With the midterm elections in the history books, attention now shifts to the race for Kentucky Governor.
And Republicans are hoping Tuesday’s wins will pave the way for a GOP victory in 2015.
Although the party failed to muster the votes to flip the longtime Democratic stronghold that is the state House of Representatives, party officials hope their midterm gains will translate into added momentum going into next year’s governor’s race.
Currently three GOP candidates have declared: Agriculture Commissioner Jamie Comer, former Louisville councilman Hal Heiner, and retired military veteran Robert Rosier.
With McConnell on his way back to the Senate, Comer told WUKY Tuesday night his campaign is ready to kick into full gear.
"Now the other half of our organization will be activated," he said. "We've accomplished a lot the first seven weeks with half of our organization, quite frankly, focused on the McConnell race, state House races, and local races. Beginning tomorrow, they're going to be focused on the governor's race."
So far only one Democrat, Attorney General Jack Conway, has officiallythrown his hat into the ring, but now, with Alison Lundergan Grimes losing her bid for the Senate, political observers are including her on the list of potential gubernatorial candidates.