Republicans already have a dominant supermajority in both chambers of the Kentucky General Assembly — and nearly $900,000 of ad spending by business-funded political action committees aim to keep it that way in November.
According to Kentucky Registry of Finance, six conservative PACs have already spent $889,000 on ads and canvassing to help elect Republican candidates in the upcoming general election.
Nearly all of that spending was aimed at helping seven Republican legislative candidates in relatively competitive districts, including more than half a million dollars alone to reelect GOP Sen. Julie Raque Adams of Louisville.
That massive spending for Republicans is in stark contrast to the Democratic legislative candidates this fall, as just one PAC has spent less than $6,000 on independent ads to support them. Polling shows a very favorable environment across the country for Democrats in November, but the party isn’t expected to make a serious dent in Republicans’ heavily-gerrymandered supermajority, where Democrats left many races unchallenged.
Though the top elected Democrat in Kentucky has stockpiled millions of dollars in his super PACs, so far Gov. Andy Beshear’s operation has not yet spent any of its funds on ads for Democratic legislative candidates. Instead, Beshear’s dark money group Heckbent has directed $250,000 to a PAC supporting his endorsed candidate for the Kentucky Court of Appeals, while his super PAC In This Together has spent $500,000 on ads supporting Democrat Zach Dembo in his competitive race for the central Kentucky congressional district.
Here’s a rundown of the PACs spending heavily to aid Republican state legislative candidates, the business interests that are funding those PACs and the races they are seeking to influence.
Pro-Adams funding set to break $1 million, with help of PACs
Adams is seeking her fourth term to the Kentucky Senate, and receiving an enormous amount of spending from five different PACs to support that effort.
The five PACs have collectively spent $509,495 on advertisements supporting Adams in the general election, just months after two PACs spent $321,000 on ads to support her in an uncompetitive GOP primary.
And Adams is not exactly a helpless candidate. Her own campaign has raised more than $700,000, entering the final month of the campaign with $175,000 left to spend.
Adams is running against Democrat Sarah Cole McIntosh in her suburban east Jefferson County district, which is one of the few true swing districts in the legislature. Trump won District 36 two years ago by just two percentage points, and with the president’s lagging approval rating and national polls forecasting a Democratic “wave” in November, Republicans are worried.
McIntosh, a former elected member of the Jefferson County Board of Education, entered the final month of the campaign with just $47,000 — with most of that coming in the form of $30,000 from the campaign committee of the Senate Democratic Caucus.
While the PAC of Planned Parenthood has reported spending $5,747 on independent ads supporting Democratic legislative candidates — the only PAC to do so for Democrats so far — none of these have been in support of McIntosh.
Just like her primary race, the biggest spender in support of Adams has been GOPAC, a national group that supports Republican candidates in state and local elections. After spending $230,000 on ads for Adams in the primary, GOPAC has spent another $219,000 on digital ads, texts and mailers for Adams in September.
GOPAC reported raising $6.5 million in the first half of this year to spend in races around the country, largely bankrolled by large corporations. Several based in Kentucky or lobbying the legislature include Churchill Downs ($85,000), spirits maker Sazerac ($40,000) and tobacco giants Altria and RAI, which gave a combined $235,000 to GOPAC.
The next largest spender on ads supporting Adams is the Republican State Leadership Committee, another group supporting GOP candidates at the state level across the country. The RSLC reported spending $149,000 on digital and TV ads not just supporting Adams, but going negative against McIntosh. The PAC’s ads criticize McIntosh’s tenure at the Jefferson County school board, blaming her for budget deficits and poor student outcomes.
The RSLC reported raising nearly $20 million in the first half of this year, with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and several large tobacco companies giving more than $1 million. Kentucky-based companies who gave more than $50,000 include Churchill Downs and bourbon giant Brown-Forman.
Adams was also the beneficiary of ads purchased by the National Association of Realtors Fund ($65,000), the Commonwealth Conservative Coalition ($40,000) and Americans for Prosperity ($36,000).
The combined $509,495 spent on independent ads supporting Adams is well more than all of the other independent ads that PACs purchased for every other state legislative candidate, combined.
PACs seek to hold onto suburban Louisville seat
Outside of Adams, the Republican legislative candidate to receive the most independent financial support is Rep. Susan Witten of Louisville, as three PACs have reported spending a combined $156,749 on ads to help her win a third term.
