The headline contest of the 2026 cycle is the open U.S. Senate race created by the retirement of Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who is not seeking re-election after more than 40 years in office. Kentucky’s Senate primary winners will advance to the November contest for a seat Republicans have held for decades.

GOP Rep. James Comer and Democrats Rocky Adkins and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman aren’t the only ones thinking about 2027.

There are two divisions of Floyd District Court. Incumbent judges Jimmy “Blue” Marcum and Tyler Green are running for re-election in both divisions, according to the Secretary of State’s website. As of January 1, Laferty had not officially filed.

President Donald Trump’s military intervention in Venezuela has emerged as a flash point in the closely watched Republican primary campaign between Kentucky U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a long-running Trump antagonist, and retired Navy SEAL officer Ed Gallrein, who has the president’s backing.

Countless seats will be up for election this season. All across south-central Kentucky in 2025, we saw a break from the hectic election cycle that 2024 brought us. But 2026 is due for much of the same that we saw in ’24.

In Kentucky news, Wednesday is the last day for Kentucky voters to change their political party for the next primary elections. Party leaders say there could be some office hours offering voters a chance to do so at their local elections office.

If you're hoping to cast your ballot in next spring's Kentucky primary election, you have one more thing to do before 2025 comes to an end.

Kentucky election officials have yet to comply with a Trump DOJ request for the last four digits of voters’ Social Security numbers, more.