Longtime Kentucky Senate leader Damon Thayer says he won't seek reelection in 2024

Damon Thayer, a mainstay in the Kentucky Senate who played a key role in legalizing sports wagering and helped shape rafts of conservative policies, said Wednesday that he won't run for reelection next year.

Thayer has spent more than a decade as majority floor leader in the GOP-led Senate, putting him at the forefront of the chamber's activities. He is the longest-serving Republican to serve in that leadership post in Kentucky history, according to a release announcing his decision not to seek another term.

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"I have accomplished most of the political and policy goals I set out to achieve," Thayer said in the release. "I am grateful to the residents of the 17th District who granted me the honor of representing them in the Senate, and to my colleagues in the GOP caucus for the privilege of being their majority leader."

The Georgetown Republican, who has a year remaining in his current term, said he made the decision to step down after next year after conversations with his adult children, close friends and colleagues.

The end of his term will mark 22 years in the Senate and 12 of them as majority floor leader. His district includes Grant and Scott counties and portions of Fayette and Kenton counties.

Thayer achieved one of his long-running policy goals this year when a bill to legalize sports betting in Kentucky won final legislative approval shortly before the session ended. The measure cleared the last hurdle in the Senate after days of uncertainty over whether backers could muster enough support.

During the debate, Thayer said: "We love our sports in the commonwealth. And people want to be able to make the choice — of their own free will — to make a wager on a sports event."

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear recently said that Kentucky has collected stronger than projected tax revenues from sports wagering in the weeks since betting on ballgames started. Thayer has been a frequent critic of the governor, but the two found common ground on the sports wagering issue.

Thayer gained a reputation as a leading advocate for Kentucky's thoroughbred racing, bourbon and tourism industries. He supported of legislation for wagering on historical racing machines — a lucrative revenue source tapped into by the state’s racetracks. Historical racing machines allow people to bet on randomly generated, past horse races. The games typically show video of condensed horse races. The tracks have reinvested some of the revenue to make Kentucky’s horse racing circuit more competitive.

He backed a measure to phase out the property tax on the value of barrels of aging spirits — a key issue for bourbon producers. And he secured $75 million for tourism recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thayer's conservative credentials included support for right-to-work legislation and repeal of prevailing wage. He supported a tax overhaul in 2022 that will phase out individual income taxes in Kentucky.

His fellow Republican, Senate President Robert Stivers, said Wednesday that Thayer "has brought such conviction and passion to creating conservative legislation in Kentucky."

With one year left in his term, Thayer said he will pursue the Senate GOP's policy goals with the "vigor and enthusiasm people have come to expect" in the 2024 session, which begins in early January.

Another Georgetown Republican, state Rep. Phillip Pratt, announced on the same day that he won't seek another term in 2024. Pratt is chairman of the House Small Business and Information Technology Committee. Pratt said he will serve the remainder of his current term, adding that he hopes to "have an opportunity to accomplish a few more things before it ends."