Republican state Rep. Kim Holloway of Mayfield headed off challenges from former state Rep. Richard Heath and Mayfield City Council member Nate Cox Tuesday as she made her reelection bid in Kentucky’s state House District 2 race.
This year’s race featured a rematch between Holloway and Heath, who’ve battled over the district for the past few election cycles. In 2022, Heath defeated Holloway in the general election when she ran a write-in campaign – after being disqualified from that year’s primary. Two years later, Holloway defeated Heath in the 2024 Republican primary, ending the Graves County lawmaker’s 12-year stint in the state House.
In 2024, Holloway beat out Heath by less than 200 votes. By contrast on Tuesday evening, Holloway held a more than 1,200-vote advantage on Heath – and more than 2,300 votes over Cox – as of 8:15 p.m. with over 96% of the ballots counted, according to the Associated Press.
Holloway had the endorsement of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Kentucky, a sect of the GOP that advocates for limited government, free enterprise, and personal liberty and responsibility.
In a statement to WKMS, Holloway said she was “thankful and grateful” for voters’ support, and said she doesn’t take for granted “the trust that comes with asking a community to continue allowing you to serve.”
“Tomorrow, the campaign signs and advertisements matter a lot less than the responsibility ahead. There is still important work to do for our region, and I remain committed to approaching that work with humility, accessibility, and common sense,” Holloway said. “I love this community deeply, and I look forward to continuing to serve the people of District 2 with gratitude and determination.”
The candidates – and their supporters – spent thousands of dollars campaigning for the seat representing Graves County and part of McCracken County in the state legislature. According to data from the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, Heath spent nearly $45,000 on advertisements, social media marketing, campaign events, political signs, merchandise and hiring a canvassing field director. That figure was well above the spending from individual campaigns reported by Holloway and Cox, who spent around $12,000 and $10,000 respectively. However, Kentucky Conservative Fund – funded entirely by sports betting companies – has spent over $300,000 on ads supporting Holloway.
In an interview with WKMS for the station’s voter guide, Holloway said her priorities for her next term would be to reduce Kentucky’s income tax, continue efforts to bring transparency to the state’s highway contracts and create a state domestic violence offender registry – an effort inspired by the shooting death of Stephanie Stacey in Paducah late last year.
There is no Democrat running for this House seat. That means Holloway will be the only name on the general election ballot in November and is poised to represent the district in Frankfort when the next regular legislative session convenes in 2027.
