REMINDER: The Hancock County, KY Primary Election is May 19th, 2026 (Candidate List Included)
In 2024, there were a total of 6,854 residents of Hancock County, Kentucky registered to vote…and of that number, 3,426 were registered under the Republican Party. However, only 530 of those registered voters showed up at the polls to vote – representing only 15.5% of the registered voters of that party. You can find those statistics from the State Board of Elections (by clicking here) or by downloading this PDF.
This year is an IMPORTANT YEAR, and we want to encourage EVERYONE who is registered and eligible to vote in the Primary Elections (both Republican and Democrat) to get to the polls on May 19th and let your voice be heard.
If you’re wondering why THIS YEAR is so important, it’s because there are SEVERAL Federal, State and County Offices that have vacancies and those offices have MULTIPLE candidates in each party seeking those seats…
With that being said, we wanted to provide you with as much information as we could concerning the upcoming Primary Election, so Here is a list of the Offices and Candidates you’ll see on the Hancock County Primary Ballot for 2026 (filtered from list found at the linked The Owensboro Times article):
US SENATE (Federal)
- Republican Candidates:
- Andy Barr
- Daniel Cameron
- Anissa Catlett
- James D. Duncan
- Michael James Faris
- Valerie “Dr Val” Fredrick
- Jonathan M. Holliday
- Jimmy I. Leon
- Nate Morris
- A. Nick Shelley
- George Washington
- Other Donald Wenzel
- Democrat Candidates:
- Joshua Blanton Sr.
- Charles Booker
- Logan Forsythe
- Amy McGrath
- Dale Lewis Romans
- Pamela Stevenson
- Vincent Anthony Thompson
US House of Representatives (Federal)
- Republican Candidates:
- S. Brett Guthrie (incumbent)
- Joshua M. Ferguson
- G. “Shay” Perry-Adelmann
- Democrat Candidates:
- William Dakota Compton
- David S. Hatfield
- Hank Linderman
- Megan Wingfield
State House of Representatives (KY State)
- Republican Candidates:
- Wes Pate
- Marty Shephard
- Democrat Candidate running unopposed and won’t be on the ballot (Donna Haynes)
Hancock County Jailer (County)
- Republican Candidates:
- Steve Jackson
- Tracie Powers
- Democrat Candidate running unopposed and won’t be on the ballot (Jonathan Rice)
Hancock County Sheriff (County)
- Republican Candidates:
- BJ Burton
- Billy Bozarth
- Joshua Vandgrift
- Democrat Candidates:
- Aaron Emmick
- Roger Estes
- Robert Rice
Magistrate / Justice of the Peace – 4th District (County)
- Republican Candidates:
- Gary Baker (incumbent)
- L.T. Newton
- Mike Blan
- No Democrat Candidate Filed
All other Candidates and Offices are either running unopposed, or will be listed on the General Election ballot on November 3rd. (Also, if we’ve missed something or have an error in this list, please let us know so that we can correct it.)
AGAIN… We want to encourage you to get out and vote on May 19th, and let’s make 2026 a year of RECORD Turnout for the Primary Election.
If you are like me and need a ‘Reminder’ on your phone/calendar, here are a few resources to help you remember:
- CLICK HERE to go to the Event page we set up, and click the “ADD TO CALENDAR” button to select which calendar you would like to add it to…. then set a ‘Reminder’ on that event.
- Sign up for Reminders on the ‘RocktheVote’ website (https://www.rockthevote.org/how-to-vote/get-election-reminders/)
- Sign up for Reminders on the VOTE.org website (https://www.vote.org/election-reminders/)
