The Commonwealth of Kentucky held its 2024 Primary Election on Tuesday, May 21. While there were no surprises in the Presidential Primaries, the night did feature several races for open seats caused by retirements or incumbents facing challengers. Below is a brief summary and analysis of the preliminary results.
Presidential Primary
As expected, both President Joe Biden (D) and former President Donald Trump (R) cruised to victory in their respective party primaries. Both men are headed toward a rematch of the 2020 election. In that election, Mr. Trump won Kentucky by more than 25 percentage points.
Congressional Primaries
Kentucky only held primaries for the United State House of Representatives in this election cycle. All incumbent Members of Congress prevailed in primaries on Tuesday. Notably, Congressman Thomas Massie (R) fended off two challengers and earned 76% of the vote in the Fourth Congressional District. Election-watchers were waiting to see if Congressman Massie faced any backlash from voters over his recent attempt to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La), but, instead he cruised to victory.
State Legislative Primaries
The Kentucky legislative primaries featured races for open seats, caused by recent retirements, and also several primary challenges to incumbents. Rep. Killian Timony was defeated by Liberty Kentucky Caucus (an anti-establishment Republican group) aligned candidate Thomas Jefferson for the 45th House District. Rep. Richard Heath lost to Kimberly Holloway in a surprise, given the small amount of spending by Ms. Holloway’s campaign. She reported spending on $15,000 within two weeks of the election. Sen. Adrienne Southworth of Lawrenceburg lost to a challenger, Aaron Reed, who was aligned with the Liberty Kentucky Caucus. House Health Services Committee Chair, Rep. Kim Moser, survived a challenge by only 84 votes over challenger Karen Campbell.
Below is a summary of the preliminary results. Please note that only winners of contested races are displayed.
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