2020 United States Senate election in Kentucky

The 2020 United States Senate election in Kentucky will be held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the Commonwealth of Kentucky, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, who has been Senate Majority Leader since 2015 and senator from Kentucky since 1985, is running for reelection to a seventh term in office. He faces off against former U.S. Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath and Libertarian Brad Barron.

For related races, see 2020 United States Senate elections.

2020 United States Senate election in Kentucky
November 3, 2020
 
Nominee Mitch McConnell Amy McGrath
Party Republican Democratic
Incumbent U.S. senator

Mitch McConnell
Republican
Elections in Kentucky
Government

The Democratic and Republican primaries took place on June 23, 2020. As the primaries neared, the president of the National Bar Association accused officials of carrying out voter suppression. Compared to typical numbers of 3,700, the number of polling stations was reduced to 200 with only one in Louisville.[1] Because a large number of voters voted by mail, absentee ballots were not counted until June 30. Over 973,000 people requested absentee ballots, a far greater number than usual.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary
  • Nicholas Alsager[4]
  • Paul John Frangedakis, chiropractor[4]
  • Louis Grider, truck driver[4]
  • Neren James[4]
  • Kenneth Lowndes[4]
  • Wesley Morgan, former state representative[5]

Withdrawn
  • Wendell K. Crow, businessman and entrepreneur[4][6] (remained on ballot)
  • Karl Das[7][6]

Results
Results by county:
  McConnell—>90%
  McConnell—80–90%
  McConnell—70–80%
Republican primary results [8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mitch McConnell (incumbent) 342,656 82.80%
Republican Wesley Morgan 25,588 6.18%
Republican Louis Grider 13,771 3.33%
Republican Paul John Frangedakis 11,957 2.89%
Republican Neren James 10,693 2.58%
Republican Kenneth Lowndes 5,548 1.34%
Republican Nicholas Alsager 3,602 0.87%
Republican Wendell K. Crow (withdrawn) 0 0.00%
Total votes 413,815 100.0%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Withdrawn
  • Jimmy Ausbrooks, mental health counselor[17] (endorsed Mike Broihier)[18] (remained on ballot)
  • Steven Cox, registered pharmacy technician[19] (endorsed Charles Booker)[20]
  • Joshua Paul Edwards[21][6]
  • Kevin Elliott, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Murray State University[7][6]
  • Dr. Loretta Babalmoradi Noble[22][6]

Declined

Campaign

There were debates on March 5, 2020[31][32] and June 1, 2020.[33][34]

Polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]		 Margin
of error		 Charles
Booker		 Amy
McGrath		 Other Undecided
Data for Progress[upper-alpha 1] June 10–22, 2020 556 (LV) – 43% 46% – 10%
Garin-Hart-Yang[upper-alpha 2] June 16–18, 2020 – – 32% 42% – –
Civiqs/Data for Progress June 13–15, 2020 421 (LV) ± 5.5% 44% 36% 9%[lower-alpha 2] 11%
YouGov Blue/MVMT Communications[upper-alpha 3] June 8–12, 2020 313 (RV) ± 7.0% 39% 49% 6%[lower-alpha 3] 3%
YouGov Blue/MVMT Communications[upper-alpha 3] May 2020 –[lower-alpha 4] – 13% 62% – –
YouGov Blue/MVMT Communications[upper-alpha 3] April 2020 –[lower-alpha 4] – 11% 62% – –
YouGov Blue/MVMT Communications[upper-alpha 3] January 2020 –[lower-alpha 4] – 7% 65% – –

Endorsements
Charles Booker
Statewide officials
State and local officials from other states
Individuals
Newspapers
Unions
Organizations and political parties
Mike Broihier
State and local officials from other states
  • Richard Ojeda, West Virginia State Senator for the 7th district (2016–2019); 2020 presidential and U.S. Senate candidate[51]
Individuals
Organizations
Amy McGrath
Individuals

