This year’s General Election is quickly approaching. While television and streaming ads seem to be dominated by candidates running in big-name elections across the country, WKMS reporters have worked to help western Kentucky voters decide on who they want to choose to help shape their community’s future over the next few years.
To find out what races you’ll be asked to weigh in on this Election Day, WKMS has created a tool to help voters in the Purchase and Pennyrile areas find out who will be on their ballots from top to bottom by searching their address below:
WKMS invited Kentucky candidates running in 11 contested races – including ones for a congressional seat, a state legislative office and nine local leadership roles, across the coverage region to answer questions about their platform and why they think voters should elect them into offices. Of that, candidates in five judge-executive races and two mayoral races – along with the First Congressional District and Third State House District – agreed to submit written answers, have a WKMS reporter interview them or both.
Local leadership offices up for grabs across western Kentucky
Many local offices are up for grabs this year, including all of the county-level offices across Kentucky like judge-executive seats. Similar to city mayors, judge-executives serve as the head of their local government. They preside over the county’s fiscal court and are responsible for submitting an annual budget to this body for approval. Judge-executives can also appoint people to serve on county boards and commissions.
For the WKMS 2026 General Election Voter Guide, our reporters reached out to candidates in contested judge-executive races across our coverage area. Candidates were each sent the same sets of questions and offered the chance to either answer them in an interview or by email. Candidates’ responses were then edited for length and clarity, when necessary.
Though WKMS invited candidates from across the Purchase Area to participate in this Voter Guide, we only received responses from judge-executive candidates in the following counties:
| Calloway | Livingston | Lyon | Marshall | McCracken |
As for regional mayoral races, WKMS profiled candidates in:
| Hopkinsville | Mayfield |
State legislature
All of Kentucky’s state House seats are up for election this year. State representatives are elected in even-numbered years and serve two-year terms.
Nineteen of Kentucky’s 38 state Senate offices are up for election in 2026. This year, candidates in even-numbered districts are running to serve four-year terms in the state chamber.
In the WKMS region, there is one contested legislative race for the general election. In District 3, which includes Livingston County and part of McCracken, incumbent Republican Rep. Randy Bridges is facing political newcomer Democrat Michael McVicker.
McVicker gave an interview to WKMS discussing why he is running for office and why he thinks voters should elect them to office. Bridges submitted written responses to the same questions.
More information on the race for Kentucky's state House District 3 seat is available here.
The race to replace U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell
This year, Kentuckians will elect – for the first time since Rand Paul took office in 2011 – a new U.S. Senator, with Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell retiring after holding the seat for more than four decades.
This spring, Kentucky voters decided the slate for November’s election. Bluegrass State Republicans rallied behind sitting U.S. Rep. Andy Barr and Democrats backed former state Rep. Charles Booker. Christopher Campbell, a member of the Kentucky Party, is also running for the federal office and will appear on ballots statewide.
Every seat in the U.S. House is also up for election this year. In the western Kentucky area, Republican James Comer – whose district includes all of the Purchase Area and much of the Pennyrile Area – is making his bid for reelection against John “Drew” Williams, the only Democrat who filed to run for Kentucky’s First Congressional District seat.
Williams gave an interview to WKMS. Comer did not answer the station’s invitation to participate in the Voter Guide. Williams’ interview and responses are available here.
Voter information
Kentuckians can check their voter registration status – including their political affiliation – on the Secretary of State’s website by entering their legal first and last names and date of birth. On this page, voters can also find which state House, state Senate and congressional districts they live in. You can also find a list of locations in your county where you can vote on Election Day, as well as information on how to find early in-person absentee polling locations. Kentucky’s Secretary of State website also has a list of polling locations by county.
The voter registration deadline for the 2026 general has already passed, but voters can still request mail-in absentee ballots on the Secretary of State’s website through Oct. 20. County clerks must have your mail-in ballot by 6 p.m. local time on Election Day in order for your vote to be counted. All 120 counties have a drop box where voters can return these mail-in ballots.
Kentucky also has times before Election Day where voters in every county can cast ballots early in-person. In-person excused absentee voting – where voters must meet certain eligibility requirements to cast ballots during this time – will be available statewide on Oct. 21, 22, 23, 26, 27 and 28. All voters are allowed to cast ballots ahead of Election Day during the no-excuse in-person absentee voting days on Oct. 29, 30 and 31. Times and locations on these early voting days vary by county.
Election Day in Kentucky is Nov. 3. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time. If you are in line at 6 p.m. that day, you will be allowed to vote.
