For the third straight election cycle, state House GOP incumbents in northern Kentucky are facing tough primary challenges from candidates on their right flank who question their conservative credentials.
Reps. Kim Moser of Taylor Mill and Kim Banta of Fort Mitchell have both served multiple terms in their districts that include parts of Kenton County. Both are considered relative moderates among Republicans’ supermajority caucus when it comes to issues related to LGBTQ+ rights.
Moser and Banta now face GOP primary challengers who are highlighting their votes against a 2023 bill to ban all gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth. Banta is facing her first primary challenge since taking office in 2019, while Moser survived her 2024 primary by just 84 votes against a challenger who used the issue against her.
Northern Kentucky has been dangerous territory for GOP incumbents in recent years, as three House committee chairmen lost their 2022 primary races against challengers from the so-called “liberty” wing of the party, which pushes aggressively to cut government spending, to the point of sometimes bucking House GOP leadership. Moser narrowly survived in 2024, but two other House GOP incumbents in other parts of the state that year lost their primaries to liberty challengers.
Moser and Banta are both receiving substantial financial support from party leadership and political action committees to hold onto their seats this May. This includes more than $100,000 of spending on advertisements attacking each of their opponents — Scott Berger and Cole Cuzick, respectively — who are first-time candidates for public office.
Whereas liberty challengers in past cycles have had success against establishment GOP incumbents in northern Kentucky by contrasting themselves as more fiscally conservative and anti-government regulations, the main challengers this year moved social issues to the forefront — emphasizing their Christian faith and opponents’ votes against anti-transgender bills in past sessions.
Banta dubbed ‘most liberal’ by primary rival over transgender votes
This is the first time Banta has faced any Republican primary challenger, and she’s facing two young candidates who prominently emphasize their faith.
Cole Cuzick is a 29 year old former policy staffer for two Christian social conservative groups that lobby in Frankfort. Also running is Seth Winslow Young, a 23 year old will soon turn 24 — the minimum age to be a state House member.
Young’s campaign has not reported raising or spending any money, but Cuzick has spent at least $13,000 and picked up support and advertising spending from two PACs.
Cuzick says the district is very socially conservative and his ads call Banta “Kentucky’s most liberal Republican.” He says voters have told him they are upset with her vote against the bill banning gender-affirming healthcare services for transgender minors.
“That's the main issue that people shake their heads at,” Cuzick said. “If they do know her, they're very familiar with that voting record.”
While Cuzick accuses Banta of supporting transgender surgeries for minors, she says she would have voted for such a bill, but the legislation included too many late provisions that she didn’t have time to read. The bill also banned hormone therapy and stripped a provision to protect gender-affirming mental healthcare services.
“It's a red meat issue, for some reason,” Banta said. “I don't really understand it.”
Cuzick has also criticized Banta for sponsoring bills to ban so-called “conversion therapy” on LGBTQ+ youth and not voting on a 2022 bill to ban transgender women from women’s sports.
“I just keep religion out of my politics,” Banta said. “That's the big difference I see in the two of us. I'm not going to impose my beliefs on other people.”
Moser says voters care more about economy than LGBTQ+ attacks
Moser is facing first-time candidate Scott Berger in her Republican primary, a former railroad worker and army veteran.
Berger says he was first drawn to state politics when he discovered that Moser, his representative, had voted against the ban on transgender care for children.
“I was genuinely shocked, and that's what really got me interested and involved in this state political arena,” Berger said.
He supported GOP candidate Karen Campbell in her 2024 race against Moser, who fell just 84 votes shy of a massive upset, despite being heavily outspent in the race. Campbell leaned into Moser’s speech on the House floor when voting against the transgender bill, in which she said “to the rest of the world who's watching Kentucky: We are not complete Neanderthals."
Moser told Kentucky Public Radio that Berger is distorting her record, as “I’m not for transgender surgery and I’m not fo cross-sex hormones.” She said she voted against the bill because it stripped her provision to protect mental health treatment “for these gender confused children.”
“We’ve got to make sure that children, especially, anyone with a mental health issue, is getting the care that they need,” Moser said. “Human beings are not disposable. We need to actually make sure that they are getting the care that they need.”
