Brett Guthrie advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 2.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Compton in this election.
2022
See also: Kentucky's 2nd Congressional District election, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. House Kentucky District 2
Incumbent Brett Guthrie defeated Hank Linderman in the general election for U.S. House Kentucky District 2 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Brett Guthrie (R) | 71.9 | 170,487 |
| Hank Linderman (D) | 28.1 | 66,769 | |
| Total votes: 237,256 | |||
| = 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 2
Hank Linderman defeated William Compton in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 2 on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Hank Linderman | 58.2 | 20,174 |
| William Compton | 41.8 | 14,465 | |
| Total votes: 34,639 | |||
| = 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 2
Incumbent Brett Guthrie defeated Lee Watts and Brent Feher in the Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 2 on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Brett Guthrie | 78.1 | 52,265 |
 | Lee Watts | 17.9 | 11,996 | |
 | Brent Feher | 4.0 | 2,681 | |
| Total votes: 66,942 | |||
| = 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
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
William Compton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Compton's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- Healthcare- I believe Healthcare is a human right. I support Medicare for All, protecting rural hospitals, and lowering prescription drug costs.
- Education- I am a public school teacher. I fully support funding public education, raising teacher pay, expanding mental health support for students, and making college and trade programs more affordable.
- Jobs and Wages- I believe we need to raise the minimum wage, expand rural broadband, invest in clean energy infrastructure, and protect workers' right to unionize.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2024
William Compton did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
William Compton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Compton's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- Our working class citizens have been neglected for too long and it is time we have a representative that will stand up and vote for the working people. I am running to be that representative and will always be here to help our great district in any way possible.
- It is time to pass the leadership on to someone else. Our current representative has been in congress since 2009. It is time we have a change in who represents our district. I am that change.
- Over this pandemic, we have seen our leaders in congress botch all attempts at helping our citizens. When the American Rescue Plan was passed, it helped out many Kentucky residents. Our representative is one of many touting how great it is in helping our district, but yet he voted no on it. I will always vote for legislation that will help our people in any time of need, not when it is convenient for me.
-Affordable Healthcare
-Social and Economic infrastructure brought into our commonwealth
-Having clean, renewable energy sources so we have a planet our children and grandchildren can live happily on
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign website
Compton's campaign website stated the following:
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Healthcare I support Medicare for All. In Medicare for All, Medicare coverage will be expanded and improved to include: dental, hearing, vision, and home- and community-based long-term care, in-patient and out-patient services, mental health and substance abuse treatment, reproductive and maternity care, prescription drugs, and more. I will also work to stop the pharmaceutical industry from ripping off the American people by making sure that no one in America pays over $200 a year for the medicine they need by capping what Americans pay for prescription drugs under Medicare for All. Under the Affordable Care Act, Kentucky expanded Medicare, which covered more people who previously made too much money to afford Medicare but not enough to afford private insurance. Due to that policy, so many Kentuckians were able to have insurance for the first time. If we have Medicare for All, so many more Kentuckians will be covered for the first time in their lives. Infrastructure We need to focus on our infrastructure that is sadly crumbling around us. I support President Biden’s plan to strengthen our infrastructure. Repair Economic Infrastructure like roads, bridges, waterways, etc and use renewable resources for the repairs. Despite the importance of these resources that everyone uses, we are seeing about 21.8 % of roads nationwide in poor condition, 7.6% of bridges nationwide are in need of repair, and there have been 4.8 derailments for every 100 miles of train track from 2015-2019. In Kentucky, a study in 2020 found that 13.8 percent of major urban roads are in poor shape, and 3.1 percent of urban freeways and interstates are in poor shape. We also need to repair our Social Infrastructure such as: Invest in public education: Fix buildings, staffing budgets and universal Pre-K childcare, supplies for schools, etc, invest in childcare for working families, etc. I also believe that we need to implement a broadband wireless internet initiative across our nation. Internet access is something we need to utilize for the future, and having this resource will help many rural Kentuckians in the future. Veterans Affairs We need to invest more into veteran care. Veterans have selflessly put their lives on the line for our freedom and we need to properly thank them for it. The way we treat our veterans when they come home from war needs to change. We need to provide better mental health care for our veterans, medical care, and reacclimation to civilian life training. We also need to target the issue of homelessness, and find a way to make sure our military veterans are not on the street without a roof over their heads. We also need to work to provide transportation to and from grocery stores, doctors, jobs, and group help sessions. Education As a public school teacher, education is something near and dear to my heart. Our education system is in need of reform. We need to provide more funds for schools to, not only buy the resources/materials needed for the next generation to learn, but to pay educators what they duly deserve. We also need to end high-stakes testing. State testing should not be tied to school funding. We also need to provide resources for students to not only learn the basics (Math, Science, Social Studies, Reading), but to explore other areas such as: Art, Music, Farming/Agriculture tech, business, etc. We also need to ensure each student has access to a mental health counselor in the school. I also support student loan forgiveness up to $50,000 in order to support our students’ economic futures. LGBTQIA+ When it comes to equal rights, we have made many amazing strides over the past couple of years, but our job is not done. I will fight for everyone's rights in congress. I would fight for: Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination policies, Privacy protection of our Transgender Americans, an LGBTQIA+-inclusive public education system, guarantee to Transgender-affirming healthcare, a nationwide ban on "conversion therapy", end the "gay panic" and "transgender panic" murder excuse, and ban intersex mutilation. Gender Equality When it comes to gender equality, I believe we still have many chances to improve. Here are the ways I would work to improve gender equality in our nation: I would support the Paycheck Fairness Act to end the gender wage gap, champion a Medicare for All platform to ensure everyone regardless of gender has access to healthcare, Fight to end sexual harassment, discrimination, and violence in the workplace, support environmental justice with adaptive resources for women, and many more. Marijuana In congress, I will work to legalize marijuana nationwide. We have seen success stories on how it can safely be done in many other states. With the legalization of it nationwide, we would see a large economic job opportunity open up in Kentucky. This would give farmers a chance to grow the new crop, it would provide funding nationwide for other programs, and would give us the chance to expunge the records of any person in jail that had a marijuana charge. Justice System Our criminal justice system is severely broken and needs massive reforms. If you commit a crime, you should be tried. It should not matter what your occupation is, how much money you make, etc. We need to end, nationwide, No-Knock Warrants. We also need to stop the for-profit prison complex mentality. Prisons should be a place for reform for a majority of the small time offenders. We also need to invest in better training programs for police, better funding so we can send out mental health professionals in situations when needed. Environment I believe we are facing a major existential crisis when it comes to our environment. I will fight for greener energy to be used in the commonwealth, as well as working to transform our energy sources to renewable energy. By moving away from nonrenewable energy, we can create long lasting, safe jobs in our commonwealth that will provide stability for families in our nation. I support legislation such as the Green New Deal.[4] |
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| —William Compton's campaign website (2022)[5] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 15, 2021
- ↑ Compton for House, "About William," accessed February 21, 2022
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 17, 2025
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Compton for House, “Issues,” accessed February 24, 2022
