With many county level offices up for grabs in this year’s elections, it’s not likely that voters in western Kentucky will have a lot of contested races to weigh in on in November.
Around 85% of county races in WKMS’ coverage area will likely be decided before the general election this fall – either because few or no people are running for these seats, or because the field will be narrowed down to one candidate in the May’s primary elections.
The deadline for Democrat and Republican candidates to file to run for county offices in Kentucky was Jan. 9. According to candidate registration data from the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office, more than half of the county-level races in every Purchase Area county – as well as several in the Pennyrile region – will likely be decided before November.
Independent candidates – as well as those nominated by local third parties – have until April 1 to sign up to run in the general election. However, few independents currently hold partisan offices in western Kentucky. The deadline to signal intent to run a write-in campaign for office is in August – but write-in candidates are not often successful.
County offices up for election in 2026
Under the state constitution, several county offices come up for election every four years. Those elections are held alongside midterm races.
Elected offices in each county include:
- Judge-Executive
- County Clerk
- County Attorney
- Sheriff
- Jailer
- Coroner
- Property Valuation Administrator
- Surveyor
- One magistrate (also known as a Justice of the Peace) per county district
- One constable per county district
In addition to these offices, some counties elect three county commissioners.
Majority of western Ky. county races have one – or zero – candidates
WKMS analyzed candidate registrations for people running for any of the county-level offices up for election in 19 western Kentucky counties. Altogether in these areas, over 300 county offices will appear on ballots in the general election – even if no one is running for the listed offices.
In nearly half of those races – around 47% – just a single candidate is currently registered to run for the office. And just under a fifth – 17% – don’t have any candidates at all vying for the position. These literally uncontested races largely consist of open constable offices, as well as several areas where no one is running to be the county surveyor.
In some counties, this lack of competitive races will leave voters with fewer options to choose between on the local level. For example, only one of Lyon County’s 14 offices up for election in November has multiple people vying for the spot: the race for Lyon County Judge-Executive. Another nine Lyon County elected offices have only one person campaigning for the seat, and four positions don’t have anyone in the running.
Uncontested county races in western Kentucky are part of a nationwide trend. According to BallotReady, a group that aims to educate voters about down-ballot races, 82% of county races across the country were uncontested. That’s up slightly from 2022 – the last time Kentucky held county elections – where 76% of county offices nationwide were uncontested, per BallotReady.
State legislative races for offices representing western Kentucky are also largely going uncontested. Of the 13 state Senate and House offices in the region up for election, only three have more than one candidate competing for the office.
Republican primaries influential for many local offices
Around one-fifth of the county office elections in western Kentucky will have a competitive Republican primary that, at the moment, will lead to an uncontested general election. In other words, the winner of the Republican primary in these races will most likely win the office they’re running for because no one else will likely be on the general election ballot.
Of the more than 300 county offices up for election this year in western Kentucky, 117 have multiple people running for them. Sixty-seven of those races – or around 57% – are only contested in the Republican primary, compared to just two Democratic primaries that will most likely lead to uncontested general elections.
For races narrowing down a field of Republican candidates, that puts a lot of power solely in the hands of registered Republican voters when it comes to local government representation . Kentucky has closed primaries – meaning only voters registered with a certain party can vote in that party’s election.
Primaries traditionally draw out fewer voters compared to general elections. In 2022 – the last time county offices were up for election – roughly 20.4% of Kentucky voters cast ballots in the primary. In comparison, 41.9% of Kentucky voters participated in the general election held later that same year.
County races won’t be the only item on this year’s primary ballots. The hot-button race at the top of the ballot is the U.S. Senate election, where Kentucky Democrat and Republican voters will select nominees to compete to replace Sen. Mitch McConnell – who is retiring after spending four decades in Congress.
Incumbent U.S. Reps. James Comer and Brett Guthrie, who both represent parts of western Kentucky, each have opponents in their respective Republican primaries. Multiple Democrats are also running in the Second Congressional District, the office Guthrie currently holds, for the chance to move onto the general election in November.
Several cities in the region are also holding elections this year for mayor and city council. Whether those races will appear on primary ballots depends on the rules of the local municipality holding the city election – such as whether the race is partisan or nonpartisan and whether the candidate pool for each office will need to be narrowed down before the general election.
Kentucky’s primaries will be held on May 19. The general election will be held on Nov. 3.
