2023 Kentucky Secretary of State election

This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: Update to certified votes. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (June 2024)

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November 7, 2023 (2023-11-07)

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Nominee	Michael Adams	Buddy Wheatley
Party	Republican	Democratic
Popular vote	787,198	510,743
Percentage	60.6%	39.3%

Adams: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
Wheatley: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%

Secretary of State before election

Michael Adams
Republican

Elected Secretary of State

Michael Adams
Republican

Federal government

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The 2023 Kentucky Secretary of State election took place on November 7, 2023, to elect the Secretary of State of Kentucky. Incumbent secretary of state Michael Adams won re-election to a second term after he defeated Democratic nominee Buddy Wheatley. Primaries were held on May 16, 2023.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Michael Adams, incumbent secretary of state^[1]

Eliminated in primary

Stephen Knipper, former Erlanger city councilor, nominee for Secretary of State in 2015 and candidate in 2019^[2]
Allen Maricle, former state representative (1994–1998)^[3]

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael Adams	171,288	63.9
	Republican	Stephen Knipper	70,993	26.5
	Republican	Allen Maricle	25,772	9.6
Total votes			268,053	100

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Buddy Wheatley, former state representative (2019–2023)^[4]

Declined

Neville Blakemore, construction executive and candidate for state treasurer in 2015^[5]

Endorsements

Buddy Wheatley

Organizations

United Mine Workers of America^[6]
Kentucky State AFL-CIO^[7]

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[8]	Likely R	June 21, 2023

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size^[a]	Margin of error	Michael Adams (R)	Buddy Wheatley (D)	Undecided
Public Opinion Strategies (R)^[9]^[A]	July 19–20, 2023	500 (LV)	± 4.4%	48%	24%	26%

Debates

2023 Kentucky Secretary of State debate^[10]
No.	Date	Host	Link	Republican	Democratic
P Participant A Absent I Invitee
P Participant A Absent I Invitee				Michael Adams	Buddy Wheatley
1	October 19, 2023	WLKY	YouTube	P	P

Results

2023 Kentucky Secretary of State election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Michael Adams (incumbent)	783,695	60.59%	+8.33%
	Democratic	Buddy Wheatley	509,308	39.38%	−8.36%
	Write-in		460	0.04%
Total votes			1,293,463	100.00%

By congressional district

Adams won 5 of 6 congressional districts.^[11]

District	Adams	Wheatley	Representative
1st	69%	31%	James Comer
2nd	66%	34%	Brett Guthrie
3rd	41%	59%	Morgan McGarvey
4th	63%	37%	Thomas Massie
5th	73%	27%	Hal Rogers
6th	57%	43%	Andy Barr

Notes

^ Poll commissioned by the Republican State Leadership Committee

^ Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear

References

^ "Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams makes decision on reelection bid". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
^ Robinson, Brandon (January 19, 2023). "Chief of staff for former Lt. Governor files to run for Kentucky Secretary of State". WYMT-TV. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
^ Barr, Thomas (September 7, 2022). "Maricle looks at run for secretary of state office". PMG-KY1.com. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
^ Storm, Nick (December 20, 2022). "Rep. Buddy Wheatley Announces Run for Secretary of State". www.kentuckyfried.com. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
^ Horn, Austin (December 5, 2022). "Aside from Beshear, which Ky. Dems are running in 2023? Few have announced". Lexington Herald-Leader. Archived from the original on December 14, 2022.
^ "Kentucky - COMPAC Endorsements". Archived from the original on April 17, 2023.
^ "Endorsements 2023 | Kentucky State AFL-CIO". ky.aflcio.org. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
^ "The 2023 and 2024 Attorney General and Secretary of State Races". Sabato's Crystal Ball. June 22, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
^ Public Opinion Strategies (R)
^ "WLKY hosts Kentucky secretary of state debate". October 19, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
^ https://lookerstudio.google.com/reporting/75e97d20-411d-4954-9f27-8cc57a80aa96/page/p_zagwlwambd

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