Eight competitive state legislative primary races are coming to Northern Kentucky on May 21 as candidates for the region’s 10 state House district seats and three of five Senate seats head for the 2024 ballot.
A total of 32 state legislative candidates and three District 4 congressional candidates – including incumbent Thomas Massie (R-KY) – met the 4 p.m. Friday filing deadline to run in the state’s 2024 primary, according to the Kentucky Secretary of State’s Office.
U.S. presidential candidates and several local races will also be on the ballot.
Kentucky House primary races
NKY state House incumbents who face primary opposition are House District 60 Rep. Marianne Proctor (R-Union), House District 64 Rep. Kimberly Moser (R-Taylor Mill), House District 69 Rep. Steven Doan (R-Erlanger), and House District 61 Rep. Savannah Maddox (R-Dry Ridge).
Both Maddox and Proctor picked up primary challengers close to the filing deadline Friday. Maddox – whose district covers Grant, Gallatin, and parts of both Kenton and Boone counties – – is challenged by Republican Jarrod Lykins of Walton. No Democrat challenger has filed for the House District 61 seat.
Proctor, who already potentially faces a general election challenge from Democrat Deborah Ison Flowers of Union, picked up challenges from Christopher Pavese of Union and Republican Darren Nichols close to the deadline (research by LINK nky on the challengers revealed no verifiable information on deadline). Moser will run for a fourth term in her central Kenton County district in May against Independence real estate agent Karen Campbell. Doan – a freshman elected in 2022 – faces a primary challenge from attorney Diane Brown of Erlanger.
The winner of the primary in both District 64 and District 69 will also face challengers in the general election. Democrat Heather Crabbe, an Independence attorney with Russell-Ireland Law Group in Covington is running unopposed for Moser’s seat in the primary. In District 69, Democrat Wilanne Stangel of Erlanger is running unopposed on the primary ballot. Stangel is a library media specialist with the Boone County library system.
Also facing a primary challenge is former state House member Ed Massey. The Hebron Republican is running against Liberty Republican TJ Roberts of Burlington for Massey’s former north/northwestern Boone County’s House District 66 seat now held by Rep. Steve Rawlings (R-Burlington). Rawlings is running this year for the Boone County Senate (District 11) seat held by Sen. John Schickel (R-Union), who has announced that he won’t seek reelection.
Whoever wins the Republican primary for House District 66 will face Democrat challenger Peggy Houston-Nienaber of Union. Nienaber (whose Facebook profile describes her as a “Kentucky teacher”) is running unopposed in May.
Two Republican state House incumbents are running unopposed in the primary: Rep. Kim Banta (R-Fort Mitchell) whose House District 63 covers part of north Boone and Kenton counties, and Rep. Mark Hart (R-Falmouth) who represents House District 78 that covers all of Pendleton County and parts of Boone, Campbell, and Kenton.
Other Kentucky House races in NKY in 2024
General election matchups between NKY Republicans and non-incumbent Democrats fill up the rest of the state House ballot for the region:
House District 65
Incumbent Republican Rep. Stephanie Dietz (R-Edgewood) will run to retain her House District 65 seat against Democrat Aaron Currin of Fort Wright. Dietz is a family law attorney and a freshman state lawmaker representing the northcentral Kenton County district. Currin is an attorney based in Covington, per his LinkedIn page.
House District 67
Running for the House District 67 (north/western Campbell County) seat being vacated in January 2025 by House Minority Whip Rachel Roberts of Newport are Democrat Matthew Lehman of Newport and Republicans Tony Hatton of Bellevue, Jerry C. Gearding of Wilder, and Brian K. Ormes of Sulfate. Lehman is a health care and biotech executive who unsuccessfully challenged US Rep. Thomas Massie for the District 4 congressional seat in 2022. Hatton is a US Army vet who owns VSP Management Company, a consultant and security company in NKY and Cincinnati. The Republicans will face off in May.
Roberts beat Gearding for the same seat in 2022 and Gearding subsequently filed a defamation suit against the state Democratic Party and Roberts based on the campaign. LINK nky has covered the candidate extensively over the past two years.
House District 68
Incumbent Rep. Mike Clines (R-Alexandria) of House District 68 will face Fort Thomas Democrat Brandon Long for that district seat. Distinct 68 covers the eastern half of Campbell County. Clines is a professional educator who spent 27 years with the Diocese of Covington Catholic Schools. Long – a teacher and self-described “survivor of conversion therapy” who wants to ban the practice specifically as it relates to minors — said in a release he’s “supporting effective governance in partnership with the Governor (Beshear).”
Kentucky Senate Races in NKY
Two of three NKY state Senate races this year involve primary challenges.