Moser voted for the bill to ban transgender women from women’s sports and another to ban transgender hormone treatments for prison inmates and its coverage under Medicaid. She did vote against a broad anti-trans bill in 2023 to prohibit transgender students from using the bathrooms and locker rooms of their gender identity and allow teachers to misgender those students.
Moser said that her constituents care far more about the economy and increased cost of living expenses than any transgender issues.
“People are struggling financially, and they're really paying attention to how the economy is affecting them right now,” Moser said. “So that's more what I'm hearing about.”
Business PACs spend big on ads hitting incumbents’ challengers
Just like in past primary election cycles, party leadership and business-funded PACs are coming to the defense of the more established GOP incumbents with a large amount of spending.
Commonwealth Conservative Coalition is a federal super PAC that has reported spending more than $300,000 in primary races as of this week, with more than $200,000 of that going towards negative ads against Cuzick and Berger. The same group spent more than $1 million in Kentucky House GOP primaries in 2024 in support of establishment candidates.
The latest federal filing of Commonwealth Conservative Coalition shows horse racing and gambling conglomerate Churchill Downs contributing $100,000 to the PAC, along with $50,000 from tobacco giant Phillip Morris and $25,000 each from online casino company VGW Luckyland and short-term rental company AirBNB.
Though its first quarter report did not disclose the contribution, Better Schools Kentucky — the PAC of the Jefferson County teachers union — reported to state elections regulators that it gave Commonwealth Conservative Coalition its largest donation of $200,000 in March.
Cuzick noted that he’s received six negative mailers about himself from the PAC, as well as the House Republican Caucus Campaign Committee that is controlled by party leadership in the chamber. The committee has reported spending at least $31,000 on advertisements supporting Banta.
“I can tell the establishment doesn't want me in there,” Cuzick said. “I'm flattered that they view me as such a threat that you've got to go that negative on me. It has upped my name ID considerably, which I'm not totally upset about. That is the silver lining.”
The ads hitting Cuzick portray him as a baby and say he’s “never had a real job,” while also saying he “attacked” President Donald Trump by a supportive Facebook post that also referred to him as “flawed.”
The PAC ads attacking Berger accuse him of being a fake Republican and a “deadbeat dad.” He said the $100,000 spent against him “just goes to show you how important this race is, and how important it is to the people that think they have a stranglehold on our district and want to keep it.”
The PACs of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and the sports betting industry have also spent at least $60,000 on ads supportive of Banta and Moser. The PAC of conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity has also reported spending at least $24,000 on pro-Banta ads.
Some groups have come to the aid of Cuzick and Berger. Make Liberty Win — funded by a dark money group spun off from the presidential campaign of Ron Paul — has reported spending $17,000 on positive ads for Cuzick, as well as $12,000 on ones attacking Banta and Moser.
There is also a mysterious group called Kentucky Liberty Alliance that has paid an unknown amount on ads attacking Moser for her voting record on transgender bills, but has not registered with state or federal election agencies, as is required by law.
Moser filed a complaint to state regulators and a lawsuit against the group for using artificial intelligence to distort her appearance in ads. That lawsuit was successful, as Moser got a restraining order against the group from a Kenton County judge, who ruled the ad violated a new state law prohibiting “deepfakes” of candidates without disclosing that such technology was used.
Cuzick also criticized the negative PAC ads — including those from House GOP leadership — for distorting his face, saying it violated the state law. Still, he was confident that he could overcome the lopsided spending in the race, noting that former GOP Rep. Killian Timoney was blown out in his 2024 primary race, despite $400,000 of spending on his behalf and a 10-to-1 advantage over his opponent.
Proxy wars over Thomas Massie, liberty caucus and GOP leadership?
In the background of both Republican primary races are two ongoing battles over the leadership and direction of the party, both in Kentucky and the nation’s capitol.
Voters in northern Kentucky have been barraged by TV ads over the past year in the congressional primary between GOP incumbent Rep. Thomas Massie and Trump-endorsed challenger Ed Gallrein. Attack ads have painted Massie as betraying Trump and the party by opposing him on issues like the Jeffrey Epstein files and the military invasion of Iran, while Massie has insisted that he’s the one staying true to his small government and constitutional principles.
