FRANKFORT, Ky. — Republicans in the Kentucky Senate have a new leader for the first time since 2013. State Senator Max Wise, R-Campbellsville was elected Majority Floor Leader by his colleagues, replacing the retiring State Senator Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown.

What You Need To Know

  • State Sen. Max Wise is the GOP's new majority floor leader in the Kentucky Senate 

  • Wise replaces the retiring Damon Thayer who has been leader since 2013 

  • Sen. Wise is entering his 10th year in Kentucky's Senate 

  • Wise expects workforce investment, DEI and artificial intelligence to be some issues addressed during the 2025 session

Senator Wise is entering his tenth year in the Kentucky State Senate. 2025 will be his first legislative session as a member of leadership in the Republican majority caucus.

“I’m very humbled and I’m very blessed for the opportunity. It’s one of these positions that comes with a lot of responsibility, and I’m excited my colleagues have entrusted me to take on and carry the mantle of what Senator Thayer has done,” Wise said.

Wise represents the 16th district, which includes his hometown of Campbellsville. Wise said fellow senators have been pushing for him to join leadership for years. He says Thayer’s retirement was the opportunity to explore widening his role within the Senate.

“I think this entails a position of someone who needs to be a good listener, a good communicator and one that can develop a lot of good relationships,” Wise said.

He has experience in higher education, chambers of commerce, and tourism commissions. Wise served on the interim task force on economic development and workforce investment and expects some legislation in those areas for 2025.

“We’re in the bottom five of the United States in terms of woeful labor participation rate and those are able-bodied Kentuckians that are not going to work and we’ve got to change that narrative, we have got to change that statistic,” Wise said.

Wise said some ideas discussed during the interim include lowering the age for obtaining a driver’s license to 15-years-old and improving the state’s marketing efforts. Wise also expects legislation pertaining to artificial intelligence or AI as it continues to expand in education and the workplace.

“If we do not lean into it, if we do not try to embrace it and develop policy around it, then we could be left behind,” Wise said.

One major topic during the 2024 legislative session was ending diversity, equity and inclusion or DEI at higher education institutions in Kentucky. Wise said Kentuckians should expect to see some legislation pertaining to DEI in 2025.

“I do think this is something we revisit and I say that because the education committee did have that as a topic that we heard during the interim,” Wise said. “I do not yet know what that bill would look like or it would entail, but I would expect that to be there.”

Wise is a member of the Senate Standing Committees on Education, Families and Children, and Health Services.

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