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State Coverage  ›  Kentucky  ›  Run for office

How to run for office in Kentucky.

The short, plain-English version: what you can run for, how to get on the ballot, and the official Kentucky resources that are the final word. Then, when you're qualified, Motion51 gets your voters on a map and your volunteers knocking.

Running this cycle, or getting ready for the next one? The first step comes before any filing deadline: know your voters. Motion51 puts your voter file on a map, free, so you can start finding your supporters now.

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The short version

Kentucky nominates through party primaries in May. You get on the ballot by filing the proper candidate paperwork with the right filing officer; major-party candidates run in the primary and independents file for the general election.

Offices you can run for
Federal (U.S. House and Senate); statewide offices (Governor and other constitutional officers); the Kentucky Senate and House; county and municipal offices; and (nonpartisan) judicial seats.
How to get on the ballot
File your candidate paperwork, with any filing fee, during the filing window. Federal, state, and many district offices file with the Secretary of State; county and local offices file with the county clerk. The Secretary of State's online filing system provides the forms for state-filed races and samples for locally-filed ones. Campaign-finance questions go to the Registry of Election Finance.
Who runs candidate filing
Kentucky Secretary of State / State Board of Elections

This is a plain-language overview, not legal advice. Filing deadlines and fees change every election cycle and vary by office; the official Kentucky resources below are the final word. When in doubt, the elections authority is right and we're wrong.

Find your Kentucky county

Every county runs its own filing office and its own local races. See all 120 Kentucky counties, each with its election office, fees, deadlines and local facts.

The 2027 ballot in Kentucky.

These 2027 dates are confirmed against the state's own published calendar or statute. Anything our research could not confirm is left off this page rather than estimated.

  • May 18, 2027 Primary — Statewide. Party primaries for Kentucky's statewide constitutional offices: Governor and Lieutenant Governor (one joint ticket), Attorney General, Secretary of State, Auditor of Public Accounts, State Treasurer and Commissioner of Agriculture.
    Candidate filing: opens Nov 4, 2026, closes Jan 8, 2027.
    Source 1 · Source 2
  • November 2, 2027 General — Statewide. General election for the same statewide offices. The Governor and the Secretary of State are both term-limited, so both races are open seats.
    Source 1 · Source 2

2027 dates can move, and a municipality can change its own election date by ordinance. Which seats are on a given ballot depends on when each was last filled. Confirm anything you are relying on with the county election office before you act on it.

Official Kentucky candidate resources

Start here for the exact deadlines, fees, forms, and signature counts for your office and cycle. Note: 2026 filing has closed in most states, so these resources govern the standing rules; check the official calendar for your next filing window.

Once you're on the ballot, Motion51 runs your field game.

Get your district's voter file loaded, cut into walkable turf, and onto an app your volunteers use at the door. Kentucky is fully available; see how to get your voter file.

Get your Kentucky voter file →

Talk to us about your Kentucky race

Tell us what you're running for and we'll help you go from "qualified" to "knocking doors": voter file loaded, turf cut, volunteers set up.

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