| Election Name: | 2020 Kentucky Senate election |
| Country: | Kentucky |
| Type: | legislative |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2018 Kentucky Senate election |
| Previous Year: | 2018 |
| Next Election: | 2022 Kentucky Senate election |
| Next Year: | 2022 |
| Seats For Election: | 19 out of 38 seats in the Kentucky Senate |
| Majority Seats: | 20 |
| Election Date: | November 3, 2020 |
| 1Blank: | Seats up |
| 2Blank: | Races won |
| Leader1: | Robert Stivers |
| Party1: | Republican Party of Kentucky |
| Leaders Seat1: | 25th – Manchester |
| Leader Since1: | January 8, 2013 |
| Last Election1: | 28 |
| Seats1: | 30 |
| Seat Change1: | 2 |
| 1Data1: | 12 |
| 2Data1: | 14 |
| Leader2: | Morgan McGarvey |
| Party2: | Kentucky Democratic Party |
| Leaders Seat2: | 19th – Louisville |
| Leader Since2: | January 8, 2019 |
| Last Election2: | 10 |
| Seats2: | 8 |
| Seat Change2: | 2 |
| 1Data2: | 7 |
| 2Data2: | 5 |
| Senate President | |
| Before Election: | Robert Stivers |
| Before Party: | Republican Party of Kentucky |
| After Election: | Robert Stivers |
| After Party: | Republican Party of Kentucky |
The 2020 Kentucky Senate election was held on November 3, 2020. The Republican and Democratic primary elections were held on June 23. Half of the senate seats (all odd-numbered seats) were up for election. Republicans increased their majority in the chamber, gaining two seats.
A numbered map of the senate districts at the time can be viewed here.
| Party | Candidates | Votes | % | Seats | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposed | Unopposed | Before | Won | After | +/− | ||||||
| Republican | 11 | 3 | 532,205 | 59.01 | 28 | 14 | 30 | +2 | |||
| Democratic | 9 | 4 | 340,042 | 37.70 | 10 | 5 | 8 | style="text-align:right;" | -2 | ||
| Libertarian | 3 | 0 | 20,927 | 2.32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | style="text-align:center;" | - | ||
| Independent | 2 | 0 | 8,423 | 0.93 | 0 | 0 | 0 | style="text-align:center;" | - | ||
| Write-in | 3 | 0 | 268 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 | 0 | style="text-align:center;" | - | ||
| Total | 28 | 7 | 901,865 | 100.00 | 38 | 19 | 38 | ±0 | |||
| Source: Kentucky Secretary of State | |||||||||||
A total of three senators (two Democrats and one Republican) retired, none of whom ran for other offices.
One incumbent lost renomination in the primary election, and one incumbent lost reelection in the general election.
One Republican lost renomination.
One Democrat lost reelection to a Republican.
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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stan Humphries† | Rep | Jason G. Howell | Rep | ||
| 3 | Whitney H. Westerfield | Rep | Whitney H. Westerfield | Rep | ||
| 5 | Stephen L. Meredith | Rep | Stephen L. Meredith | Rep | ||
| 7 | Julian M. Carroll† | Dem | Adrienne E. Southworth | Rep | ||
| 9 | David P. Givens | Rep | David P. Givens | Rep | ||
| 11 | John Schickel | Rep | John Schickel | Rep | ||
| 13 | Reginald Thomas | Dem | Reginald Thomas | Dem | ||
| 15 | Rick Girdler | Rep | Rick Girdler | Rep | ||
| 17 | Damon Thayer | Rep | Damon Thayer | Rep | ||
| 19 | Morgan McGarvey | Dem | Morgan McGarvey | Dem | ||
| 21 | Albert Robinson | Rep | Brandon Jackson Storm | Rep | ||
| 23 | Chris McDaniel | Rep | Chris McDaniel | Rep | ||
| 25 | Robert Stivers | Rep | Robert Stivers | Rep | ||
| 27 | Steve West | Rep | Steve West | Rep | ||
| 29 | Johnny Ray Turner | Dem | Johnnie L. Turner | Rep | ||
| 31 | Phillip Wheeler | Rep | Phillip Wheeler | Rep | ||
| 33 | Gerald A. Neal | Dem | Gerald A. Neal | Dem | ||
| 35 | Denise Harper Angel | Dem | Denise Harper Angel | Dem | ||
| 37 | Perry B. Clark† | Dem | David Yates | Dem | ||
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 2016 | ||
| 7 | Unopposed | ||||
| 29 | Unopposed | ||||
| 37 | Unopposed | ||||
None.
Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:
Phillip Wheeler was elected in March 2019 following the resignation of Ray Jones II.
Mike Nemes was elected in January 2020 following the resignation of Dan Seum.
Karen Berg was elected in June 2020 following the resignation of Ernie Harris.
Incumbent senator Stan Humphries did not seek reelection. He was succeeded by Republican Jason G. Howell.
Incumbent senator Whitney H. Westerfield won reelection, defeating Libertarian candidate Amanda Billings.
Incumbent senator Stephen L. Meredith won reelection, defeating Independent and Libertarian candidates.
Incumbent senator Julian M. Carroll did not seek reelection. He was succeeded by Republican Adrienne E. Southworth.
| County | Adrienne E. Southworth | Joe Graviss | Ken Carroll | Margin | Total votes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | |||||||
| Anderson | 8,862 | 68.20 | 3,744 | 28.81 | 388 | 2.99 | 5,118 | 39.39 | 12,994 | |
| Franklin | 10,731 | 41.45 | 13,562 | 52.39 | 1,594 | 6.16 | -2,831 | -10.94 | 25,887 | |
| Gallatin | 2,650 | 70.27 | 931 | 24.69 | 190 | 5.04 | 1,719 | 45.58 | 3,771 | |
| Owen | 3,994 | 74.72 | 1,163 | 21.76 | 188 | 3.52 | 2,831 | 52.97 | 5,345 | |
| Woodford | 6,950 | 46.04 | 7,805 | 51.71 | 339 | 2.25 | -855 | -5.66 | 15,094 | |
| Total | 33,187 | 52.60 | 27,205 | 43.12 | 2,699 | 4.28 | 5,982 | 9.48 | 63,091 | |
Incumbent senator David P. Givens won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Brian Pedigo.
Incumbent senator John Schickel won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate James Fiorelli.
Incumbent senator Reginald Thomas won reelection, defeating write-in candidate Matt E. Miniard.
Incumbent senator Rick Girdler won reelection, defeating primary election challenger Larry Sears Nichols.
Incumbent senator Damon Thayer won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Jason Stroude.
Incumbent senator Morgan McGarvey won reelection unopposed.
Incumbent Republican senator Albert Robinson was defeated for renomination by Brandon Jackson Storm.
Incumbent senator Chris McDaniel won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Ryan Olexia.
Incumbent senator Robert Stivers won reelection unopposed.
Incumbent senator Steve West won reelection, defeating Libertarian and write-in candidates.
Incumbent senator Johnny Ray Turner was defeated for reelection by Republican Johnnie L. Turner.
| County | Johnnie L. Turner | Johnny Ray Turner | Margin | Total votes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | ||||||
| Floyd | 6,097 | 37.50 | 10,161 | 62.50 | -4,064 | -25.00 | 16,258 | |
| Harlan | 8,431 | 78.49 | 2,310 | 21.51 | 6,121 | 56.99 | 10,741 | |
| Knott | 3,047 | 49.62 | 3,094 | 50.38 | -47 | -0.77 | 6,141 | |
| Letcher | 4,900 | 54.77 | 4,047 | 45.23 | 853 | 9.53 | 8,947 | |
| Total | 22,475 | 53.40 | 19,612 | 46.60 | 2,863 | 6.80 | 42,087 | |
Incumbent senator Phillip Wheeler won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Glenn Martin Hammond.
Incumbent senator Gerald A. Neal won reelection unopposed.
Incumbent senator Denise Harper Angel won reelection unopposed.
Incumbent senator Perry B. Clark did not seek reelection. He was succeeded by Democrat David Yates.