Candidate for Kentucky House District 63;
Party: Republican;
Status: Incumbent;
Kim Banta is the Republican incumbent candidate for District 63 of the Kentucky House of Representatives, which encompasses northwestern portions of Kenton County and parts of Boone County (click here to see a map of the district).
She has two primary challengers this May: Cole Cuzick and Seth Winslow Young. There are no Democratic candidates in District 63, so whoever wins the May primary will run unopposed in November.
Banta took office for the first time in 2019. Prior to that, she worked as the curriculum director at Kenton County Schools. She currently lives in Fort Mitchell and has lived in Kenton County for about 40 years. She is married and has three children.
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She admitted that she was not overly involved in political organizations prior to her election, although she said she’s always voted and has remained informed. As a former educator, she has always made education one of her policy focuses. So has mental health. Several bills she’s sponsored this year have been related to education.
“I think we have an excellent public school system,” Banta said. “I think we also have a lot of choices for kids. They can go to pretty much any public school that has an opening if they want to go there, and then we have all our private schools that do an excellent job. So, I think we’ve got a really nice mix in Northern Kentucky.”
Banta pointed to several bills, both this year and in the past, as key accomplishments. One was House Bill 290 in 2022, which established minimum due process requirements for public universities before a student could be expelled. Another was House Bill 44 in 2021, which allocated funding for mental health support for firefighters.
This year, Banta pointed to House Bill 455, which limits the use of AI in mental health settings. Banta has also repeatedly tried to freeze tuition increases at public universities, but the measure has failed to gain traction.
“One of these days, somebody’s going to think it’s a good idea,” Banta said.
“Having been in the 63rd for as long as I have, I just do this job because I want to help people,” Banta also said.