Well, the May 19^th primaries are nearly upon us and things are really heating up as we enter the final stretch. Speaking as someone who ran for Governor and saw only about 13% of registered Republicans show up to the polls for my race, please go vote in the primary.

I say this both for the Republican and Democrat primaries as it is so important to have your voice heard. Yes, I only received about 3% of the vote in a 12-person race, but I would have been much more excited if 50%+ made it to the polls to vote, even if it diluted me down to 1 or 2%. (This is where people say: You ran for Governor?)

The races we see in 2026 are many, and though all are important, some have more notoriety than others. Also, President Trump is trying to leave a mark on several of the Federal races. Only time will tell if his endorsements and involvements will sway a race in the direction he is hoping.

Don’t get me wrong, the President is still very strong in Kentucky and even if you don’t agree with everything he does or says, for the most part, I believe the majority of Kentuckians still appreciate his efforts and have a fondness for him.

However, Kentuckians tend to have an independent streak and can come to their own conclusions about any of the candidates.

The other hard thing about primaries is you tend to run against friends. I was friends with most if not all of the individuals who were in the Governor’s Republican primary in 2023 so while I definitely wanted to win, it was much more difficult than running against someone of the opposite party in the Fall.

I have joked that I ran for 25 years straight, served 21 years straight (13 as State Rep and 8 as Auditor), haven’t lost to a Democrat since 2000, and yet I have NEVER won a Republican primary. In reality, I only had two. That’s because usually the races I ran, were in areas that no one thought a Republican could win. So, I was usually the “Don Quixote candidate.”

But I digress. The point is that primaries, though necessary, are hard on the party family.

So let’s take a look at the major races that Trump has endorsed in. Once again, I have friends in just about all of them, so please don’t take my predictions as favoring one over the other. 

In the race for the U.S. Senate to replace Mitch McConnell, there are multiple candidates on the Republican side, but after the exit of Nate Morris for an option on an Ambassadorship role to be named later by President Trump, there are really only two viable candidates that remain, once again both of whom are dear friends of mine.

Sure, Michael Faris seems like a great guy. I do think he will pull 3-5 % of the vote, but it will be insufficient to win against either Congressman Andy Barr or former Attorney General Daniel Cameron. Andy has received the endorsement of President Trump and that may be enough to lock up the race. 

But don’t count Daniel out. If this wasn’t a close race you wouldn’t have seen attack ads going after Daniel. I’m not sure whether that was a leftover remnant of Nate’s campaign or a PAC supporting Andy, but the attacks are definitely telling.

Like I said, both are friends, so I will simply wish both well.

Now let’s look at KY’s 6^th Congressional District race. Once again, there are several and it boils down to basically two men with a third campaigning hard, but who appears to be unable to make up ground. The two who appear to be best positioned for May 19^th are State Representative Ryan Dotson and former State Senator Ralph Alvarado. Once again, I consider both to be friends.

Ralph Alvarado gets the endorsement of President Trump, which certainly should help. However, Ryan Dotson released an internal poll which had him significantly ahead as well as a poll from the Jessamine County Republican Party for just that county which also has him ahead.

Alvarado has been heard saying that he also has internal poll numbers which show him ahead, but he has not released those.

My guess is the full truth probably lies somewhere in the middle of those polls, and this race also will be too close to call.

Finally, in the 4^th Congressional District, incumbent Congressman Thomas Massie faces a challenge from Ed Gallrein who is not only endorsed by the President, but was also recruited by Trump.

I may be a little biased on this one. When I ran for Auditor the first time and only had $45K going up against the incumbent who had $800K, Massie donated $1,000 of that $45K. So, for transparency, I thought it important to note this as Massie stood with me financially when very few others did.

As that race concludes, it appears Massie still has the upper edge by 8-10 points, but elections are funny, so you don’t really know until the last vote is counted.

Once again, regardless of who you vote for, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, go vote. It is a right we should not take for granted (or any other stone for that matter.)

In addition to your own research, you can go to CommonwealthPolicyCenter.org to review our candidate comparison guides.