US EditionDemocrat wins Kentucky state Senate special election
Gary Clemons, a union leader and U.S. Army veteran, won 72% of the vote in the special election to represent Kentucky Senate District 37 in Jefferson County.
- On Dec. 16, 2025, Gary Clemons, South End Democrat, labor union leader and U.S. Army veteran, won Kentucky Senate District 37 with 72% of the vote and will be sworn in Jan. 6, 2026.
- The seat opened after David Yates' appointment to Jefferson County clerk following Bobbie Holsclaw's death, triggering the off-election-year special vote with early voting last week.
- Clemons received 3,752 votes out of 5,178 total votes cast, while turnout was 6.9%, with Calvin Leach, Republican, winning 1,297 votes, Wendy Higdon, Libertarian, 121, and eight write-ins.
- The outcome keeps Democrats in the seat but does not change the Kentucky State Senate balance; Clemons, the first union leader in Kentucky's General Assembly, will serve through January 2029.
- Amid national trends, state and national Democrats have been overperforming in special elections, with Vice President Kamala Harris carrying the area by about 6 percent and Republican Party hopes for competitiveness unmet in Kentucky Senate District 37.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Democrat Crushes Kentucky Senate Special Election by 47.5 Points — Republicans Are on Notice
Democrat Gary Clemons didn’t just win Kentucky’s vacant Senate District 37 seat Tuesday—he obliterated the competition. With 72.6 percent of the vote to Republican Calvin Leach’s 25.1 percent, Clemons turned what should have been a routine Democratic hold into a statement: the party of working families is surging, even in traditionally sleepy special elections. “Another election, another massive Democratic overperformance, this time in Kentucky,…
Democrat Wins Special Election In State Legislature
Democrat Gary Clemons defeated Republican Calvin Leach to fill a vacant seat in the Kentucky state Senate. Clemons, a South Louisville union leader and U.S. Army veteran, won the race to fill the vacant seat by nearly 50 points. Kamala Harris carried the district by about six points in the 2024 presidential election. Kentucky State...
Democrat in deep-red Kentucky beats Republican challenger
The 2025 elections continued this month with a state Senate seat left vacant in Kentucky and it turned out to be another "blue wave." Newsweek reported Wednesday that union leader and U.S. Army veteran Gary Clemons beat his GOP opponent by 47.5 percent. While the 37th Senate District is a blue district, in 2024, David Yates won the race by about 20 points. Vice President Kamala Harris carried the area by about 6 percent. So, winning with 72.6 pe…
Louisville union leader keeps Kentucky Senate seat Democratic after special election
Kentucky state Senator-Elect Gary Clemons addresses his supporters Tuesday evening. (Photo provided by Clemons' campaign)A Louisville union president kept a Kentucky Senate seat in Democratic hands in Tuesday’s special election. The party heralded what it characterized as Gary Clemons’ overperformance in the district as a sign of growing support for Democrats. Clemons, the president of the Steelworkers Local 1693, won the election for the 37th …
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