On May 19, Kentuckians will go to the polls and vote in the 2026 primary elections. In many races, the winner of the primary will be the ultimate winner of the general election, due to partisan leanings of an area or lack of opponents from other parties. One of those notable races will be the race for state representative in the 63rd district (parts of Boone and Kenton Counties). This race pits Cole Cuzick against incumbent Kim Banta. With no Democrat in the race, the winner of the Republican primary will be the state representative.
Cole Cuzick is a former employee of The Family Foundation. During his time with TFF, he worked on several pro-family issues, including Kentucky’s campus free speech protection law and protecting Christian counselors from attacks from LGBTQ advocates. Cuzick also previously worked for the Commonwealth Policy Center, organizing candidate trainings and advocating in favor of school choice efforts.
Kim Banta is the current representative for the 63rd district and has held that position since winning a special election for the seat in 2019. Before running for office, she worked as a teacher and principal. During her time in office, Rep. Banta has governed as a moderate. She has supported the efforts to lower the income tax in Kentucky and has voted for pro-life legislation. However, she has also established herself as a reliable pro-LGBTQ vote in the House. In 2022, Banta refused to support SB 83, which keeps men out of girls’ sports.
In 2023, Banta voted against HB 470 and SB 150, which banned transgender mutilations of kids. In 2025, Banta voted against banning taxpayer-funded gender “transitions” with Medicaid dollars (HB 495). Rep. Banta has also supported legislation to ban Christian counseling in areas of sexuality and even signed onto a legal brief at the U.S. Supreme Court claiming there is a constitutional right to “trans” kids. Thankfully, SCOTUS rejected her argument.
The race in the 63rd district is just one example of important races on the 2026 primary ballot. For the specific races on your ballot, please visit VoteKentucky.US for a personalized voter guide, powered by iVoterGuide.
Other notable races in KY include (iVoterGuide evaluations in parenthesis):
• U.S. Senate – Daniel Cameron (conservative), Nate Morris (leans conservative), Rep. Andy Barr (leans conservative), and Michael Faris
(conservative)
• 4th District U.S. House – Rep. Thomas Massie (conservative) vs Ed Gallrein (leans conservative)
• 6th District U.S. House – Rep. Ryan Dotson (verified conservative), Ralph Alvarado (conservative), and Greg Plucinski (leans conservative)
Click here to view and download the PDF of the print version of the Citizen paper.