Kentucky lawmakers on Wednesday advanced a measure that seeks to amend the state constitution and change the election cycle for state officers.
Senate Bill 10 would move elections for the governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer, state auditor, attorney general, secretary of state, and agriculture commissioner to even-numbered years, every 4 years, starting in 2032. Right now, those elections occur in odd-numbered years.
If the bill becomes law, the proposed constitutional amendment within the bill would still need approval from Kentucky voters before taking effect.
“What this will do is dramatically increase the number of voters who participate in a constitutional election year,” said the bill’s primary sponsor, Sen. Christian McDaniel (R-Ryland Heights).
The changes would also save the state nearly $2 million and counties more than $15 million, he said.
“At a time of tough budgets and when every level of government continues to look for ways to find funding, this is a significant way to be able to help those counties and also to ensure we have more people participate in our democracy,” McDaniel said.
The sole committee member to cast a no vote was Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong (D-Louisville). She said she researched the history of Kentucky’s election cycles ahead of the meeting.
“The first year that we had our constitutional elections in a nonpresidential year was 1851. And when the framers of the 1851 constitution made that change, they spoke particularly about the need for us to have an election focused on Kentucky issues in Kentucky and about the need to get rid of some of the confusion about allowing national issues to infiltrate our Kentucky election,” she said.
Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer (R-Georgetown) said he takes the opposite approach to elections than Armstrong, and said he feels confident the measure would pass if put before voters for consideration.
“People are getting less and less interested in our statewide races. Turnout was down over 8% this year in 2023 than it was in 2019,” he said. “There was more money spent on the campaign for governor this year than any statewide campaign for constitutional office in Kentucky history. I think the people are voting with their feet by staying home.”
The bill next moves to the full Senate for consideration.
Information came from a release by the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission.
