Hot girls love rumor mills
literally every name i've heard as a maybe for 2026 in ky.
I did not dedicate my life and career to Kentucky politics just to be bored, y’all!
And yet, here we are.
Obvs, Kentucky’s legislative session ended about a month ago, and I think we’re all trying to move past that. And this is an off year for elections in the commonwealth, so that means no May primaries or even November action for us to chat about, either.
I literally found myself reminiscing about the lowkey wackadoodle 2023 Ky. GOP gubernatorial primary earlier this week; that’s how bored I’ve been. If a candidate or lawmaker could, idk, post on social media about how they just changed their own flat tire and/or maybe corner Jack Harlow backstage somewhere, that would be fantastic.
So, I guess that means we get to do something I try not to do as a politics reporter: A Way, Way, Way Too Early Look At Races That Don’t Even Happen This Year.
I’ve had many a conversation with many a people, as well as read many an article regarding Kentucky’s 2026 midterm elections, and I’m in a pretty unique spot where I can share that information in a not-super-serious, conversational way that is based on rumblings and hot takes.
Because let’s be so forreal rn: The filing deadline is more than six months away. Outside of a handful of official candidates, rumblings and hot takes are all we have.
So, if someone is mentioned in this newsletter, it does not mean they’re officially running. But it is a fact that the Frankfort Party People — at least some of them — are discussing these folks as possible contenders.
And that insider, behind-the-scenes energy is the backbone of The Gallery Pass. So here we go.
What races are we looking at?
For this newsletter, we’re gonna be focused on the US Senate race to replace Mitch McConnell and the KY-06 Congressional race to replace Congressman Andy Barr, who is already officially running for McConnell’s seat.
Senate races are statewide, while KY-06 focuses on central Kentucky. Senate candidates need to be at least 30 years old, but House candidates only need to be 25.
(FYI: All of Kentucky’s other US House seats will be up for election next year, as well as half of the state Senate seats and all of the state House seats.)
Who is already running?
OK, let’s start with the Senate. FEC filings show eight folks saying they are at least interested in running for McConnell’s seat: Two Dems, five Rs and one Independent.
The Dems are House Minority Leader Pam Stevenson, who hasn’t been in the state House for all that long but quickly rose through the ranks (it helps when there are only 19 people in your caucus) and Jared Randall, who identifies as a socialist democrat.
The Republicans are:
Former AG and GOP gubernatorial candidate Daniel Cameron, who jumped in the race basically the second McConnell said he was retiring. Which wasn’t surprising given how much Cameron has been considered as McConnell’s protege, but was surprising when much of Cameron’s early campaign strategy was to distance himself from the suddenly unpopular McConnell as much as possible in hopes of gaining favor with Trump.
Current Congressman Andy Barr, who only just recently officially decided to run. With him going for Senate, his seat in Congress representing central Ky. is now up for grabs.
And the others: Jacob Trimble, Wende Kennedy, Michael Faris.
And the lone Independent is Scott Duncan, who signed up for this in 2021, so … not sure what the latest is on that front.
Mmk, and for the House?
Right now, there are 14 people technically filed as interested in running for one of Kentucky’s six seats in Congress. But that includes Barr, who is obvs not running for his House seat again.
We can talk more about the other five districts in a future newsletter, but as promised, we’re focusing on the race to replace Barr in KY-06. Currently, state Rep. Ryan Dotson, a Republican out of Winchester, is the only person on file with the FEC as a candidate.
(Which, yes, that means Dotson’s state House seat will likely be free during the 2026 elections because you can’t be on the ballot twice. His district covers Clark County and part of Fayette, so it might be a bit easier for Dems to recruit someone to run in the still pretty red but bordering purple areas district, but we can talk about that later.)
OK, no, but the tea — who *could* be running?
Mmm, yes, the tea, right.
Mind you, some of these folks could run for either/or of these offices, but I tried to categorize them as I saw best fit.
Let the games begin.
KY-06 Congressional seat
Reminder: These folks have to be based in central Ky.
State GOP Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe: A name I’ve heard a lot. And it makes sense: She’s only been in Frankfort for a few years, but has quickly gained power and trust in the GOP caucus.
Former state Dem Rep. Cherlynn Stevenson: Also gets a lot of mentions. She narrowly lost her seat last fall, so this could be a redemption arc.
Current state GOP Rep. Vanessa Grossl: She beat Stevenson last fall, and because of that, she got mentioned to me. I think the person who suggested her as a possible candidate to me may have been joking, but I said this newsletter was going to be literally everyone I’ve heard of as a potential candidate, so here we are.
Zach Dembo: I’ll be so honest, I have no clue who this guy is. He could be walking past me in the street, I wouldn’t know a thing. Sorry to this man. (S/O to Austin Horn at the Herald Leader for mentioning him as a person to monitor.)
David Kloiber: All I know is that this one told Horn he is “seriously considering and looking into” running.
State GOP Rep. Deanna Frazier Gordon: I keep hearing her name, yet I’m not totally sure why. (Respectfully.)
Former Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes: …respectfully, I’m putting this one somewhere behind Grossl in the likelihood of running list.
State GOP Sen. Donald Douglas: This has been a name floated in my presence, and that is all I can say on the matter.
State Dem Rep. Adam Moore: Look, this guy literally just got to Frankfort. But he’s organized — and has been organized — in a way that suggestions that he could be aiming for higher office don’t surprise me. Plus he flipped a red seat to blue in the face of a pretty far-right candidate with incredible name recognition: Thomas Jefferson. When the national Dems eye this race, I’d be surprised if his name doesn’t come up at least twice.
The switch-hitters: Could go House or Senate
Damon Thayer??! IDK, could be fun.
Rocky Adkins: Not sure exactly what he does outside of being some sort of seemingly powerless advisor to Beshear and casually lurking around the Capitol and press events. But he seems to be popular and I mean, he’s run and won plenty of races before.
Senate-focused folks
Nate Morris: I mentioned Morris several newsletters ago and described him basically as “no clue who this guy is.” He is a businessman and I’ve followed his tweets since that initial newsletter, and all I’ve really learned is that he’s aiming to be the most pro-Trump candidate in this Senate race — if he runs at all. But one of the clear defining factors of the race to replace McConnell thus far is who can be the Trumpiest, so trying to be the most pro-Trump isn’t really original.
Scott Jennings: Has experience in DC and runs a PR company in Ky., but is perhaps best known for getting sassy and yelling at people on live TV in the defense of Trump and/or GOP talking points.
Andy Beshear: Beshear’s shut this down so many times I’m tired of thinking about it. But I — every name I heard makes the list, those are the rules.
Who isn’t running
Y’all, I’ll be so honest: I was going to have a brief section joking about how Marty Pollio (outgoing JCPS superintendent, not the comedian) could maybe now run for office.
But no, apparently he’s going to pivot from K-12 education to higher ed to run Ivy Tech in Indiana literally the day after he officially leaves JCPS in June.
…also, does anyone have eyes on Kelly Craft?
If you or a loved one (or a loathed one) are even remotely considering running for office, please email me at olivia.krauth@gmail.com.