2018 Kentucky Senate election

The 2018 Kentucky Senate election was held on November 6, 2018. The Republican and Democratic primary elections were held on May 22. Half of the senate (all even-numbered seats) were up for election. Republicans increased their majority in the chamber, gaining one seat.

2018 Kentucky Senate election

← 2016 November 6, 2018 2020 →
19 out of 38 seats in the Kentucky Senate 20 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Robert Stivers Ray Jones Party Republican Democratic Leader since January 8, 2013 January 6, 2015 Leader's seat 25th – Manchester 31st – Pikeville Last election 27 11 Seats won 28 10 Seat change 1 1 Seats up 16 3 Races won 17 2
Results Popular vote Results:      Republican hold      Republican gain      Democratic hold      No election Popular vote:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      >90%      50–60%      >90%
Senate President before election Robert Stivers Republican Elected Senate President Robert Stivers Republican

A numbered map of the senate districts at the time can be viewed here.

Overview

Party		Candidates		Votes	%	Seats
		Opposed	Unopposed			Before	Won	After	+/−
	Republican	18	0	468,530	57.93	27	17	28	+1
	Democratic	16	1	325,800	40.29	11	2	10	-1
	Independent	2	0	10,946	1.35	0	0	0	-
	Write-in	2	0	3,454	0.43	0	0	0	-
Total		38	1	808,730	100.00	38	19	38	±0
Source: Kentucky Secretary of State

Retiring incumbents

One senator retired, who did not run for another office.

1. 8th: Joe Bowen (Owensboro) retired.^[1]

Incumbents defeated

One incumbent lost reelection in the general election.

1. 4th: J. Dorsey Ridley (first elected in 2004) lost to Robert M. "Robby" Mills.

Summary by district

Certified results by the Kentucky Secretary of State are available online for the primary election and general election.

† – Incumbent not seeking re-election

District	Incumbent	Party		Elected	Party
2	Danny Carroll		Rep	Danny Carroll		Rep
4	J. Dorsey Ridley		Dem	Robert M. "Robby" Mills		Rep
6	C. B. Embry Jr.		Rep	C. B. Embry Jr.		Rep
8	Joe Bowen†		Rep	Matt Castlen		Rep
10	Dennis L. Parrett		Dem	Dennis L. Parrett		Dem
12	Alice Forgy Kerr		Rep	Alice Forgy Kerr		Rep
14	Jimmy Higdon		Rep	Jimmy Higdon		Rep
16	George Maxwell "Max" Wise		Rep	George Maxwell "Max" Wise		Rep
18	Robin L. Webb		Dem	Robin L. Webb		Dem
20	Paul R. Hornback		Rep	Paul R. Hornback		Rep
22	Tom Buford		Rep	Tom Buford		Rep
24	Wil Schroder		Rep	Wil Schroder		Rep
26	Ernie Harris		Rep	Ernie Harris		Rep
28	Ralph Alvarado		Rep	Ralph Alvarado		Rep
30	Brandon Smith		Rep	Brandon Smith		Rep
32	Mike Wilson		Rep	Mike Wilson		Rep
34	Jared K. Carpenter		Rep	Jared K. Carpenter		Rep
36	Julie Raque Adams		Rep	Julie Raque Adams		Rep
38	Dan Malano Seum		Rep	Dan Malano Seum		Rep

Crossover seats

Democratic

Three districts voted for Donald Trump in 2016 but had Democratic incumbents:

District		Incumbent
#	Trump margin of victory in 2016	Member	Party	Incumbent margin of victory in 2014
4	R+44.38	J. Dorsey Ridley	Democratic	Unopposed
10	R+30.39	Dennis L. Parrett	Democratic	Unopposed
18	R+43.15	Robin L. Webb	Democratic	D+25.37

Republican

None.

Closest races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. District 4, 1.29% (gain)
2. District 12, 1.46%
3. District 32, 4.66%
4. District 26, 5.42%
5. District 28, 6.71%
6. District 36, 6.74%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Governing[2]	Safe R	October 8, 2018

District 2

Incumbent senator Danny Carroll won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Julie Tennyson.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Julie Tennyson

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Danny Carroll, incumbent senator

General election

Results

Results by county:

  Carroll

•   60–70%

2018 Kentucky Senate 2nd district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Danny Carroll (incumbent)	28,252	63.2
	Democratic	Julie Tennyson	16,428	36.8
Total votes			44,680	100.0
	Republican hold

District 4

Incumbent senator J. Dorsey Ridley was defeated for reelection by Republican Robert M. "Robby" Mills.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• J. Dorsey Ridley, incumbent senator

