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Friday was the deadline for candidates in the May 24 primary election in Kentucky, and eight Presidential hopefuls top the list of those who are seeking office, along with members of Congress, the state House and Senate and more, over 300 candidates in all.

President Joe Biden, who is seeking a second term, is among three Democrats who have filed their candidacy papers at the Secretary of State’s office. His challengers are Dean Phillips, 54, a Congressman from Minnesota and Marianne Williamson,71, a Houston, Texas, native who is an author.

Former President Donald Trump is seeking a return to that office, and is among five Republicans who will be on the ballot. The others are former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, 61, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, 45, former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, 51 and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, 38, a Cincinnati, Ohio, native.

A total of 23 people are seeking one of Kentucky’s six Congressional seats, including all six incumbents, consisting of five Republicans and one Democrat.

All 100 Kentucky House seats are up for election this year, along with the 19 in the odd-numbered Senate districts.  192 people have filed for the House seats and 35 in the Senate.

Thirty-five Commonwealth’s Attorney posts will be contested in 2024, with 46 people having filed their papers for those races.

There are some non-partisan races as well, within the judicial branch of government. Two people have filed for the spot on the Supreme Court bench that is being vacated by Chief Justice Laurance VanMeter, who is retiring. Two people are also running for a Court of Appeals post. Since there are only two candidates in both of those races, there will be no primary, and the two candidates will square off in November.

There are also four people running for McCracken District Court; the top two finishers in the May primary will advance to square off in the fall.

While the filing deadline has now passed for candidates, there is still plenty of time to register to vote or update your registration, especially if you have moved. The registration deadline is April 22. Find out more at https://vrsws.sos.ky.gov/ovrweb/govoteky.