Democratic Rep. Daniel Grossberg of Louisville is one of three state lawmakers who appear to have lost their primary race Tuesday in Kentucky, as he finished a distant third place amid sexual misconduct allegations.
Seeking a third term in Frankfort, Grossberg received just 23% of the vote, after Democratic officials like Gov. Andy Beshear called for him to resign from office. Mitra Subedi — a Bhutanese refugee and public school educator — won the Democratic nomination with nearly double the vote of Grossberg, with fellow JCPS teacher Cassie Lyles finishing second.
Though too close to be official yet, it appears that one incumbent of the Republican supermajority in the House has also lost her primary.
GOP Rep. Kim Banta of Fort Mitchell fell 13 votes short of challenger Cole Cuzick in the northern Kentucky district. Republican leadership and business-funded political action committees put great effort into protecting Banta, who was attacked by Cuzick for her vote against a GOP-priority bill in 2023 to ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
Rep. Kim Moser, another GOP incumbent from a neighboring district in northern Kentucky was also targeted by her primary challenger, Scott Berger, for voting against the anti-transgender bill, but held on for victory with 53%.
In addition to Grossberg, another Democratic incumbent in Louisville plagued by scandal appears to have lost her primary by an even smaller margin than Banta.
Rep. Beverly Chester-Burton of Louisville lost her primary by just five votes to Kenya Wade. Wade is a former social worker who founded a nonprofit to prevent gun violence.
Chester-Burton received her second conviction for driving under the influence last year. The 2024 citation stated that she refused to perform sobriety tests and told officers “she would beat it like she did the last one” and that “these guys act like they haven’t ever been to a birthday party.”
The Courier-Journal reported that Wade also had a criminal record, as she was found guilty of official misconduct in the first degree in 2022. She was working as a social worker at an Oldham County prison when she was accused of having explicit sexual phone conversations with a convicted serial rapist.
While Banta and Chester-Burton received fewer votes, the margin of their losses was so small a recanvass or recount of the vote is likely required before the winner is made official.
Every other incumbent running for reelection won their primary race, including GOP Sen. Brandon Smith of Hazard, who defeated House Rep. Bill Wesley of Ravena.
Rep. Kim Holloway of Mayfield also easily won her GOP primary rematch against Richard Heath, the longtime incumbent she knocked out of office in 2024.
Republicans are assured to maintain their dominant supermajority in Frankfort next year, where they hold at least 80% of the seats in each chamber. Democrats left many races unchallenged this year and are largely relegated to urban districts in Louisville and Lexington.
