Kim Holloway has never held public office and couldn't even afford a campaign manager or advisers, but that didn't stop her from pulling off one of the most stunning upsets of Kentucky's primary elections this week.
In the Republican primary, Holloway narrowly defeated longtime state Rep. Richard Heath of Mayfield by just 4 percentage points, or fewer than 200 votes, and with no Democratic candidate running, he is all but certain to win the seat in Frankfort in January.
Heath is a well-known figure in western Kentucky, having served as chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and ran for the Republican nomination for state Agriculture Commissioner in 2015 and 2023, performing well both times, winning more than 114,000 votes last spring.
But the name recognition and Heath's financial advantage in the race proved insufficient to withstand Holloway's challenge, much to her surprise.
“I was really surprised by the result,” Holloway said. “I knew what the challenges were, but I expected my hard work to pay off, and it did.”
“This campaign has really been grassroots.”
Two weeks before the election, Holloway's campaign reported only $15,000 in expenditures. Heath's campaign received at least $43,000 in advertising expenses and $9,700 in direct contributions from a political action committee, while Holloway's campaign received no support from a political action committee.
Most serious candidates running for such an important office pay a campaign consultant, if not a campaign manager, but Holloway said he can't afford it.
“I spoke with (my campaign manager) last fall,” Holloway said, “and we knew we weren't going to be able to fit it into our budget, so we just worked with what we had.”
“I don't want to take all the credit, but I did almost everything myself,” Holloway said. “I knocked on almost every door myself, designed my own graphics and emails, wrote my own scripts, wrote my own thank-you notes, answered my own phone calls, answered my own texts and emails.”
Holloway said it was not just hard work but the length of that work that made her victory possible.
She filed to run against Heath in the 2022 primary, but one of Heath's supporters successfully challenged her candidacy in court, noting that one of the signers of her candidacy papers was not a Republican — the same issue that jeopardized the candidacy of Democratic Rep. Nima Kulkarni this year.
Although Holloway was deemed ineligible, he ran as an anonymous candidate in that year's general election, receiving 2,300 votes, or 17 percent of the vote.
“I've been running for this position for about two and a half years,” she said. “I'm just a nobody, but I saw a need that needed to be filled and I've approached this entire process with a sense of humility.”
Her campaign promises and message are very similar to those of other candidates in the emerging “liberal” wing of the Republican Party, emphasizing limiting government spending and regulation.
Holloway said he would “absolutely” join the informal Freedom Caucus in Frankfort, which currently has at least six members. Potential members who could join next year include Rep. Thomas Jefferson, who beat moderate Rep. Killian Timoney of Lexington in the Republican primary but must first win a tough general election in a Democratic-leaning district.
“I look forward to going there and working to reduce the size of government and give power back to the people,” Holloway said.
She said her campaign was subject to “smears” of negative emails that highlighted her decision to change her registration to the Libertarian Party in 2020 to protest pandemic restrictions, and that the attacks “questioned my loyalty to President Trump, which was not accurate,” she said.
“I tried to focus on local and state issues rather than sensationalizing issues at the federal level,” she said.
Holloway took issue with a lawsuit filed by Heath's wife and granddaughter following a serious car accident in 2017. They sought $17 million in damages against a local business for allegedly covering up a stop sign. A jury found in favor of the business, and Holloway said the lawsuit had tarnished Heath's reputation in the community.
In a statement, Heath said it has been an honor to serve in Congress and he was proud of the accomplishments he has made for his constituents, including “lowering income taxes, protecting children and unborn children, upholding constitutional rights and creating programs that have put hundreds of millions of dollars of federal and private funding to work in our communities.”
“While I am disappointed with yesterday's results, the primary election brings with it an entirely new set of challenges,” Heath said. “As I look back on my career as a legislator, I remain convinced that I have put Graves and McCracken counties first.”
Coverage of state government and politics is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.