Special elections to the Kentucky Senate are held when a vacancy occurs in the Kentucky Senate. Elections are called by the governor of Kentucky when the General Assembly is not in session, and by the president of the Senate when it is in session.
List of special elections District Original Cause of vacancy Winner Date 18 George M. Plummer (R) Died January 17, 1970 Luther K. Plummer (R) February 14, 1970 19 Fred F. Bishop (R) Died May 8, 1970 Lillie Roberts Bishop (R) November 3, 1970 35 Romano Mazzoli (D) Resigned December 16, 1970(Elected to KY-03) Lacey Smith (D) January 15, 1971 6 William A. Logan (D) Resigned March 17, 1972 Ken Gibson (D) May 23, 1972 5 Damon Majors (D) Earl R. Glenn (D) November 6, 1973 14 William R. Gentry Jr. (D) Resigned March 19, 1976 Randall Donahue (D) November 2, 1976 12 Larry J. Hopkins (R) Resigned December 8, 1978(Elected to KY-06) Jack Trevey (R) January 9, 1979 2 Tom Garrett (D) Died February 4, 1979 Helen Garrett (D) May 29, 1979 9 Walter Arnold Baker (R) Resigned June 15, 1981 Joe Lane Travis (R) November 3, 1981 1 Richard Weisenberger (D) Resigned September 30, 1981(Elected commonwealth's attorney) Greg Higdon (D) November 3, 1981 37 Danny Yocom (D) Resigned September 5, 1986 Larry Saunders (D) November 4, 1986 24 John Weaver (D) Died February 25, 1989 Patti Weaver (D) May 23, 1989 6 William T. Brinkley (D) Died March 2, 1989 Kim L. Nelson (D) May 23, 1989 27 Woody May (D) Resigned November 25, 1991 Walter Blevins (D) January 7, 1992 1 Greg Higdon (D) Resigned December 23, 1991 Jeff Green (D) January 30, 1992 24 Dick Roeding (R) Gex Williams (R) February 16, 1993 25 David LeMaster (D) Resigned January 28, 1994 John David Preston (R) March 8, 1994 34 Landon Sexton (R) Resigned February 7, 1994 Barry Metcalf (R) March 15, 1994 21 Gene Huff (R) Resigned June 30, 1994 Albert Robinson (R) July 26, 1994 15 John D. Rogers (R) Resigned November 10, 1994 James Crase (R) December 27, 1994 9 Walter Arnold Baker (R) Richie Sanders (R) June 25, 1996 13 Mike Moloney (D) Resigned July 31, 1996 Ernesto Scorsone (D) November 5, 1996 1 Jeff Green (D) Died September 5, 1997 Bob Jackson (D) November 4, 1997 28 Dale Shrout (D) Resigned August 10, 2001 R. J. Palmer (D) September 18, 2001 17 Daniel Mongiardo (D) Damon Thayer (R) January 28, 2003 4 Paul Herron (D) Died June 16, 2004 Dorsey Ridley (D) July 27, 2004 37 None Perry B. Clark (D) February 14, 2006 30 Daniel Mongiardo (D) Resigned December 11, 2007(Elected lieutenant governor) Brandon Smith (R) February 5, 2008 32 Brett Guthrie (R) Mike Reynolds (D) February 10, 2009 18 Charlie Borders (R) Resigned July 15, 2009 Robin L. Webb (D) August 25, 2009 14 Dan Kelly (R) Resigned October 26, 2009(Appointed circuit judge) Jimmy Higdon (R) December 8, 2009 19 Tim Shaughnessy (D) Resigned June 29, 2012 Morgan McGarvey (D) November 6, 2012 16 David Williams (R) Sara Beth Gregory (R) December 18, 2012 13 Kathy Stein (D) Reggie Thomas (D) December 10, 2013 27 Walter Blevins (D) Steve West (R) March 3, 2015 31 Ray Jones II (D) Phillip Wheeler (R) March 5, 2019 38 Dan Seum (R) Michael J. Nemes (R) January 14, 2020 26 Ernie Harris (R) Karen Berg (D) June 23, 2020 22 Tom Buford (R) Died July 6, 2021 Donald Douglas (R) November 2, 2021 19 Morgan McGarvey (D) Cassie Chambers Armstrong (D) February 21, 2023 28 Ralph Alvarado (R) Greg Elkins (R) May 16, 2023 37 David Yates (D) Gary Clemons (D) December 16, 2025
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