The Republican Party of Kentucky is the affiliate of the Republican Party in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

and follows its nationally established platform. The party's headquarters is in

Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city and the county seat, seat of Franklin County, Kentucky, Franklin County in the Upland Sou ...

. The party gained relevance around the 1940s, though Kentucky was still part of the

Solid South The Solid South was the electoral voting bloc for the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party in the Southern United States between the end of the Reconstruction era in 1877 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the aftermath of the Co ...

at the time. Since this emergence, the party did poorly in state executive office elections until

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

but saw some success on the federal level and in the Kentucky General Assembly. The party is organized into two main committees that hold authority. In the 2015 Kentucky elections, the party captured the offices of

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

, and

Auditor An auditor is a person or a firm appointed by a company to execute an audit.Practical Auditing, Kul Narsingh Shrestha, 2012, Nabin Prakashan, Nepal To act as an auditor, a person should be certified by the regulatory authority of accounting an ...

, gaining the majority of the state executive offices for the first time in modern history. In 2016, Republicans gained control of the state house for the first time since 1920. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling all but one of Kentucky's six U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, and has supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature. The only two statewide offices that the party does not currently control are the governorship and the lieutenant governorship, which are currently held by Democrats

Andy Beshear Andrew Graham Beshear ( ; born November 29, 1977) is an American attorney and politician serving as the 63rd governor of Kentucky since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 50th attorney gen ...

and

Jacqueline Coleman Jacqueline Layne Coleman (born June 9, 1982) is an American educator and politician serving as the 58th lieutenant governor of Kentucky since 2019. She has worked as a high school administrator, teacher, and basketball coach. Coleman is the foun ...

respectively. In 2022, Republicans overtook Democrats in voter registration.

History

Emergence and relevancy

Cassius Marcellus Clay Major general (United States), Major General Cassius Marcellus Clay (October 9, 1810 – July 22, 1903) was an American planter, politician, military officer and abolitionist who served as the List of ambassadors of the United States to Russia, ...

and John Gregg Fee organized the Republicans in Madison County, Kentucky. Clay was selected as Kentucky's member of the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

. After the times of the

, Kentucky has a unique Republican history. Although it is a traditionally Democratic Southern State, the Republican Party of Kentucky became more relevant in Kentucky political affairs around the 1940s and 1950s. Although candidates in presidential and congressional races began to fare well and see success in elections around this time, it did not translate to much success on the state and local levels.Political Parties and Primaries in Kentucky / Penny Miller, Malcolm E. Jewell. Despite receiving measurable numbers of votes and being competitive in elections, many of the candidates for gubernatorial and legislative races consistently failed to get elected into office.

Struggles

Despite becoming consistently competitive in state elections, the party's strength in the 1970s and 1980s were comparable to that of the 1930s and 1940s. Between the time of the emergence of the Republican Party of Kentucky and the 1980s, the only Republican governor elected to office was Louie B. Nunn in 1967. This is considered one of the few high points for the party. Problems within the party organization contributed greatly to these struggles. Part of it is due to the turnover at the state party chairman position throughout the 1970s, which hindered any consistency and progress within the party organization. While in the 1980s, however, much of the difficulties for the party came from trying to get good candidates to run for office. For example, in the four state elections held between 1979 and 1987, Republicans only contested 53 out of the 100 State House of Representative seats and only 11 of the 19 State Senate seats.

Party organization

The Republican Party of Kentucky is organized based on three levels of authority. The top authority comes from the registered Republicans in Kentucky when the State Convention is in session. However, since the convention is often out of session, there are two lower levels of main authority. The Republican State Central Committee (RSCC) has full control of party operations when State Convention is not in session, while the executive committee within the RSCC controls operations when the RSCC is not in session.

Republican State Central Committee

The Republican Party of Kentucky's main authority when not assembled in State Convention is the Republican State Central Committee. The RSCC is responsible for a number of activities and operations involving the party on the state and local levels and is required to meet twice per year through established rules. Some of the operations include controlling of funds, creating committees, and promoting campaigns on all levels. The RSCC meets within twenty days of the Republican State Convention to elect certain officers, while some other officers in turn are appointed by the elected officers. For example, the State Chairman is elected by the RSCC, who in turn appoints a Treasurer of his or her choosing.

