David Osborne

Republican Party

Candidate, Kentucky House of Representatives District 59

Kentucky House of Representatives District 59

Tenure

2005 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

21

Compensation

Base salary

$203.28/calendar day for legislators elected before December 31, 2024. $221.94/calendar day for legislators elected after January 1, 2025.

Per diem

$195.80/day

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Next election

November 3, 2026

Education

Bachelor's

University of Kentucky

Personal

Profession

Business owner

Contact

Official website

Official X

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

David Osborne (Republican Party) is a member of theKentucky House of Representatives, representingDistrict 59. He assumed office in 2005. His current term ends on January 1, 2027.

Osborne becamespeaker of the House on January 8, 2019. He was previously the first Republican House speaker pro tempore (2017-2018), and assumed the speaker's duties in 2018. The House speaker at the time,Jeffrey Hoover (R), resigned after admitting to settling a sexual harassment allegation from one of his staffers.^[1]

Osborne was born on March 27, 1964, inOldham County, Kentucky. He received a B.S. in economics and agricultural economics from the University of Kentucky in 1986. Osborne was an auditor for the Federal Farm Credit Administration and a realtor for H. Barry Smith Realtors. As of May 2024, he owned and operated Deerfield Farm, which breeds thoroughbred horses for racing.^[2][3]

Osborne first won election toKentucky House of Representatives District 59 in 2004. He began serving as chair of the House Committee on Committees and the House Rules Committee in 2019.^[2] In 2022, Osborne was the first Republican in Kentucky history to be nominated House speaker for a third term.^[4] In 2024, he also became the first Republican to be nominated for a fourth term.^[5]

During his 2020 re-election campaign, Osborne said his priorities included "increasing workforce participation, developing infrastructure to handle growth, and alleviating inflation."^[6] The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce endorsed Osborne in previous elections and awarded him with their MVP Award, which awards those who "show strong leadership for the business community by sponsoring or carrying Chamber priority legislation to final passage, showing leadership on passage of critical legislation to improve Kentucky, or by taking hard votes in defense of business."^[7]

Biography

Osborne's professional experience includes working as the owner of Deerfield Farm, an auditor for the Federal Farm Credit Administration, and a realtor with H. Barry Smith Realtors. Osborne is a member of the Kentucky Association of Realtors, Kentucky Equine Education Project, Prospect Christian Church, and the Thoroughbred Club of America.^[8]

Committee assignments

2025-2026

Osborne was assigned to the following committees:

• House Committee On Committees,Chair
• House Rules Committee,Chair

2023-2024

Osborne was assigned to the following committees:

• House Committee On Committees,Chair
• House Rules Committee,Chair

2021-2022

Osborne was assigned to the following committees:

• House Committee On Committees,Chair
• House Rules Committee,Chair

2019-2020

Osborne was assigned to the following committees:

• House Committee On Committees,Chair
• House Rules Committee,Chair

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Osborne served on the following committees:

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Osborne served on the following committees:

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Osborne served on the following committees:

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Osborne served on the following committees:

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according toBillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2026

See also: Kentucky House of Representatives elections, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on May 19, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

General election for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59

IncumbentDavid Osborne (R) is running in the general election for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59 on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
		David Osborne (R)

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined.
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Democratic primary

The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

Democratic primary for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59

Pandora Sears (D) andStephanie White (D) are running in the Democratic primary for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59 on May 19, 2026.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Pandora Sears
	Submit photo	Stephanie White

---

	There are noincumbents in this race.
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Republican primary

The Republican primary scheduled for May 19, 2026, was canceled. IncumbentDavid Osborne (R) advanced from the Republican primary for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59 without appearing on the ballot.

Endorsements

2024

See also: Kentucky House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59

IncumbentDavid Osborne won election in the general election for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David Osborne (R)	100.0	18,552

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 18,552
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. IncumbentDavid Osborne advanced from the Republican primary for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59.

