Draft:2026 United States Senate election in Kentucky

Submission declined on 8 March 2024 by Primefac (talk).

While this is an obviously notable topic, it is too soon to have an article on the matter; at this point in time there aren't even any declared candidates. As soon as that changes I suspect this can be moved to the article space, but not until there is actual information about the election itself (and not just hot gossip about McConnell).

If you would like to continue working on the submission, click on the "Edit" tab at the top of the window.
If you have not resolved the issues listed above, your draft will be declined again and potentially deleted.
If you need extra help, please ask us a question at the AfC Help Desk or get live help from experienced editors.
Please do not remove reviewer comments or this notice until the submission is accepted.

Where to get help

If you need help editing or submitting your draft, please ask us a question at the AfC Help Desk or get live help from experienced editors. These venues are only for help with editing and the submission process, not to get reviews.
If you need feedback on your draft, or if the review is taking a lot of time, you can try asking for help on the talk page of a relevant WikiProject. Some WikiProjects are more active than others so a speedy reply is not guaranteed.

How to improve a draft

Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia – a basic overview on how to edit Wikipedia.
Help:Wikitext – how to use the markup
Help:Referencing for beginners – how to include references
Wikipedia:Article development – how to develop your article
Wikipedia:Writing better articles – how to improve your article
Wikipedia:Verifiability – make sure your article includes reliable third-party sources

You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article.

Improving your odds of a speedy review

To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags.

Add tags to your draft

Editor resources

Easy tools: Citation bot (help) | Advanced: Fix bare URLs

Declined by Primefac 7 months ago. Last edited by PickleG13 5 months ago. Reviewer: Inform author.

Resubmit

Please note that if the issues are not fixed, the draft will be declined again.

Submission declined on 3 March 2024 by S0091 (talk).

This submission's references do not show that the subject qualifies for a Wikipedia article—that is, they do not show significant coverage (not just passing mentions) about the subject in published, reliable, secondary sources that are independent of the subject (see the guidelines on the notability of events). Before any resubmission, additional references meeting these criteria should be added (see technical help and learn about mistakes to avoid when addressing this issue). If no additional references exist, the subject is not suitable for Wikipedia.

Declined by S0091 8 months ago.

Comment: This is WP:TOOSOON and fails WP:CRYSTAL. S0091 (talk) 22:07, 3 March 2024 (UTC)

The 2026 United States Senate election in Kentucky will be held on November 3, 2026 to elect new a member of the United States Senate. Incumbent seven-term Republican Mitch McConnell was re-elected in 2020 with 57.8% against former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath. McConnell has not yet stated if he will run for re-election or not. Former Kentucky Attorney General and 2023 gubernatorial candidate Daniel Cameron has been seen a potential strong candidate, as does U.S. Representative from Kentucky's 4th district Thomas Massie.^[1]

Background

McConnell had been a member of the U.S. Senate since 1985, but in 2023 started exhibiting potential health issues during two different press conferences.^[2]^[3] Since these incidents there have been growing concerns over McConnell's health, and some calls for him to resign, but McConnell has refused and stated he plans to finish his term as Senate Republican Leader, though has since hinted he may not seek re-election in 2026.^[4]

Republican primary

Candidates

Potential

Michael Adams, Secretary of State of Kentucky (2020–present)^[5]
Allison Ball, Kentucky Auditor of Public Accounts (2024–present)^[5]
Andy Barr, U.S. representative for Kentucky's 6th congressional district (2013–present)^[5]
Daniel Cameron, former Attorney General of Kentucky (2019–2024) and nominee for governor of Kentucky in 2023^[6]
Russell Coleman, Attorney General of Kentucky (2024–present)^[5]
Kelly Craft, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2019–2021) and candidate for governor of Kentucky in 2023^[5]
Thomas Massie, U.S. representative for Kentucky's 4th congressional district (2012–present)^[5]
Mitch McConnell, incumbent U.S. senator (1985–present) and outgoing leader of the Senate Republican Conference (2007–2025)^[5]

Declined

James Comer, U.S. representative for Kentucky's 1st congressional district (2016–present)^[7]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declined

Andy Beshear, 63rd Governor of Kentucky (2019–present)^[7]

References

^ Bureau, David Catanese, McClatchy Washington (November 9, 2023). "After a bruising loss to Andy Beshear in Kentucky, what's next for Daniel Cameron?". Rockdale Citizen & Newton Citizen. Retrieved November 10, 2023. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Osborne, Samuel (July 27, 2023). "Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell freezes mid-sentence and stares vacantly for around 20 seconds during press conference". Sky News. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
^ Thorp V., Frank (August 30, 2023). "Sen. Mitch McConnell appears to freeze again at a Kentucky event". NBC News. Archived from the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
^ "Sen. Mitch McConnell will step down as Republican leader at the end of the year". NBC News. February 28, 2024. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Catanese, David (March 19, 2024). "'A different seat in the chamber': What's ahead for Mitch McConnell in the US Senate?". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
^ Bureau, David Catanese, McClatchy Washington (November 9, 2023). "After a bruising loss to Andy Beshear in Kentucky, what's next for Daniel Cameron?". Rockdale Citizen & Newton Citizen. Retrieved November 10, 2023. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ ^a ^b Catanese, David (March 21, 2024). "Who would be the front-runner for McConnell's Senate seat in 2026?". McClatchy. Retrieved March 21, 2024.

[1] Bureau, David Catanese, McClatchy Washington (November 9, 2023). "After a bruising loss to Andy Beshear in Kentucky, what's next for Daniel Cameron?". Rockdale Citizen & Newton Citizen. Retrieved November 10, 2023. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[2] Osborne, Samuel (July 27, 2023). "Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell freezes mid-sentence and stares vacantly for around 20 seconds during press conference". Sky News. Archived from the original on July 27, 2023. Retrieved July 28, 2023.

[3] Thorp V., Frank (August 30, 2023). "Sen. Mitch McConnell appears to freeze again at a Kentucky event". NBC News. Archived from the original on August 30, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023.

[4] "Sen. Mitch McConnell will step down as Republican leader at the end of the year". NBC News. February 28, 2024. Retrieved February 28, 2024.

[WhatsAhead-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Catanese, David (March 19, 2024). "'A different seat in the chamber': What's ahead for Mitch McConnell in the US Senate?". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved March 25, 2024.

[6] Bureau, David Catanese, McClatchy Washington (November 9, 2023). "After a bruising loss to Andy Beshear in Kentucky, what's next for Daniel Cameron?". Rockdale Citizen & Newton Citizen. Retrieved November 10, 2023. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[McClatchyKY-7] Catanese, David (March 21, 2024). "Who would be the front-runner for McConnell's Senate seat in 2026?". McClatchy. Retrieved March 21, 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]