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2020 Kentucky Senate election

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19 out of 38 seats in the Kentucky Senate 20 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Robert Stivers Morgan McGarvey Party Republican Democratic Leader since January 8, 2013 January 8, 2019 Leader's seat 25th – Manchester 19th – Louisville Last election 28 10 Seats won 30 8 Seat change 2 2 Seats up 12 7 Races won 14 5
Results Popular voteResults:      Republican hold      Republican gain      Democratic hold      No election Popular vote:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%      >90%
Senate President before election Robert Stivers Republican Elected Senate President Robert Stivers Republican

Elections in Kentucky
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Government
v t e

The 2020 Kentucky Senate election was held on November 3, 2020. The Republican and Democratic primary elections were held on June 23. Half of the senate seats (all odd-numbered seats) were up for election. Republicans increased their majority in the chamber, gaining two seats.

A numbered map of the senate districts at the time can be viewed here.

Overview

Party		Candidates		Votes	%	Seats
		Opposed	Unopposed			Before	Won	After	+/−
	Republican	11	3	532,205	59.01	28	14	30	+2
	Democratic	9	4	340,042	37.70	10	5	8	-2
	Libertarian	3	0	20,927	2.32	0	0	0	-
	Independent	2	0	8,423	0.93	0	0	0	-
	Write-in	3	0	268	0.03	0	0	0	-
Total		28	7	901,865	100.00	38	19	38	±0
Source: Kentucky Secretary of State

Retiring incumbents

A total of three senators (two Democrats and one Republican) retired, none of whom ran for other offices.

Democratic

1. 7th: Julian M. Carroll (Frankfort): Retired
2. 37th: Perry B. Clark (Louisville): Retired

Republican

1. 1st: Stan Humphries (Cadiz): Retired

Incumbents defeated

One incumbent lost renomination in the primary election, and one incumbent lost reelection in the general election.

In the primary election

Republicans

One Republican lost renomination.

1. 21st: Albert Robinson (first elected in 1994) lost renomination to Brandon J. Storm, who won the general election.

In the general election

Democrats

One Democrat lost reelection to a Republican.

1. 29th: Johnny Ray Turner (first elected in 2000) lost to Johnnie L. Turner.

Summary by district

Certified results by the Kentucky Secretary of State are available online for the primary election and general election.

† – Incumbent not seeking re-election

Crossover seats

Democratic

Three districts voted for Donald Trump in 2016 but had Democratic incumbents:

Republican

None.

Closest races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. District 29, 6.80% (gain)
2. District 7, 9.48% (gain)

Predictions

Special elections

District 31 special

Phillip Wheeler was elected in March 2019 following the resignation of Ray Jones II.

District 38 special

Mike Nemes was elected in January 2020 following the resignation of Dan Seum.

District 26 special

Karen Berg was elected in June 2020 following the resignation of Ernie Harris.

District 1

Incumbent senator Stan Humphries did not seek reelection. He was succeeded by Republican Jason G. Howell.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Jason G. Howell

General election

Results

District 3

Incumbent senator Whitney H. Westerfield won reelection, defeating Libertarian candidate Amanda Billings.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Whitney H. Westerfield, incumbent senator

Third-party candidates

Libertarian party

• Amanda Billings

General election

Results

District 5

Incumbent senator Stephen L. Meredith won reelection, defeating Independent and Libertarian candidates.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Stephen L. Meredith, incumbent senator

Independent candidates

• John Whipple

Third-party candidates

Libertarian party

• Guy M. Miller

General election

Results

District 7

Incumbent senator Julian M. Carroll did not seek reelection. He was succeeded by Republican Adrienne E. Southworth.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Joe Graviss, representative from the 56th district (2019–2021)

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Adrienne E. Southworth

Eliminated in primary

• Cleaver Kirk Crawford
• Katie Howard
• Calen Studler
• Linda Thompson

Results

Independent candidates

• Ken Carroll

General election

Results

Results by county

District 9

Incumbent senator David P. Givens won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Brian Pedigo.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Brian Pedigo

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• David P. Givens, incumbent senator

General election

Results

District 11

Incumbent senator John Schickel won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate James Fiorelli.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• James Fiorelli

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• John Schickel, incumbent senator

General election

Results

District 13

Incumbent senator Reginald Thomas won reelection, defeating write-in candidate Matt E. Miniard.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Reginald Thomas, incumbent senator

General election

Results

District 15

Incumbent senator Rick Girdler won reelection, defeating primary election challenger Larry Sears Nichols.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Rick Girdler, incumbent senator

Eliminated in primary

• Larry Sears Nichols

Results

General election

Results

District 17

Incumbent senator Damon Thayer won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Jason Stroude.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Jason Stroude

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Damon Thayer, incumbent senator

General election

Results

District 19

Incumbent senator Morgan McGarvey won reelection unopposed.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Morgan McGarvey, incumbent senator

General election

Results

District 21

Incumbent Republican senator Albert Robinson was defeated for renomination by Brandon Jackson Storm.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Walter Trebolo III

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Brandon Jackson Storm

Eliminated in primary

• Kay Hensley
• Albert Robinson, incumbent senator

Results

General election

Results

District 23

Incumbent senator Chris McDaniel won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Ryan Olexia.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Ryan Olexia

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Chris McDaniel, incumbent senator

General election

Results

District 25

Incumbent senator Robert Stivers won reelection unopposed.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Robert Stivers, incumbent senator

General election

Results

District 27

Incumbent senator Steve West won reelection, defeating Libertarian and write-in candidates.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Steve West, incumbent senator

Third-party candidates

Libertarian party

• Bryan Shumate Short

General election

Results

District 29

Incumbent senator Johnny Ray Turner was defeated for reelection by Republican Johnnie L. Turner.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Johnny Ray Turner, incumbent senator

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Johnnie L. Turner, representative from the 88th district (1999–2003)

Eliminated in primary

• Matthew Wynn

Results

General election

Results

Results by county

District 31

Incumbent senator Phillip Wheeler won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Glenn Martin Hammond.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Glenn Martin Hammond

Eliminated in primary

• Scott Sykes

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Phillip Wheeler, incumbent senator

General election

Results

District 33

Incumbent senator Gerald A. Neal won reelection unopposed.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Gerald A. Neal, incumbent senator

General election

Results

District 35

Incumbent senator Denise Harper Angel won reelection unopposed.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Denise Harper Angel, incumbent senator

General election

Results

District 37

Incumbent senator Perry B. Clark did not seek reelection. He was succeeded by Democrat David Yates.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• David Yates

Eliminated in primary

• Katie Brophy
• Garrett A. Dean
• Di Tran

Results

General election

Results

References

1. "October Overview: Handicapping the 2020 State Legislature Races". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved April 26, 2024.

See also

• 2020 Kentucky elections
  • 2020 Kentucky House of Representatives election
  • 2020 United States Senate election in Kentucky
  • 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky

• 2020 state legislature elections in the United States
• November 2020 events in the United States
• Kentucky Senate elections
• 2020 Kentucky elections