Executive committee

While the RSCC is not in session, the responsibilities for party organization are delegated to the executive committee, which consists of 56 members and is required through established rules to meet four times a year. Most of the power in the executive committee resides in six high-ranking members, which are the State Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, National Committeewoman, and National Committeeman.

Current officers

* Robert J. Benvenuti III, State Chairman * DeAnna Brangers, Vice Chairman * Karen Kelly, Secretary * Cathy Bell, Treasurer *

KC Crosbie KC Crosbie (born November 26, 1969) is a member of Republican Party, currently serving as the Co-Chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), since January 17, 2025, succeeding Lara Trump. Crosbie's political career began in 2006 when sh ...

, National Committeewoman * John T. McCarthy III, National Committeeman

Current elected officials

The Kentucky Republican Party controls five of the seven statewide offices and holds a majority in the Kentucky Senate. Republicans also hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats and five of the six U.S. House seats. This did not change in the recent state office elections of 2011, as James Comer won the Agriculture Commissioner seat, while the Democrats won all the others.

Members of U.S. Congress

U.S. Senate

Republicans have controlled both of Kentucky's seats in the U.S. Senate since

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

: File:Mitch McConnell portrait 2016.jpg, Senior U.S. Senator File:Rand Paul, official portrait, 112th Congress alternate (cropped).jpg, Junior U.S. Senator

U.S. House of Representatives

Out of the 6 seats Kentucky is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives, 5 are held by Republicans:

Statewide office

Republicans control five of the seven elected statewide offices: *

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

: Russell Coleman *

: Allison Ball *

State Treasurer In the state and territorial governments of the United States, 54 of the 56 states and territories have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the office of New York State Treasurer in 1926, in which the duties were transfer ...

: Mark Metcalf *Agriculture Commissioner: Jonathan Shell * Secretary of State: Michael Adams

Kentucky General Assembly

* Senate President: Robert Stivers **Senate President Pro Tempore: David P. Givens **Senate Majority Leader: Max Wise * Speaker of the House: David Osborne **House Speaker Pro Tempore: David Meade **House Majority Leader: Steven Rudy

Place in Kentucky General Assembly

The Republican Party of Kentucky holds supermajorities in both chambers of the

Kentucky General Assembly The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets annually in th ...

. They currently hold 30 of the 38 seats in the Kentucky Senate, while holding 80 out of 100 seats in the Kentucky House of Representatives.

Recent events and initiatives

Dewayne Bunch resignation

In April 2011, recently elected 82nd District State Representative Dewayne Bunch was severely injured at the school that he worked at. He was knocked unconscious while trying to break up a fight between two students. With the accident causing severe trauma and requiring a long recovery process, Bunch was forced to resign. Bunch's resignation was announced by his wife and recognized by Republican Floor Leader Jeff Hoover on October 26, 2011, in a public press release.

Recently sponsored passed legislation

Effective June 1, 2011, five specific pieces of legislation sponsored by the Kentucky Republican Caucus were passed in the state of Kentucky. These bills reflect many of the beliefs of the Republican Party of Kentucky on a handful of issues, which include education, gun control, and veteran affairs. In regards to education, House Bill 92, which was sponsored by Republican Representative Adam Koenig, is a law that requires high schools throughout Kentucky to provide seniors with more voter information. In addition, House Bill 464, which was sponsored by Republican Representative David Osborne, provides the Kentucky Board of Education with stricter rules in dealing with errors in textbooks. Along with laws influencing practices in education, a law that expands the concealed carry policies was also sponsored by the Kentucky Republican Caucus and put into law in 2011. Republican Representative Alicia Webb-Edgington sponsored House Bill 313, which allows loaded or unloaded firearms to be stored in any original compartments of the owners vehicle.