Also in Frankfort is the ongoing power struggle between the leadership of the GOP supermajority and the small but growing faction of lawmakers under the “liberty” banner, who are largely aligned with Massie and often stand up to the leadership on its right flank.
Cuzick fully embraces both the liberty moniker and his support for Massie, who he used to work for in his congressional office. He said efforts to tie him to Massie will work in his favor, as he expects the congressman to do very well there in the primary.
“It's funny, after some of those first mailers came out, people opened the door and said, 'I got this mailer. I don't support President Trump and what he's doing with the Epstein files and the war in Iran. And I'm actually supporting you based on this negative mailer,'” Cuzick said.
The other young GOP candidate challenging Banta who has run a limited campaign is also a strong supporter of Massie. Young, who says he is running to “restore the Covenant” of “the sacred bond between God, the family, the community and the nation,” calls Massie “the most conservative, the most principled and the most constitutionally sound representative we have in all of Congress.”
On the other hand, Berger rejected another notion that his race was a proxy for any other political battles.
“I think this is a unique race,” Berger said. “I don't think this is a liberty (versus) conservative establishment race… I don't believe this is a Thomas Massie race whatsoever.”
Moser also rejected that characterization of the race, saying she gets along with fellow lawmakers in the liberty caucus — who have not endorsed her opponent. However, Moser adds that her experience and ability to work with leadership does matter for her district, noting she was able to bring $220 million in projects back to Kenton County this past session and “there is not a chance that my opponent is going to be able to do that.”
“It takes years to build relationships,” Moser said. “It takes years to really understand and work within the process and make steps in the right direction, as far as bringing business-friendly policies to our state.”
Primary races also focus on tax cuts, healthcare
While the incumbents’ votes on transgender legislation have been at the forefront of their opponents’ attacks, they have also taken on Moser and Banta on other issues.
Cuzick said that Republican leadership has been “slow walking” the elimination of the individual income tax, as Kentucky has failed to hit the budget triggers necessary to lower the rate in recent years. He said he is not for eliminating the tax in one fell swoop, but wants to cut state spending even faster in order to ensure budget triggers are met.
“I'm going to be more willing to stand up to very clear pork that is in our budget and that consistently makes it in there, to fight for that elimination,” Cuzick said.
Both Banta and Moser have highlighted their votes for the tax cut trigger mechanism, crediting it for lowering the rate from 6% to 3.5% in recent years.
“We're doing it in a responsible way,” Banta said. “We're trying to cut the fat in the budget. You can't just wave a wand and make it all magically disappear. You have to be a little bit more deliberate.”
Berger has criticized Moser for allegedly being a major roadblock to legislation loosening certificate of need laws for new healthcare facilities — a major priority for northern Kentucky lawmakers in the liberty caucus. He said her opposition has increased healthcare costs in the region and is due to being “backed by Big Pharma and hospital committees.”
Moser, the chair of the House committee that deals with healthcare issues, did not allow the certificate of need bill to receive a hearing and vote in past sessions, but noted that it did clear her committee this past session, along with receiving her vote.
The candidates are very similar on abortion policy, though two different anti-abortion groups have split their endorsements.
Kentucky Right to Life endorsed both Banta and Moser, touting their “100% pro-life voting record.” However, Northern Kentucky Right to Life endorsed Cuzick and Berger.
Cuzick said that the northern Kentucky group likely endorsed him because they “were willing to bring in the issues surrounding gender identity and transgender surgeries for minors they view (are) made in God's image and the sanctity of human life, even outside of the womb.”
Moser said the regional group likely split from the statewide group and endorsed their primary challengers because it “wants to ban or abolish contraception, and that's where I draw the line.” She added that she thinks Northern Kentucky Right to Life supports charging women who have an abortion with criminal penalties.
“Kentucky Right to Life wants to treat women with compassion and support and make sure that we're reducing abortions in that way, not by being punitive,” Moser said.
Berger said he has no policy differences with Moser on abortion, and Cuzick said he is not in favor of criminalizing a woman who seeks an abortion or banning access to contraception.
