2020 Kentucky Senate election

Not to be confused with 2020 United States Senate election in Kentucky.

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.

2020 Kentucky Senate election

November 3, 2020
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:      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

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

District	Incumbent	Party		Elected	Party
1	Stan Humphries†		Rep	Jason G. Howell		Rep
3	Whitney H. Westerfield		Rep	Whitney H. Westerfield		Rep
5	Stephen L. Meredith		Rep	Stephen L. Meredith		Rep
7	Julian M. Carroll†		Dem	Adrienne E. Southworth		Rep
9	David P. Givens		Rep	David P. Givens		Rep
11	John Schickel		Rep	John Schickel		Rep
13	Reginald Thomas		Dem	Reginald Thomas		Dem
15	Rick Girdler		Rep	Rick Girdler		Rep
17	Damon Thayer		Rep	Damon Thayer		Rep
19	Morgan McGarvey		Dem	Morgan McGarvey		Dem
21	Albert Robinson		Rep	Brandon Jackson Storm		Rep
23	Chris McDaniel		Rep	Chris McDaniel		Rep
25	Robert Stivers		Rep	Robert Stivers		Rep
27	Steve West		Rep	Steve West		Rep
29	Johnny Ray Turner		Dem	Johnnie L. Turner		Rep
31	Phillip Wheeler		Rep	Phillip Wheeler		Rep
33	Gerald A. Neal		Dem	Gerald A. Neal		Dem
35	Denise Harper Angel		Dem	Denise Harper Angel		Dem
37	Perry B. Clark†		Dem	David Yates		Dem

Crossover seats

Democratic

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

District		Incumbent
#	Trump margin of victory in 2016	Member	Party	Incumbent margin of victory in 2016
7	R+24.18	Julian M. Carroll	Democratic	Unopposed
29	R+58.30	Johnny Ray Turner	Democratic	Unopposed
37	R+5.54	Perry B. Clark	Democratic	Unopposed

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

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report	Solid R	October 21, 2020

Special elections

District 31 special

Results by county:

  Wheeler

•   50–60%
•   70–80%

  Pugh

•   50–60%
•   70–80%

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

2019 Kentucky Senate 31st district special election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Phillip Wheeler	6,188	52.3
	Democratic	Darrell Pugh	5,649	47.7
Total votes			11,837	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 38 special

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

2020 Kentucky Senate 38th district special election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Nemes	8,637	63.6
	Democratic	Andrew Bailey	4,943	36.4
Total votes			13,580	100.0
	Republican hold

District 26 special

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

2020 Kentucky Senate 26th district special election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Karen Berg	24,771	57.0
	Republican	Bill Ferko	18,705	43.0
Total votes			43,476	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

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

2020 Kentucky Senate 1st district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jason G. Howell	Unopposed
Total votes			40,128	100.0
	Republican hold

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

2020 Kentucky Senate 3rd district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Whitney H. Westerfield (incumbent)	29,640	78.4
	Libertarian	Amanda Billings	8,157	21.6
Total votes			37,797	100.0
	Republican hold

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

2020 Kentucky Senate 5th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Stephen L. Meredith (incumbent)	43,385	82.0
	Independent	John Whipple	5,724	10.8
	Libertarian	Guy M. Miller	3,781	7.1
Total votes			52,890	100.0
	Republican hold

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

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Adrienne E. Southworth	3,701	31.1
	Republican	Katie Howard	3,157	26.5
	Republican	Calen Studler	2,697	22.7
	Republican	Linda Thompson	1,952	16.4
	Republican	Cleaver Kirk Crawford	390	3.3
Total votes			11,897	100.0

Independent candidates

• Ken Carroll

General election

Results

2020 Kentucky Senate 7th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Adrienne E. Southworth	33,187	52.6
	Democratic	Joe Graviss	27,205	43.1
	Independent	Ken Carroll	2,699	4.3
Total votes			63,091	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

Results by county

County	Adrienne E. Southworth		Joe Graviss		Ken Carroll		Margin		Total votes
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Anderson	8,862	68.20	3,744	28.81	388	2.99	5,118	39.39	12,994
Franklin	10,731	41.45	13,562	52.39	1,594	6.16	-2,831	-10.94	25,887
Gallatin	2,650	70.27	931	24.69	190	5.04	1,719	45.58	3,771
Owen	3,994	74.72	1,163	21.76	188	3.52	2,831	52.97	5,345
Woodford	6,950	46.04	7,805	51.71	339	2.25	-855	-5.66	15,094
Total	33,187	52.60	27,205	43.12	2,699	4.28	5,982	9.48	63,091

