Gov. Steve Beshear and Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson will skip next week's church picnic in the western Kentucky community of Fancy Farm.
Democratic Party Chairman Dan Logsdon said Wednesday they're unable to go.
The Fancy Farm picnic includes an afternoon of stump speeches involving the state's top Democrats and Republicans. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell plans to attend, as does his chief Democratic challenger in next year's election, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes. Several others have also committed to attend.
In a phone call to Republican voters this week, McConnell called the picnic "the summer event you won't want to miss."
The picnic, a fundraiser for St. Jerome Parish, draws some 10,000 people and generates about $250,000.
Logsdon said Beshear intends to be at next year's event.