BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — No incumbents in the Kentucky Senate lost their seats in Tuesday’s primary, even though there was at least one contentious race.

 

What You Need To Know

  • No incumbent lawmakers lost their primary race in the Kentucky Senate

  • Three House Republicans and one House Democrat lost their seat in the primaries

  • Multiple statewide officeholders have announced runs for governor, and state Sen. Max Wise is also considering a run

 

Sen. Donald Douglas defeated Andrew Cooperrider, a coffee shop owner in Lexington who rallied against Gov. Andy Beshear’s COVID-19 mandates

“If you know Don Douglas, you’re not surprised that he won: articulate, skilled, passionate, well-funded, hard worker,” Senate Pro Tempore David Givens (R-Greensburg) said. “It reflects very positively on our ability to get work done in the Senate. When we have a colleague that goes up for reelection that’s in our caucus, we stand by him or her in a very robust way, and we did that with Don and we’re proud of the outcome there.”

While no incumbents in the Senate lost Tuesday, three House Republicans from Northern Kentucky — Reps. Adam Koenig, Sal Santoro, and Ed Massey — lost their seats.

Givens, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said he doesn’t have the strongest pulse on what happened in those races, it won’t change the course of the legislature.

“Government does have a role, and conservative government continues to see, in my mind, that the role of government does matter,” Givens said. “There are some elements that say we’d like to do away with government; give us all of our liberties. It doesn’t function well that way.”

The only other incumbent lawmaker to lose a primary was Rep. Tom Burch (D-Louisville), who lost to Daniel Grossberg in a rematch of their 2018 primary race against each other.

Another name in the race for governor?

After Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles and Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced their campaigns for governor, rumors swirled around several other candidates for governor.

Sen. Max Wise, who spoke during the same press event in Bowling Green on Thursday, said he was “strongly considering” a run.

“I don’t think there’s a rush right now,” Wise said. “I think a lot of times people feel like because one jumped in, it needs to be everybody jumps in the pool; I don’t take that approach. I think patience is a virtue, just kind of watching things play out, but I am seriously considering a run.”

Wise said he has nothing negative to say about the candidates that have already announced, and the fact a few big names have already announced shows how deep the Republican bench is in terms of potential candidates for statewide office. 

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