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

2020 Kentucky Senate 9th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David P. Givens (incumbent)	41,555	78.5
	Democratic	Brian Pedigo	11,356	21.5
Total votes			52,911	100.0
	Republican hold

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

2020 Kentucky Senate 11th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Schickel (incumbent)	46,463	70.4
	Democratic	James Fiorelli	19,496	29.6
Total votes			65,959	100.0
	Republican hold

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

2020 Kentucky Senate 13th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Reginald Thomas (incumbent)	36,345	99.8
	Write-in	Matt E. Miniard	55	0.2
Total votes			36,400	100.0
	Democratic hold

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

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rick Girdler (incumbent)	14,140	78.3
	Republican	Larry Sears Nichols	3,923	21.7
Total votes			18,063	100.0

General election

Results

2020 Kentucky Senate 15th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rick Girdler (incumbent)	Unopposed
Total votes			47,098	100.0
	Republican hold

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

2020 Kentucky Senate 17th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Damon Thayer (incumbent)	44,772	69.3
	Democratic	Jason Stroude	19,852	30.7
Total votes			64,624	100.0
	Republican hold

District 19

Incumbent senator Morgan McGarvey won reelection unopposed.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Morgan McGarvey, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2020 Kentucky Senate 19th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Morgan McGarvey (incumbent)	Unopposed
Total votes			50,867	100.0
	Democratic hold

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

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Brandon Jackson Storm	6,875	38.7
	Republican	Albert Robinson (incumbent)	6,131	34.5
	Republican	Kay Hensley	4,756	26.8
Total votes			17,762	100.0

General election

Results

2020 Kentucky Senate 21st district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Brandon Jackson Storm	44,099	82.4
	Democratic	Walter Trebolo III	9,447	17.6
Total votes			53,546	100.0
	Republican hold

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

2020 Kentucky Senate 23rd district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Chris McDaniel (incumbent)	32,188	57.7
	Democratic	Ryan Olexia	23,623	42.3
Total votes			55,811	100.0
	Republican hold

District 25

Incumbent senator Robert Stivers won reelection unopposed.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Robert Stivers, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2020 Kentucky Senate 25th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Robert Stivers (incumbent)	Unopposed
Total votes			37,141	100.0
	Republican hold

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

2020 Kentucky Senate 27th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Steve West (incumbent)	38,370	80.7
	Libertarian	Bryan Shumate Short	8,989	18.9
	Write-in	Yvonne Baldwin	166	0.3
	Write-in	Gene Barry Detherage Jr.	47	0.1
Total votes			47,572	100.0
	Republican hold

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

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Johnnie L. Turner	3,552	69.9
	Republican	Matthew Wynn	1,527	30.1
Total votes			5,079	100.0

General election

Results

2020 Kentucky Senate 29th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Johnnie L. Turner	22,475	53.4
	Democratic	Johnny Ray Turner (incumbent)	19,612	46.6
Total votes			42,087	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

Results by county

County	Johnnie L. Turner		Johnny Ray Turner		Margin		Total votes
	#	%	#	%	#	%
Floyd	6,097	37.50	10,161	62.50	-4,064	-25.00	16,258
Harlan	8,431	78.49	2,310	21.51	6,121	56.99	10,741
Knott	3,047	49.62	3,094	50.38	-47	-0.77	6,141
Letcher	4,900	54.77	4,047	45.23	853	9.53	8,947
Total	22,475	53.40	19,612	46.60	2,863	6.80	42,087

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

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Glenn Martin Hammond	5,559	59.2
	Democratic	Scott Sykes	3,836	40.8
Total votes			9,395	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Phillip Wheeler, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2020 Kentucky Senate 31st district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Phillip Wheeler (incumbent)	31,704	72.2
	Democratic	Glenn Martin Hammond	12,196	27.8
Total votes			43,900	100.0
	Republican hold

District 33

Incumbent senator Gerald A. Neal won reelection unopposed.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Gerald A. Neal, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2020 Kentucky Senate 33rd district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Gerald A. Neal (incumbent)	Unopposed
Total votes			38,520	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 35

Incumbent senator Denise Harper Angel won reelection unopposed.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Denise Harper Angel, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2020 Kentucky Senate 35th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Denise Harper Angel (incumbent)	Unopposed
Total votes			37,358	100.0
	Democratic hold

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

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David Yates	10,946	67.0
	Democratic	Katie Brophy	2,708	16.6
	Democratic	Garrett A. Dean	1,345	8.2
	Democratic	Di Tran	1,343	8.2
Total votes			16,342	100.0

General election

Results

2020 Kentucky Senate 37th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David Yates	Unopposed
Total votes			34,165	100.0
	Democratic hold

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