On Friday, Rawlings received a last-minute challenge from Republican Duane Froelicher of Florence in the race for Senate District 11, which covers most of Boone County. Rawlings, elected to the House in 2022 as a Liberty Republican, is an attorney who ran in 2022 as a constitutional conservative. Froelicher, a financial planner and former Florence city councilperson, ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Florence in 2022 against former Florence vice mayor Julie Metzger Aubuchon.
A soon-to-be open Senate District 17 seat now held by Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer (R-Georgetown) will involve two Republican primary challengers and a Democrat. Facing off in the primary for the district (which covers all of Scott and Grant counties and part of Kenton and Fayette counties) are Republicans Matt Nunn of Sadieville and Julia Jaddock of Georgetown. Nunn is the owner of Slainte Public House in Georgetown. Jaddock is a second grade teacher and business consultant per her LinkedIn profile. The winner will face a Democratic challenger – Kiana Fields, a University of Louisville research coordinator – in the fall.
The other challenge will happen in November in a race for the Senate District 23 seat now held by Senate Appropriations and Revenue Chair Sen. Chris McDaniel (R-Ryland Heights). McDaniel faces a general election challenge from Democrat and local artist, business owner, and author Jennifer Sierra of Covington.
A press release from her campaign describes Sierra as “a longtime advocate for women’s healthcare and survivors of domestic violence.”
NKY’s other two state Senate seats (District 20 held by Sen. Gex Williams (R-Verona) and District 24 held by Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer (R-Alexandria) are not up for election until 2026.
Congressional primary matchup
The District 4 congressional seat held by U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) of Lewis County is in solid Republican territory, discouraging a Democratic challenger from entering the race this year. Instead, there will be a matchup in May between Massie and two Republicans: Eric Deters – a former NKY attorney and former Kentucky gubernatorial candidate known for his brash persona – and Michael McGinnis of Fort Thomas. Research turned up no information on McGinnis at the deadline.
Deters filed for the race hours before Friday’s deadline but the move wasn’t much of a surprise. The Walton Republican said in July 2023 that he was “99% sure” he’d run against Massie this year.
Local races to watch
The following is a list of candidates who have filed with their county clerk to run in local government elections in NKY:
Boone County
Boone County Circuit Court Clerk:
David Martin of Florence (Republican)
City Council Races (nonpartisan races):
Jonathan William Trimble, Florence, City Council
Mel Carroll, Florence, City Council
David Osborne, Florence, City Council
Patricia Wingo, Florence, City Council
Angela Cable, Florence, City Council
Lesley Chambers, Florence, City Council
Carolyn Hankins Wolfe, Hebron, School Board District 1 (nonpartisan seat)
Campbell County
Commonwealth’s Attorney 17th District:
Michael C. Zimmerman, Newport (Republican)
Circuit Court Clerk 19th District:
Taunya Nolan Jack, California, Ky., (Republican)
Mayor (Newport):
Thomas L. Guidugli of Newport (nonpartisan)
Newport Board of Commissioners (nonpartisan):
Mike Radwanski
Ken Rechtin
Julie Smith-Morrow
Aaron W. Sutherland
Vince Proffitt
Highland Heights City Council (nonpartisan):
R. Alex Bramel
Bellevue City Council (nonpartisan):
Mike Almoslechner
Stephen R. Guidugli
Shauna Kruse
John L. Ondeck
Kara Harp
Phillip Lanz
Dayton City Council (nonpartisan):
Tarris “Troy” Horton
Joseph “Joe” Neary
Beth Nyman
Fort Thomas City Council (nonpartisan):
Eric Strange
Andy Ellison
Beb Pendery
Lauren McIntosh
Kenton County
Commonwealth’s Attorney 16th District
Rob Sanders, Fort Mitchell (Republican)
Circuit Court Clerk:
John C. Middleton, Independence (Republican)
Covington Mayor (nonpartisan)
Ron Washington
Covington Commission (nonpartisan):
Morgan L. Davenport
BIll Wells
Tim Downing
Devin Kroner
Bradie Bowen
Aaron Wolpert
James Toebbe
Shannon C. Smith
Tim Acri
Cari McMurty Garriga
Erlanger City Council (nonpartisan):
Diana Niceley
Tyson Hermes
Victoria Kyle
Rebecca Reckers
Jennifer Jasper-Lucas
Michele Fields
Thomas Cahill
Gary Meyer
Renee Skidmore
Don Skidmore
Frank A. Wichmann
Christopher Farmer
Nicholas Eads
Renee Wilson
Aaron Arlinghaus
Bromley City Council (nonpartisan):
Dianne Wartman
Tim Wartman