Endorsements

2022

See also: Kentucky House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59

IncumbentDavid Osborne won election in the general election for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David Osborne (R)	100.0	12,655

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 12,655
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59

IncumbentDavid Osborne defeatedBridgette Ehly in the Republican primary for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59 on May 17, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David Osborne	67.8	4,164
		Bridgette Ehly	32.2	1,975

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,139
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2020

See also: Kentucky House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59

IncumbentDavid Osborne won election in the general election for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David Osborne (R)	100.0	21,687

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 21,687
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59

IncumbentDavid Osborne defeatedTiffany Dunn in the Republican primary for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59 on June 23, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David Osborne	78.3	6,164
	Submit photo	Tiffany Dunn	21.7	1,712

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,876
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2018

See also:Kentucky House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59

IncumbentDavid Osborne defeatedDiane Seaman andSamantha Gerges in the general election for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		David Osborne (R)	60.9	12,259
		Diane Seaman (D)	36.3	7,303
	Submit photo	Samantha Gerges (Independent)	2.9	579

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 20,141
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59

Diane Seaman advanced from the Democratic primary for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59 on May 22, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		Diane Seaman

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59

IncumbentDavid Osborne advanced from the Republican primary for Kentucky House of Representatives District 59 on May 22, 2018.

		Candidate
✔		David Osborne

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified.
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

2016

See also:Kentucky House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for theKentucky House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on May 17, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was January 26, 2016.

IncumbentDavid Osborne ran unopposed in the Kentucky House of Representatives District 59 general election.^[9][10]

Kentucky House of Representatives District 59, General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	David OsborneIncumbent (unopposed)	100.00%	19,159
Total Votes				19,159
Source:Kentucky State Board of Elections

IncumbentDavid Osborne ran unopposed in the Kentucky House of Representatives District 59 Republican primary.^[11]

Kentucky House of Representatives District 59, Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Republican	David OsborneIncumbent (unopposed)

2014

See also:Kentucky House of Representatives elections, 2014

Elections for theKentucky House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on May 20, 2014. The general election was held onNovember 4, 2014. Thesignature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was January 28, 2014.James Victor Ewen ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, while incumbentDavid W. Osborne ran unopposed in the Republican primary. Osborne defeated Ewen in the general election.^[12][13][14]

Kentucky House of Representatives, District 59 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	David OsborneIncumbent	73.3%	12,235
	Democratic	James Victor Ewen	26.7%	4,447
Total Votes				16,682

2012

See also:Kentucky House of Representatives elections, 2012

Osborne won re-election in the2012 election forKentucky House of Representatives District 59. He ran unopposed in the Republican primary on May 22, 2012, and was unopposed in the general election on November 6, 2012.^[15][16]

2010

See also:Kentucky House of Representatives elections, 2010

Osborne won re-election to the 59th District Seat on November 2, 2010. He was unopposed, and received a total of 15,570 votes.^[17]

Osborne ran unopposed in the May 18 Republican primary election.^[18][19]

2008

On November 4, 2008, Osborne was re-elected to the 59th District Seat in theKentucky House of Representatives with no opposition.^[20] He raised $28,037 for his campaign.^[21]

Kentucky House of Representatives, District 59 (2008)
Candidates		Votes	Percent
David Osborne (R)		20,449	100%

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

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2024

David Osborne did not completeBallotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

David Osborne did not completeBallotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

David Osborne did not completeBallotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf.Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at theFEC website. Clickhere for more on federal campaign finance law andhere for more on state campaign finance law.

2016 Republican National Convention

See also:Republican National Convention, 2016

Osborne wasa delegate to the2016 Republican National Convention fromKentucky.^[22] In theKentucky Republican caucuses on March 5, 2016,Donald Trump received 17 delegates,Ted Cruz received 15, andMarco Rubio andJohn Kasich received seven each. Ballotpedia was not able to identify which candidate Osborne was bound by state party rules to support at the national convention. If you have information on how Kentucky’s Republican delegates were allocated, please emaileditor@ballotpedia.org.^[23]

Delegate rules

See also:RNC delegate guidelines from Kentucky, 2016 andRepublican delegates from Kentucky, 2016

Delegates from Kentucky to theRepublican National Convention were selected by nomination committees and approved at the county and state conventions. