Kentucky Senate2026
RACE AT A GLANCE
RACE TYPE
OPEN
Mitch McConnell (R)
Retiring
RACE RATING
Last updated: Feb 11, 2025COOK PARTISAN VOTING INDEX
Last updated : Apr 27, 2026Race summary
Former Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is casting a long shadow over the race to succeed him — but not in the way the state’s longest-serving senator may have once envisioned.Key Dates
Filing Deadline: Jan 9, 2026
Primary Election: May 19, 2026
INCUMBENT
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INCUMBENT
Mitch McConnell
First Elected: 1984
Last General Election: 57.8%
Last Primary Election: 82.8%
Full Bio:
McCONNELL, Addison Mitchell (Mitch), a Senator from Kentucky; born in Tuscumbia, Colbert County, Ala.,
February 20, 1942; attended Louisville, Ky. public schools; graduated,
University of Louisville 1964; graduated, University of Kentucky Law School,
Lexington 1967; admitted to the Kentucky bar in 1967; legislative assistant to
Senator Marlow Cook 1968-1970; Deputy Assistant United States Attorney for
Legislative Affairs 1974-1975; Acting Assistant Attorney General 1975; elected
judge-executive of Jefferson County, Ky., 1978-1985; elected as a Republican to
the United States Senate in 1984; reelected in 1990, 1996, 2002, 2008, and
again in 2014 for the term ending January 3, 2021; Republican party whip
(2003-2007); minority leader (2007-2015); majority leader (2015-); chair,
Select Committee on Ethics (One Hundred Fourth Congress), National Republican
Senatorial Campaign Committee (One Hundred Fifth through One Hundred Sixth
Congresses), Committee on Rules and Administration (One Hundred Sixth Congress,
One Hundred Seventh Congress [January 20, 2001-June 6, 2001]).
Source: Bioguide
CANDIDATES
Democrats
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Republicans
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STATE DATA
Kentucky
Population Breakdown
Source: United States Census
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xx.x%
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xx.x%
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xx.x%
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xx.xx%
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xx.x%
Past Presidential Results from this State
2024 Election Results
Source: The Cook Political Report
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xx.x%xx votes
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xx.x%xx votes
2020 Election Results
Source: The Cook Political Report
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xx.x%xx votes
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xx.x%xx votes
RACE ANALYSIS
Race Analysis
Updated: Jun 10, 2025
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