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Robert M. "Robby" Mills, representative from the 11th district (2017–2019)

General election

Results

Results by county:

  Mills

•   50–60%
•   60–70%

  Ridley

•   50–60%

2018 Kentucky Senate 4th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Robert M. "Robby" Mills	19,057	50.6
	Democratic	J. Dorsey Ridley (incumbent)	18,573	49.4
Total votes			37,630	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

Results by county

County	Robert M. "Robby" Mills		J. Dorsey Ridley		Margin		Total votes
	#	%	#	%	#	%
Caldwell	2,660	53.53	2,309	46.47	351	7.06	4,969
Crittenden	2,144	63.75	1,219	36.25	925	27.51	3,363
Henderson	6,586	43.03	8,718	56.97	-2,132	-13.93	15,304
Livingston	2,216	58.15	1,595	41.85	621	16.29	3,811
Union	3,028	53.23	2,661	46.77	367	6.45	5,689
Webster	2,423	53.92	2,071	46.08	352	7.83	4,494
Total	19,057	50.64	18,573	49.36	484	1.29	37,630

District 6

Incumbent senator C. B. Embry Jr. won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Crystal Chappell.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Crystal Chappell

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• C. B. Embry Jr., incumbent senator

General election

Results

Results by county:

  Embry

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%

2018 Kentucky Senate 6th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	C. B. Embry Jr. (incumbent)	27,139	67.2
	Democratic	Crystal Chappell	13,217	32.8
Total votes			40,356	100.0
	Republican hold

District 8

Incumbent senator Joe Bowen did not seek reelection.^[1] He was succeeded by Republican Matt Castlen.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Bob Glenn

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Matt Castlen, representative from the 14th district (2017–2019)

Eliminated in primary

• Dianne Burns Mackey

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Matt Castlen	4,530	65.0
	Republican	Dianne Burns Mackey	2,441	35.0
Total votes			6,971	100.0

General election

Results

Results by county:

  Castlen

•   50–60%
•   60–70%

2018 Kentucky Senate 8th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Matt Castlen	25,107	58.2
	Democratic	Bob Glenn	18,019	41.8
Total votes			43,126	100.0
	Republican hold

District 10

Incumbent senator Dennis L. Parrett won reelection unopposed.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Dennis L. Parrett, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2018 Kentucky Senate 10th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dennis L. Parrett (incumbent)	Unopposed
Total votes			24,224	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 12

Incumbent senator Alice Forgy Kerr won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Paula Setser-Kissick.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Paula Setser-Kissick

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Alice Forgy Kerr, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2018 Kentucky Senate 12th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Alice Forgy Kerr (incumbent)	26,874	50.7
	Democratic	Paula Setser-Kissick	26,102	49.3
Total votes			52,976	100.0
	Republican hold

District 14

Incumbent senator Jimmy Higdon won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Stephanie Compton.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Stephanie Compton

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Jimmy Higdon, incumbent senator

General election

Results

Results by county:

  Higdon

•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%

2018 Kentucky Senate 14th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jimmy Higdon (incumbent)	29,752	65.3
	Democratic	Stephanie Compton	15,842	34.7
Total votes			45,594	100.0
	Republican hold

District 16

Incumbent senator George Maxwell "Max" Wise won reelection, defeating write-in candidate Nicole Britton.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• George Maxwell "Max" Wise, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2018 Kentucky Senate 16th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George Maxwell "Max" Wise (incumbent)	33,447	96.7
	Write-in	Nicole Britton	1,125	3.3
Total votes			34,572	100.0
	Republican hold

District 18

Incumbent senator Robin L. Webb won reelection, defeating primary and general election challengers.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Robin L. Webb, incumbent senator

Eliminated in primary

• Chester Chuck Highley

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robin L. Webb (incumbent)	10,543	86.7
	Democratic	Chester Chuck Highley	1,623	13.3
Total votes			12,166	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Scott L. Sharp

General election

Results

Results by county:

  Webb

•   50–60%
•   60–70%

2018 Kentucky Senate 18th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robin L. Webb (incumbent)	21,644	57.8
	Republican	Scott L. Sharp	15,823	42.2
Total votes			37,467	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 20

Incumbent senator Paul R. Hornback won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Dave Suetholz.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Dave Suetholz

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Paul R. Hornback, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2018 Kentucky Senate 20th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Paul R. Hornback (incumbent)	25,775	56.5
	Democratic	Dave Suetholz	19,829	43.5
Total votes			45,604	100.0
	Republican hold

