LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Republican incumbent Michael Adams will keep his job as secretary of state, defeating Democrat Buddy Wheatley.

 “I feel great. I’m a little tired, but I’m way too adrenalized to sleep,” Adams shared after his victory speech.

 Adams says he wanted his campaign to unite people and rise about partisan divisions. 

“I think I did something that’s pretty unique. Right now everyone else is running for office beating up the other side trying to have a binary choice, exaggerating differences. I’m trying to bring us together. I’m trying to say ‘look, we can try to find good in other people and work together and solve problems,” he explained.

Looking ahead, Adams said his top priority is the 2024 election, which he expects to have high turnout.

“My no. 1 task now is to prepare for 2024. It’s going to be a tough election in this respect. I had a lot of tools in my toolbox in 2020. I had emergency powers, I had a lot more funding coming from Congress. I don’t have those things at the moment. So, I’ve got to prepare for an election with a similar sort of turnout but without as many voting days as we had then and without as much money as we had then. It’s going to be a real challenge, but I’m going to work in good faith with whoever the next governor is and the county clerks to solve all of our problems,” Adams said.

Hitting on a bipartisan tone that was shared through the night, Adams said he will work for all of Kentucky, whether they voted for him or not.

“I’m grateful to Kentuckians for their trust tonight. I won overwhelmingly but I didn’t get everybody. I’m going to work just as hard for the people who voted against me as I will for the ones who voted for me,” he said.