Results
Results by county:
  McGrath—60–70%
  McGrath—50–60%
  McGrath—40–50%
  Booker—40–50%
  Booker—50–60%
Democratic primary results [62]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Amy McGrath 247,037 45.41%
Democratic Charles Booker 231,888 42.62%
Democratic Mike Broihier 27,175 4.99%
Democratic Mary Ann Tobin 11,108 2.04%
Democratic Maggie Joe Hilliard 6,224 1.14%
Democratic Andrew Maynard 5,974 1.10%
Democratic Bennie J. Smith 5,040 0.93%
Democratic Jimmy Ausbrooks (withdrawn) 3,629 0.67%
Democratic Eric Rothmuller 2,995 0.55%
Democratic John R. Sharpensteen 2,992 0.55%
Total votes 544,062 100.0%

Other candidates

Libertarian primary

The Libertarian Party of Kentucky does not qualify to nominate through the taxpayer-funded primary and will hold its privately-operated primary, open to those who are and remain registered to vote as a Libertarian from January 1 to present in the state of Kentucky,[63] on March 8, 2020.[64] All candidates of the Libertarian Party of Kentucky must defeat None Of The Above (NOTA) to obtain the nomination.[65]

Nominee
  • Brad Barron, farmer and entrepreneur[66]

Results
Libertarian primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Libertarian Brad Barron 100.0%
Libertarian None of the above
Total votes 100.0%

Reform Party

Withdrawn

Independents

Withdrawn

General election

Predictions
Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[69] Likely R July 23, 2020
Inside Elections[70] Safe R July 10, 2020
Sabato's Crystal Ball[71] Likely R August 5, 2020
Daily Kos[72] Safe R July 22, 2020
Politico[73] Likely R July 6, 2020
RCP[74] Likely R August 6, 2020
Niskanen[75] Likely R July 26, 2020
270towin[76] Likely R August 6, 2020

Endorsements
Brad Barron (L)
Individuals
Mitch McConnell (R)
Executive Branch officials
U.S. Senators
Statewide officials
Amy McGrath (D)
U.S. Senators
Individuals
Organizations
Unions

Polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]		 Margin
of error		 Mitch
McConnell (R)		 Amy
McGrath (D)		 Other /
Undecided
Quinnipiac University July 30 – August 3, 2020 909 (RV) ± 3.3% 49% 44% 7%
Bluegrass Data (D) July 25–29, 2020 3,020 (RV) ± 2.0% 49% 46% 4%
Morning Consult July 24 – August 2, 2020 793 (LV) ± 3.0% 53% 36% 12%
Spry Strategies (R) July 11–16, 2020 600 (LV) ± 3.7% 55% 33% 12%
Garin-Hart-Yang Research (D)[upper-alpha 2] July 7–12, 2020 800 (LV) ± 3.5% 45% 41% 14%[lower-alpha 5]
Civiqs/Data for Progress June 13–15, 2020 898 (RV) ± 3.8% 53% 33% 15%[lower-alpha 6]
RMG Research[lower-alpha 7] May 21–24, 2020 500 (RV) ± 4.5% 40% 41% 19%[lower-alpha 8]
Change Research (D)[upper-alpha 2][93] January 17–21, 2020 1,281 (LV) ± 2.8% 41% 41% 18%
Garin-Hart-Yang Research (D)[upper-alpha 2][93] January 8–13, 2020 802 (LV) ± 3.5% 43% 40% 17%
Fabrizio Ward/AARP July 29–31, 2019 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 47% 46% 6%
Change Research (D)[upper-alpha 2] June 15–16, 2019 1,629 (LV) – 47% 45% 8%
Hypothetical polling
with Charles Booker
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]		 Margin
of error		 Mitch
McConnell (R)		 Charles
Booker (D)		 Other /
Undecided
Civiqs/Data for Progress June 13–15, 2020 898 (RV) ± 3.8% 52% 38% 9%[lower-alpha 9]
with Jim Gray
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]		 Margin
of error		 Mitch
McConnell (R)		 Jim
Gray (D)		 Undecided
Gravis Marketing June 11–12, 2019 741 ± 3.6% 49% 41% 10%
with Generic Democrat
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]		 Margin
of error		 Mitch
McConnell (R)		 Generic
Democrat		 Other /
Undecided
Public Policy Polling May 14–15, 2020 1,104 (V) – 47% 44% 9%
Public Policy Polling (D)[upper-alpha 4] Feb 11–12, 2019 748 ± 3.6% 45% 42% 12%
Public Policy Polling (D)[upper-alpha 5] Aug 15–16, 2017 645 – 37% 44% 19%
on whether Mitch McConnell deserves to be re-elected
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]		 Margin
of error		 Yes No Other /
Undecided
Fabrizio Ward/AARP July 29–31, 2019 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 31% 62% 8%[lower-alpha 10]
Public Policy Polling (D)[upper-alpha 4] Feb 11–12, 2019 748 ± 3.6% 32% 61% 8%
with Generic Republican and Generic Democrat
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size[lower-alpha 1]		 Margin
of error		 Generic
Republican		 Generic
Democrat		 Other /
Undecided
Fabrizio Ward/AARP July 29–31, 2019 600 (LV) ± 4.0% 48% 42% 13%[lower-alpha 11]

