How to use this guide
Enter your address above for a personalized voter guide with information on the state and federal candidates that will appear on your ballot. (Find sample ballots here)
You’ll find biographical details and candidates’ priorities collected and written by journalist Sarah Kelley, Marcus Green and Jason Riley fact-checked and edited by Louisville Public Media and Kentucky Public Radio. We’re only writing about contested candidates, meaning those who are facing an opponent that voters can choose from.
We asked candidates to participate in a questionnaire, reviewed their entries, researched and backgrounded candidates for what they have said publicly about their priorities in office, including on their campaign websites, social media and taped interviews. In some cases, we couldn’t find verifiable information on the candidate, and that’s noted in the voter guide.
We don’t store address information. We do this because we believe it’s our responsibility as local journalists to share information that will help you make decisions about your life, your family and your communities.
Below you’ll find information about voting, state and federal offices up for election, and stories about races of interest.
Kentucky Public Radio comprises four NPR member stations that together broadcast across the entire state: WKMS in Murray, WKU Public Media in Bowling Green, WEKU in Richmond and LPM in Louisville. Like all our work, it’s free for those who need it, but that doesn’t make it free. Local news relies on you to keep it funded.
Key dates for Kentucky’s general election
Mail-in absentee ballots
October 20 - The last day to request a mail-in absentee ballot. All mail-in absentee ballots must be received by 6 p.m. local time on election day to be counted. To find a dropbox near you visit elect.ky.gov.
In-person excused absentee voting
October 21, 22, 23, and October 26, 27, 28 - To find voting locations near you, visit govote.ky.gov.
Early in-person, no excuse voting
October 29, 30 and 31. To find voting locations near you, visit govote.ky.gov.
In-person voting on Election Day
Tuesday Nov. 3, 2026 - voters can cast their ballots in-person on Election Day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time. To find voting locations near you, visit govote.ky.gov.
U.S. Representative
Voters in Kentucky will elect six candidates to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives this year. Kentucky has six U.S. House districts and all House Representatives serve two-year terms.
The highest profile race this election is in the 6th Congressional District as current GOP Rep. Andy Barr runs for Mitch McConnell’s seat in the U.S. Senate. That leaves the seat open for a race pitting Republican physician and former state senator Ralph Alvarado against Democrat Zach Dembo, an attorney and Navy veteran who previously served in the administration of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
Political analysts view Alvarado as the favorite in the district, though some think it’s becoming more competitive, citing countrywide trends favoring Democrats.
After the Trump-backed Ed Gallrein won his primary against outgoing GOP Rep. Thomas Massie, the veteran and farmer will face Democrat Melissa Strange for the Northern Kentucky district.
U.S. Senate
With Sen. McConnell retiring at the end of his term, one of Kentucky’s two senate seats is up for grabs.
Current Republican U.S. House Rep. Andy Barr is facing off against former state Rep. and Democrat Charles Booker. Barr spent much of the primary leaning on his endorsement from President Trump, but has stripped references to the president from his website as Trump’s approval ratings slipped.
State House of Representatives
Kentucky’s House of Representatives seats 100 lawmakers, each serving two-year terms. Perhaps due to its size, the House tends to be a more raucous chamber marked by lengthier floor debates and greater intraparty divisions.
House Republicans have an 80-20 supermajority and have held control since 2016. For the second consecutive election cycle, Democrats did not field a candidate in the many districts that are currently held by Republicans.
Much of the Democrats’ membership comes from Louisville and Lexington, the remaining Democratic strongholds in Kentucky following a decade of heavy losses. Democrats will try to hold onto some of their remaining seats outside blue urban centers, including their last seats in eastern Kentucky and northern Kentucky. They also hope to pick up a few in a year where Democrats are expected to outperform — especially some in suburban Louisville where Democrats have recently lost ground.
Republicans will almost certainly hold onto their veto-proof majority in the House, as Republicans are running unchallenged in 42 out of 100 seats.
State Senate
Kentucky’s Senate seats 38 members who serve four year terms with half the Senate up for reelection every two years. There are currently 32 Republicans and six Democrats.
Republicans have held control of the state Senate for far longer than the House, flipping it in 2000. Nearly all Senate seats are relatively safe for the incumbents running, although the races for two Louisville-area GOP seats have seen large upticks in spending this year.
Republican Sen. Julie Raque Adams faces off against former Jefferson County Board of Education member Sarah McIntosh. In Jefferson and Oldman Counties, Republican Sen. Lindsey Tichenor faces Dr. Christian Furman. Both of the races have seen high spending levels, particularly marked by significant PAC expenditures in Adams’ race.
A Democratic candidate filed to run in half of the 18 GOP-held seats up for election this year. Republicans are also sure to maintain their majority on election day.
Proposed constitutional amendment
Republican Sen. Chris McDaniel from Ryland Heights has for years pushed legislation to limit the pardons that governors can make before elections and inaugurations. McDaniel says the proposed amendment is necessary to ensure that outgoing governors don’t abuse their power.
As an example, McDaniel has cited the actions of former Republican Gov. Matt Bevin who issued hundreds of pardons. Many of them were issued as Bevin was leaving office in a process the Pulitzer Prize Board described as “marked by opacity, racial disparities and violations of legal norms,” when it awarded the staff of the Courier Journal the 2020 prize for Breaking News Reporting.
The amendment would cut off the pardon power of a governor 60 days before a gubernatorial general election, and only reinstate that power a month after the election when the victorious candidate is inaugurated. McDaniel says this would ensure governors make wise decisions on pardons, as voters would have the ability to judge their prudence of the clemency actions before they run for reelection.
Here’s the full language of the proposal:
Are you in favor of limiting a Governor's ability to grant pardons or commute sentences by prohibiting him or her from granting pardons or commuting sentences during the time period beginning 60 days prior to the general election at which the Governor is elected, and ending when the Governor is sworn in for that term by amending the Constitution of Kentucky as stated below?
It is proposed that Section 77 of the Constitution of Kentucky be amended to read as follows:
(1) The Governor shall have power to:
(a) Remit fines and forfeitures; and
(b) Commute sentences and grant reprieves and pardons, except:
1. In case of impeachment; or
2. For the period beginning sixty days prior to the date of the gubernatorial election and ending the fifth Tuesday succeeding the election.
(2) The Governor shall file with each application therefor a statement of the reasons for his or her decision thereon, which application and statement shall always be open to public inspection.
(3) In cases of treason, the Governor shall have power to grant reprieves until the end of the next session of the General Assembly, in which the power of pardoning shall be vested; but he or she shall have no power to remit the fees of the Clerk, Sheriff or Commonwealth's Attorney in penal or criminal cases.
Reporters and editors Joe Sonka, Sylvia Goodman, Justin Hicks, Ryan Van Velzer and Rebecca Feldhaus Adams contributed to this guide.