State Rep. Bill Wesley challenges State Sen. Brandon Smith in District 30 race
The two Republican candidates on state Senate District’s 30 primary ballot are familiar with each other.
Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, told the Herald-Leader his challenger Rep. Bill Wesley, R-Ravenna, has been “a frequent visitor” in his office, so he was surprised when Wesley filed to run against him.
Meanwhile, Wesley said in an interview after he won his third term in the House, Smith told him he was going to retire and wanted to know if Wesley wanted the seat.
“I was all for that, but after I went ahead and threw my hat in the ring, (Smith) changed his mind, and I just decided I wasn’t going to look indecisive,” Wesley said.
Smith has a different perspective. While he previously talked to Wesley about taking his spot if he ran for U.S. Rep. Republican Hal Roger’s seat or retire, Smith said he never told Wesley he was retiring this year.
“It would be fair for him to say that I had discussed with (Wesley), or he’d come to me and said he was interested in it when I retired,” Smith said. “And I said ‘yes, we could maybe help you with our team to do it.’”
Now, whoever secures the Republican nomination in May will most likely represent the Eastern Kentucky district with no Democrat running in the race.
While Smith is banking on incumbency and leadership in energy policy, Wesley hopes his commitment to serving the “everyday people” and ability to build relationships in the House will win him the seat.
Brandon Smith
Smith has represented the district since 2008 after serving in the Kentucky House for eight years. Throughout his time in the Senate, Smith has positioned himself at the forefront of energy policy, rising up to chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee.
Smith has and wants to continue addressing recent power rate hikes in Eastern Kentucky, which he believes is a battle unique to his district. Earlier this year, the Kentucky Public Service Commission approved Kentucky Power to implement a 6% residential base-rate increase, where average residential customers in 20 of Kentucky’s easternmost counties will pay $10.76 more per month in 2026.
“I‘ve really been on a war, my own kind of crusade, against these power rates that have taken off in Eastern Kentucky,” Smith said. “The battle I fight doesn’t affect Louisville... it’s not going to affect Lexington and other places.”
That crusade includes spearheading legislation during this year’s legislative session, Senate Bill 8, which reshaped the PSC by expanding membership from three to 5 commissioners and establishing professional qualifications for membership.
The PSC regulates Kentucky’s utility providers and is charged with protecting customers, vetting power generation plants and utility sales and rate hikes. Smith believes his bill, which became law without Gov. Andy Beshear’s signature, will strengthen the commission and help reduce utility rates.
“I firmly believe that having these extra personnel that are fully trained in this, they’ll be able to go back and dig in and take a look and make sure that some of these cases that people have looked at and have proved that were fair and needed,” Smith said.
Another issue important to Smith is housing.
During the 2022 special session that addressed massive flooding in Eastern Kentucky, Smith filed a floor amendment, which added another $50 million in housing assistance for Eastern Kentuckians to a nearly $213 million total disaster relief package.
But there wasn’t enough support from legislative leaders or Beshear, who indicated the funds weren’t available at the time for the amendment to pass.
“I think it’d be fair to say that I have literally dedicated more time and energy than any other member I can think of for housing issue(s),” Smith said. He added his district had a housing crisis before the 2022 Eastern Kentucky floods, which made the crisis worse.
Besides his incumbency, energy policy expertise and committee chairmanship, Smith believes his voting record and “being in sync” with his district is what will get him reelected.
“I get teased about this in Frankfort, that people think that I have like a romance going on with my district,” Smith said. “Because if you don’t have water in my district, I’ll bring it to you... If you can’t go get your medicine, I will pick it up... And I have done this year after year, not just (during an) election year.”
Bill Wesley
If Wesley wins the district’s seat, he wants to focus on improving water and sewage infrastructure and supporting veterans. He is the vice-chair of the House Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Committee.
“I want to make sure that (veterans) get the benefits that they are entitled to,” Wesley said. “...When you see people have committed suicide because they can’t adapt when they get home, we should have programs set up for these guys that (say) we’re going to help you when you get back home, and we’re enjoying the freedoms that we have today is because the sacrifice you and your family makes.”