Results
United States Senate election in Kentucky, 2020
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Republican Mitch McConnell (incumbent)
Democratic Amy McGrath
Libertarian Brad Barron
Total votes 100.0%

Notes
Partisan clients
  1. Poll released after the primary in July
  2. Poll sponsored by McGrath's campaign
  3. Poll sponsored by Booker's campaign
  4. Poll sponsored by The Ditch Mitch Fund
  5. Poll sponsored by Our Lives on the Line
Voter samples
  1. Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  2. Broihier with 4%; Tobin with 1%; "someone else" with 4%
  3. Broihier with 5%; other with 1%
  4. Not yet released
  5. Barron (L) and Undecided with 7%
  6. Barron (L) with 4%; "someone else" with 8%; undecided with 3%
  7. U.S. Term Limits is a PAC supporting candidates who support term limits in Congress. McGrath is one such candidate
  8. Undecided with 10%; "Some other candidate" with 9%
  9. Barron (L) with 4%; "someone else" with 2%; undecided with 3%
  10. Undecided with 7%; "refused" with 1%
  11. Undecided with 10%; "don't know/refused" with 3%

References
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  78. Jorgensen, Jo [@Jorgensen4POTUS] (June 29, 2020). "Brad Barron for Senate is taking on Mitch McConnell in Kentucky. I endorse Brad Barron as the principled candidate who values liberty and freedom for all. Consider donating below to get him in the debates! t.co/2gck6OQhnr?amp=1" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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  85. Trump, Donald J. [@realDonaldTrump] (July 9, 2019). "....Why would Kentucky ever think of giving up the most powerful position in Congress, the Senate Majority Leader, for a freshman Senator with little power in what will hopefully be the minority party. We need Mitch in the Senate to Keep America Great!!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  86. @TomCottonAR (June 23, 2020). "Congratulations to @senatemajldr on his big win! Not that he will need it, but I'm all in to help Mitch demolish whatever left-wing socialist the Democrats nominate to lose to him" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  87. Cohen, Zach C. [@Zachary_Cohen] (March 6, 2019). "Lil' news in the kicker here: #KYgov @MattBevin, McConnell's 2014 primary challenger, said he will "of course" support McConnell's #KYsen reelection in 2020.🔒njour.nl/s/677069" (Tweet). Retrieved March 6, 2019 – via Twitter.
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  89. "Kamala Harris Endorsements". May 9, 2020.
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  92. "Primary and General Election Endorsements".
  93. "Kentucky Polls". fivethirtyeight.com. June 28, 2018.
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