More than $100,000 of this ad spending is from the Commonwealth Conservative Coalition, a federal PAC with ties to GOP House Speaker David Osborne of Prospect. The PAC was active in the primary election, spending $346,000 on ads supporting GOP incumbents against hard-right challengers.
The Commonwealth Conservative Coalition PAC is expected to reveal in a filing later this week who has been funding the group since this summer, but two of its top donors in the first half of 2026 were GOPAC ($250,000) and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce ($140,000).
Witten faces Democrat Tim Hall, a longtime Jeffersontown city councilman, in House District 31, which might be the toughest state legislative district for any Republican in Kentucky this election. The district voted for Kamala Harris over Trump in 2024, as political winds keep shifting left.
One of the PAC’s attack ads against Hall calls him a “tax and spend liberal” for his tenure on the Jeffersontown council. No PACs have reported purchasing any ads supporting Hall, though Building Our Future PAC raised $50,000 from an electrical workers union in August and indicated it would support Hall.
In addition to the PAC ad spending for Witten (including $25,000 from American for Prosperity and $30,000 from the national realtors group), the campaign committee of the House Republican Caucus has also directed $53,000 to Witten’s campaign, which entered the final month with $173,000 left to spend.
Of the $240,000 in digital and mailed ads that Commonwealth Conservative Coalition has reported purchasing in the general election, all of them have been negative ads, targeted against Democrats in five races.
PACs look to help GOP expand dominance outside of Louisville
Another suburban east Louisville district that Democrats hope to flip away from Republicans is House District 48, where GOP incumbent Rep. Ken Fleming is facing a challenge from Suhas Kulkarni, a business owner and naturalized citizen from India whose daughter Nima currently serves in the Kentucky House.
Trump won the district by a small margin in 2024, and conservative PACs have jumped in with $48,000 of independent ads to help Fleming. These include positive ads from Americans for Prosperity, the Koch-funded conservative group, and more negative ads from the Commonwealth Conservative Coalition that call Kulkarni “radical” due to being supported by the Fairness Campaign, an LGBTQ+ rights group.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Tichenor’s neighboring Oldham County district went for Trump by 10 percentage points two years ago, but a GOP group is still coming to her aid in her race against Democrat Christian Furman, protecting her from a potential blue wave.
Protect Freedom, a federal PAC with ties to U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and bankrolled by billionaire Pennsylvania investor Jeff Yass, reported spending $25,000 on digital ads for Tichenor.
Furman, a physician and University of Louisville professor, has not benefited from independent ads, but did receive $15,000 from the campaign committee of the Senate Democratic Caucus.
Despite the national headwinds, Republicans PACs are also trying to go on offense against Democrats incumbent in several House districts outside of Louisville.
The Commonwealth Conservative Coalition reported spending $40,000 on attack ads against Democratic Rep. Adam Moore of Lexington, which call him “extreme” for supporting a “pro-transgender agenda.”
Moore is facing former GOP Rep. Killian Timoney, who was a relative moderate in the House Republican caucus before being blown out by a hard-right conservative in the 2024 Republican primary — partly due to attack ads hitting Timoney for being one of the few Republicans to vote against an anti-transgender bill.
Republicans are also targeting a Democratic incumbent in a northern Kentucky district, where challenger Terry Hatton faces Rep. Matthew Lehman of Newport. Americans for Prosperity reported spending more than $17,000 on digital ads, mailers and canvassing for Hatton in the district, which Harris won by a small margin over Trump.
The Kentucky GOP also has their sights set on taking out the last remaining Democratic-held seat in eastern Kentucky, where incumbent Rep. Ashley Tackett Laferty is not running for reelection. Republican Tanner Hesterberg, a lawyer and former local TV reporter, has benefited from $57,000 of independent ads from Protect Freedom PAC, Commonwealth Conservative Coalition and Americans for Prosperity.
Democrat Johnny Ray Turner, who previously served five terms in the Kentucky Senate, is seeking to keep the seat in Democratic hands and return to Frankfort after six years away. He is aided by $15,000 from the campaign committee of the Senate Democratic Caucus, but will have his work cut out for him — as House District 95 went for Trump by nearly 30 percentage points in 2024.