In 2024, Wesley filed House Bill 86, which became law, that allows members of the Kentucky National Guard or the Reserves to be buried in the state’s veterans cemeteries.
Wesley has also been at the forefront of addressing the “culture wars” in Frankfort. Wesley was the primary sponsor in 2023 of a bill banning transgender students from using the bathroom that aligns with their gender identity. Portions of that bill were included in Senate Bill 150, which later became law.
He also filed a bill this session that would ban people from using bathrooms in public buildings that don’t align with their sex assigned at birth, though that one didn’t make significant movement. That legislation was a response to a 2025 confrontation, where Wesley summoned police on Carma Bell Marshall, a drag queen who is transgender, for using a women’s restroom on the Capitol’s first floor.
When asked if he would continue filing similar legislation in the Senate, he said he wouldn’t mind if it comes up.
‘”I’ll do that because I think that women should have the right to privacy, instead of a man pretending to be a woman, and then you have to go in a bathroom and be on guard. That’s ridiculous,” Wesley said.
Senate leadership backing Smith, also draws attention from the Family Foundation
In January, Senate President Robert Stivers told reporters the Republican Caucus is supporting Smith in the May election.
“Brandon has been a long time legislator, serving in the house, then in the Senate, (he’s had) period of time in leadership and a committee chair, (and is) currently a committee chair,” Stivers said. “So, we plan to be fully supportive of Brandon... We’re going to do all the things you do in a traditional race. We’ll poll it. We’ll see you know what the name recognition is and what’s needed, and then we’ll determine our budgets and go from there.”
Wesley though said he’s not concerned that Senate leadership is backing Smith.
“Money is not going buy this campaign,” Wesley said. “It don’t matter how much money that people put in, and I understand that they have commitment, (and) that they’re going to support their own. I understand that.”
Smith has around $58,100 cash on hand, while Wesley has around $850, according reports from the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance.
When asked what he believes the district is missing from their current senator, Wesley said Smith has garnered a nickname of “No-Show Brandon.”
“You hear all kinds of broken promises from these people like,” Wesley said “They said they’re going to do this or be there, and they never show up. They never come around. You see them during the time of election. I’ll make a commitment, and I’ll go public with this, my people (are) going to know me.”
Smith said he’s never heard of that nickname.
“I think that’s just politics, and... (he’s) got to come up some direct narrative,” Smith said.
Wesley also mentioned a recent controversy between Smith and the Family Foundation as an example of Smith “taking credit” that isn’t his.
In a social media post from April 15, the Family Foundation, a group that advocates for “God-honoring public policy,” the organization said Smith was “falsely representing that the Family Foundation endorsed his campaign.”
“Several of his campaign materials, including billboards, print materials, and his website, falsely claim that The Family Foundation endorsed his campaign,” the social media post said. “We have NOT endorsed Senator Smith’s campaign, and he is using our logo without permission.”
The group sent Smith a cease and desist letter, asking him to remove the “inaccurate information from his campaign materials.”
David Walls, executive director for the Family Foundation, told the Herald-Leader the Family Foundation does not endorse candidates.
“We just wanted to go on the record and and and make sure that we protected the integrity of our organization and did what we could to at least try to correct the record, because we think the truth matters,” Walls said.
Smith said throughout he’s political career, he’s had strong relationships with Family Foundation members.
“I didn’t understand the hateful tone that the letter I’d gotten about something that was so simple to fix,” Smith said. “We want to stay in compliance. If there’s any issue about something on an advertising thing that needed to be fixed, I’m more than happy to do that.”
He added after receiving the letter, Smith reminded the organization that he’s been “in their corner” for over 20 years and received support from some members.
“I just made it clear to the people that have been with me all these years (that) I’ve been there,” Smith said. “I knew a lot of the people at Family Foundation cannot believe that I was received a letter like that. I’ve received a lot of love of saying: ‘Listen, we wouldn’t talk to anybody like that. Nobody in the family foundation wants to be associated with speaking to even our enemies like that.’”
