Kentucky’s statewide filing deadline passed on January 29, 2019. Seven state executive offices are up for general election on November 5: governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, agriculture commissioner, auditor, and treasurer. Primary elections are scheduled for May 21.

 

Ballotpedia will also cover special judicial elections for a seat on the State Court of Appeals and a seat on the 22nd Circuit Court. Both were called after the previous officeholders were elected to higher judicial offices.

 

Gov. Matt Bevin (R), Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles (R), Auditor of Public Accounts Mike Harmon (R), and State Treasurer Allison Ball (R) all filed for re-election. Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) was not able to file for re-election due to term limits, and Attorney General Andy Beshear (D) filed to run for governor. Incumbents Harmon and Ball will not face challengers in the Republican primary, and candidate Gregory Stumbo is unopposed in the Democratic primary for attorney general. All other primaries have at least two candidates.

 

A total of 40 candidates filed for the seven state executive seats up for election, including 21 Democrats and 19 Republicans. The offices of governor and secretary of state are tied for the most candidates, with each seeing four Democratic and four Republican candidates running in the primary. The two special judicial elections drew eight total candidates—two for the Court of Appeals and six for the Circuit Court.

 

Kentucky’s statewide filing deadline was the second to take place in the 2019 election cycle. The next statewide filing deadline is on March 1 in Mississippi. Kentucky has a Republican trifecta. A state government trifecta exists when one political party simultaneously holds the governor’s office and both state legislative chambers.