The candidates for the Democratic nomination were Attorney General of Kentucky Jack Conway and his running mate State Representative Sannie Overly;[1] and retired engineer and 2014 Congressional candidate Geoff Young and his running mate Jonathan Masters.

[2] Conway and Overly easily defeated Young and Masters in the primary election for the Democratic Party nomination.

[3] For the Republicans, businessman and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2014 Matt Bevin ran on a ticket with Tea Party activist and 2014 State House candidate Jenean Hampton;[4] Agriculture Commissioner of Kentucky James Comer ran on a ticket with State Senator Christian McDaniel;[5][6] former Louisville Metro Councilman and nominee for Mayor of Louisville in 2010 Hal Heiner ran on a ticket with former Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilwoman and nominee for Kentucky State Treasurer in 2011 KC Crosbie;[7][8] and former Associate Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court Will T. Scott ran on a ticket with former Menifee County Sheriff Rodney Coffey.

[9][10] Bevin held an 83-vote lead over Comer in the primary election, with both Heiner and Scott conceding.

Spending approximately $550,000 leading up to the 2019 Kentucky gubernatorial election, the investigation led to no conclusive results regarding the culpability of Steve or Andy Beshear.

[51] Declared Declined Declared Declined Todd Hollenbach Democratic Allison Ball Republican Incumbent Democratic State Treasurer Todd Hollenbach was term-limited and could not run for re-election to a third term in office.

[45] He instead successfully ran for an open seat on the Jefferson County District Court, defeating 20 other candidates.