District 22

Incumbent senator Tom Buford won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Carolyn Dupont.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Carolyn Dupont

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Tom Buford, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2018 Kentucky Senate 22nd district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tom Buford (incumbent)	28,537	66.0
	Democratic	Carolyn Dupont	14,692	34.0
Total votes			43,229	100.0
	Republican hold

District 24

Incumbent senator Wil Schroder won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Rachel Roberts.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Rachel Roberts

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Wil Schroder, incumbent senator

General election

Results

Results by county:

  Schroder

•   50–60%
•   70–80%

2018 Kentucky Senate 24th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Wil Schroder (incumbent)	23,705	56.9
	Democratic	Rachel Roberts	17,958	43.1
Total votes			41,663	100.0
	Republican hold

District 26

Incumbent senator Ernie Harris won reelection, defeating primary and general election challengers.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Karen Berg

Eliminated in primary

• Matt Kaufmann

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Karen Berg	7,112	67.3
	Democratic	Matt Kaufmann	3,451	32.7
Total votes			10,563	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Ernie Harris, incumbent senator

Eliminated in primary

• Alex R. White

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ernie Harris (incumbent)	5,193	52.2
	Republican	Alex R. White	4,750	47.8
Total votes			9,943	100.0

General election

Results

2018 Kentucky Senate 26th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ernie Harris (incumbent)	29,625	51.8
	Democratic	Karen Berg	26,524	46.3
	Independent	Jody Hurt	1,078	1.9
Total votes			57,227	100.0
	Republican hold

District 28

Incumbent senator Ralph Alvarado won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Denise Gray.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Denise Gray

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Ralph Alvarado, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2018 Kentucky Senate 28th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ralph Alvarado (incumbent)	23,212	53.4
	Democratic	Denise Gray	20,291	46.6
Total votes			43,503	100.0
	Republican hold

District 30

Incumbent senator Brandon Smith won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Paula Clemons-Combs.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Paula Clemons-Combs

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Brandon Smith, incumbent senator

General election

Results

Results by county:

  Smith

•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%

  Clemons-Combs

•   50–60%

2018 Kentucky Senate 30th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Brandon Smith (incumbent)	27,747	73.2
	Democratic	Paula Clemons-Combs	10,151	26.8
Total votes			37,898	100.0
	Republican hold

District 32

Incumbent senator Mike Wilson won reelection, defeating primary and general election challengers.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Jeanie Smith

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Mike Wilson, incumbent senator

Eliminated in primary

• Darrell Traughber

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Wilson (incumbent)	4,877	60.8
	Republican	Darrell Traughber	3,150	39.2
Total votes			8,027	100.0

General election

Results

2018 Kentucky Senate 32nd district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Wilson (incumbent)	20,803	52.3
	Democratic	Jeanie Smith	18,952	47.7
Total votes			39,755	100.0
	Republican hold

District 34

Incumbent senator Jared K. Carpenter won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Susan Byrne Haddix.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Susan Byrne Haddix

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Jared K. Carpenter, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2018 Kentucky Senate 34th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jared K. Carpenter (incumbent)	28,145	61.8
	Democratic	Susan Byrne Haddix	17,377	38.2
Total votes			45,522	100.0
	Republican hold

District 36

Incumbent senator Julie Raque Adams won reelection, defeating primary and general election challengers.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Sheri A. Donahue

Eliminated in primary

• Gay Adelmann

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sheri A. Donahue	5,694	56.2
	Democratic	Gay Adelmann	4,442	43.8
Total votes			10,136	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Julie Raque Adams, incumbent senator

Eliminated in primary

• Sheeba Jolly

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Julie Raque Adams (incumbent)	5,800	90.3
	Republican	Sheeba Jolly	622	9.7
Total votes			6,422	100.0

General election

Results

2018 Kentucky Senate 36th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Julie Raque Adams (incumbent)	29,729	53.4
	Democratic	Sheri A. Donahue	25,977	46.6
Total votes			55,706	100.0
	Republican hold

District 38

Incumbent senator Dan Malano Seum won reelection, defeating primary and general election challengers.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Dan Malano Seum, incumbent senator

Eliminated in primary

• Paul Wesley Ham

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Malano Seum (incumbent)	3,712	57.1
	Republican	Paul Wesley Ham	2,787	42.9
Total votes			6,499	100.0

General election

Results

2018 Kentucky Senate 38th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Malano Seum (incumbent)	25,801	67.9
	Independent	Brenda Sue "Susie" Board	9,868	26.0
	Write-in	Andrew Bailey	2,329	6.1
Total votes			37,998	100.0
	Republican hold