After the filing deadline passed Friday, battle lines were officially set for 2026 elections.
There will be contested races appearing on the May Primary Election ballot for Whitley County Sheriff, Whitley County Jailer, Whitley County Clerk, First-District Magistrate, Third-District Magistrate, Fourth-District Magistrate, and Third-District Constable. There will also be contested races on the November General Election ballot for Williamsburg City Council and Corbin City Commission.
There will be a three-way race for sheriff featuring the top two vote getters from the 2022 race as incumbent Bill Elliotte will face off against Willard Scott Bunch and B.J. Leach.
During the May 2022 Primary Election, Elliotte received 2,060 votes to Bunch’s 1,513 votes and then Third-District Constable Jim Thornton’s 1,495 votes. There were three other candidates in that race including Leach, who garnered 62 votes.
Elliotte and Bunch are both retired Kentucky State Police officers. Elliotte rose to the rank of lieutenant before he retired and Bunch was a trooper.
Bunch currently serves as a school resource officer at Williamsburg Independent Schools and previously served as a school resource officer for the Whitley County School District. Elliotte previously served as a school resource officer for the Corbin Independent School District.
After winning the Republican Primary four years ago, Elliotte went on to handily defeat two write-in candidates in the 2022 November General Election to become sheriff.
After his unsuccessful bid for sheriff in the 2022 May Primary Election, Thornton made an unsuccessful bid as a write-in candidate for Third-District Constable in the 2022 November General Election where he received 777 votes to Jordan Davis’s 1,174 votes.
In May, Davis and Thornton will square off again as the only two candidates for the Republican nomination in the Third-District Constable race. Both of their names will appear on the ballot.
First term Whitley County Jailer Jason Wilson has filed to seek re-election and will face opposition from Chuck Evans, who filed Friday.
There is three-way race to replace Whitley County Clerk Carolyn Willis, who is retiring at the end of this year and not seeking re-election.
First-District Magistrate Scotty Harrison filed to run for Whitley County Clerk along with Mike Harris. Evelyn McCullah filed Friday to join the race.
Fiscal court positions
Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White Jr. is unopposed in his bid for re-election as is Second-District Magistrate Mondo Cima, but the three remaining magistrate races will all be contested.
The race to replace Harrison as First-District Magistrate is the most contested as five candidates are vying for the job, including: Lloyd Carter, C.J. Clark, Bobby Parker, and Jonah Rice, who filed Jan. 7, and James Hayes, who filed Jan. 9.
Incumbent Third-District Magistrate Michael Jarboe will face opposition in his bid for re-election squaring off against Noah A. Mahan and Ricky Grubb, who both filed Jan. 9.
Incumbent Fourth-District Magistrate Raleigh Meadors faces opposition from Eugene Smith.
The following incumbents are unopposed in their bids for re-election in their respective races, including: 82nd District Rep. Nick Wilson, Whitley County Coroner J. Andrew Croley, Whitley County Attorney Bob Hammons, Whitley County PVA Ronald Moses, First-District Constable Lonnie Foley, Second-District Constable Ron “Bubba” Bowling, and Fourth-District Constable Andrew Moses, are all seeking the Republican nomination in their respective races.
No Democratic candidates filed to run in Whitley County races.
Non-partisan races
Corbin Mayor Suzie Razmus and Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison are unopposed in their bids for re-election, but the same cannot be said for members of the Corbin City Commission and the Williamsburg City Council, which is guaranteed to have at least one new member next year.
All four incumbent Corbin City Commissioners filed to seek re-election, including: Allison Moore, James Gambrel, John Baker and Brandon Shepherd. In addition, former Corbin City Commissioner David Grigsby Hart, Walter Pennington and Michael Vito are also seeking election to the Corbin City Commission. The top four vote getters will get seats on the commission.
Incumbent Williamsburg City Council members Erica Harris, Loren Connell, Laurel Jeffries West, Richard Foley and Chelsey Karr Tyree have all filed to run for along with first time candidates Adam Troy Siler and Glen Hall. The top six vote getters will be elected to the city council.
Incumbent Mary Ann Stanfill did not file to run for re-election.
Tyree was appointed last year to fill out the remainder of Patty Faulkner’s term in office after Faulkner resigned to become the new assistant tourism director and the city’s recreational director.
The mayor, city commission and city council races are all non-partisan races. This means that the candidates don’t run as Republicans or Democrats.
These races will not appear on the ballot until the November General Election.
Incumbent 34th Judicial District Division One Judge Cathy Prewitt and Division Two Judge Fred White have both filed to run for re-election and are unopposed. Judicial positions are non-partisan races.
Regional and state races
On March 18, 2022, Fifth District U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers became Dean of the U.S. House of Representatives as the longest-serving member in the House. If Rogers wants to keep that title, he will have to win his 24th consecutive term in Congress this year and faces opposition in both the primary and general election.
In the Republican primary election, Rogers is facing opposition from Benjamin Hurley, Brandon R. Monhollen, Jerry Lee Shelton and Kevin Smith.
Prestonsburg attorney Ned Pillersdorf was the only Democrat to file in the race. He will square off in the 2026 November General Election with the winner from the Republican primary, and Billy Ray Wilson, who has filed to run as a write-in candidate.
In the race to replace long-time U.S. Senator Mitchell McConnell, there are a total of 19 candidates seeking either the Republican or Democratic nomination in the May Primary Election.
Republicans running in the race include former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Sixth District U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, Nate Morris, Anissa Catlett, James D. Duncan, Michael James Faris, Valerie “Dr Val” Fredrick, Jonathan M. Holliday, Jimmy I. Leon, A. Nick Shelley, George Washington and Other Donald Wenzel.
Democrats running in the race include Amy McGrath, Charles Booker, Joshua Blanton Sr., Logan Forsythe, Dale Lewis Romans, Pamela Stevenson and Vincent Anthony Thompson.
The winners of the Republican Primary and Democratic Primary will face-off in the November General Election.
Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Debra Hembree Lambert is unopposed in her bid for re-election to the Third-District Justice of the Supreme Court seat. This race is non-partisan.
The 2026 May Primary Election will take place on May 19. Kentucky has closed primary elections meaning that only registered Republicans can vote in the Republican Primary Election and only registered Democrats can vote in the Democratic Primary Election. It is too late to change party affiliation and still be able to vote in the 2026 May Primary Election.
The 2026 General Election will take place on Nov. 3. All registered voters can cast ballots in 2026 General Election regardless of party affiliation.
