Sen. Jimmy Higdon won’t seek election to another term in the Kentucky Senate
NC GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
STAFF REPORT
Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025 — State Sen. Jimmy Higdon has announced that he will not seek re-election when his term in the Kentucky Senate ends at the end of 2026.
The Lebanon Republican currently serves as chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.
Higdon was elected to the Senate in a special election following Sen. Dan Kelley’s resignation from the Senate to accept a judicial appointment offered to him by then Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear in Oct. 2009.
Higdon won the special election for the seat by taking 56 percent of the votes cast in a hotly contested race against Democrat Jodie Haydon of Bardstown, whose campaign — at the time — spent the most in Kentucky history in a state senate race.
Higdon, speaking in a phone call Wednesday morning to WBRT’s “Bradford & Brooks” radio show, said it was an honor to serve the residents of the 14th Senate District.
He said over the years, he had seen some of this colleagues stay too long in the Senate. At age 72, he decided after 24 years of combined service in the state House and Senate, that he would retire at the end of this term in order to spend more time with his family.
While the 2026 General Assembly will be his last, he said work is already underway in preparation for the budget, including his request for $1 billion to be added to the state’s road maintenance fund.
The 14th Senate district includes the counties of LaRue, Marion, Nelson, Spencer and Washington.
-30-
