Kentucky's 4th congressional district is a

congressional district Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional body. Countries with congressional districts includ ...

in the U.S. state of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. Located in the northeastern portion of the state, it is a long district that follows the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

. However, the district is dominated by its far western portion, comprising the eastern suburbs of Louisville and Northern Kentucky, the Kentucky side of the

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

area. It is the richest congressional district in the state of

. The majority of voters live in the

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

an Cincinnati counties of Boone, Kenton, and Campbell, which includes such suburbs as Fort Mitchell, Covington,

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Newport, and Fort Thomas. The next-largest population center is the northeastern suburbs of Louisville. It stretches as far south as northern portions of the city of Bardstown. The district is currently represented by Republican Thomas Massie, who was elected in a special election in 2012 to succeed Republican Geoff Davis, who resigned on July 31, 2012, citing family concerns.

Characteristics

The 4th was one of the first areas of Kentucky to turn Republican outside of traditionally Republican south-central Kentucky; it has been in GOP hands for all but six years since 1967. Its politics are dominated by Republicans in the wealthy Cincinnati suburbs, which have swelled with former Cincinnati residents since the early 1960s. Between them, Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties have as many people as the rest of the district combined. As a measure of how much the Cincinnati suburbs have dominated the district, when Massie took office, he became the first congressman from the district's eastern portion in 45 years. Nonetheless, Democrats still hold state and local offices in rural counties. Until January 1, 2006, Kentucky did not track party affiliation for registered voters who were neither Democratic nor Republican. The Kentucky voter registration card does not explicitly list anything other than Democratic Party, Republican Party, or Other, with the "Other" option having a blank line and no instructions on how to register as something else.

Recent election results from statewide races

Composition

For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), the district contains all or portions of the following counties and communities:https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/cong_dist/cd118/cd_based/ST21/CD118_KY04.pdf
/ref> Boone County (11) : All 11 communities Bracken County (3) : All 3 communities Campbell County (16) : All 16 communities Carroll County (5) : All 5 communities Carter County (0) : No municipalities or census-recognized communities Gallatin County (3) : All 3 communities Grant County (4) : All 4 communities Greenup County (8) : All 8 communities Harrison County (2) :

Berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples of berries in the cul ...

, Cynthiana Henry County (5) : All 5 communities Kenton County (16) : All 16 communities Lewis County (3) : All 3 communities Mason County (5) : All 5 communities Nelson County (4) : Bardstown (part; also 2nd), Bloomfield,

Chaplin Chaplin may refer to: People * Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977), English comedy film actor and director * Chaplin (name), other people named Chaplin Films * ''Unknown Chaplin'' (1983) * Chaplin (film), ''Chaplin'' (film) (1992) * Chaplin (2011 fi ...

, Fairfield Oldham County (9) : All 9 communities Owen County (4) : All 4 communities Pendleton County (2) : Butler, Falmouth Robertson County (2) : Mount Olivet, Sardis (shared with Mason County) Shelby County (3) : All 3 communities Spencer County (2) : Elk Creek, Taylorsville Trimble County (2) :

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

, Milton

List of members representing the district

Recent election results

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

2024

References

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Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
04 Boone County, Kentucky Boyd County, Kentucky Bracken County, Kentucky Campbell County, Kentucky Carroll County, Kentucky Gallatin County, Kentucky Grant County, Kentucky Greenup County, Kentucky Harrison County, Kentucky Henry County, Kentucky Jefferson County, Kentucky Lewis County, Kentucky Mason County, Kentucky Oldham County, Kentucky Owen County, Kentucky Pendleton County, Kentucky Shelby County, Kentucky Spencer County, Kentucky Trimble County, Kentucky Constituencies established in 1803 1803 establishments in Kentucky Constituencies disestablished in 1933 1933 disestablishments in Kentucky Constituencies established in 1935 1935 establishments in Kentucky Richard Mentor Johnson {{notelist