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 by nearly 50 points. Kamala Harris carried the district by about six points in the 2024 presidential election.
“Another election, another massive Democratic overperformance, this time in Kentucky,” said Democratic National Committee (DNC) spokesman Abhi Rahman in a statement lauding the win. “While Republicans keep bending the knee to Trump and billionaires, Democrats are fighting for working families. That’s why Democrats are consistently outperforming in 2025 and will continue building momentum into 2026 and beyond,” he added.
Democrats were expected to hold on to the seat, which is located in southwest Louisville and leans blue. Their victory comes after a recent spate of special election wins that saw them flip seats in conservative areas nationwide.
“I’ve spent my life working alongside the people who keep Louisville running—in factories, in shops, and in all jobs important in our neighborhoods—union or not,” Clemons said.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear congratulated Clemons, stating: “Continuing the trend of Democrats outperforming previous elections by wide margins across the country, congratulations to State Senator-Elect Gary Clemons in KY’s 37th Senate District.”
The south-end Louisville district has long leaned Democratic, but Clemons’ margin far exceeds recent benchmarks. Democrat David Yates beat Leach by about 20 points in 2024, and former Vice President Kamala Harris carried the area by roughly six points in the presidential election that year. The special election drew a turnout of around 7 percent (just over 5,000 ballots), illustrating how low-turnout December contests can produce outsized swings.
The seat remained vacant after Yates was appointed interim Jefferson County clerk earlier this year. Clemons, president of United Steelworkers Local 1693, campaigned on bolstering support for working families, lowering costs for essentials, creating jobs, and representing blue-collar interests in the state legislature.
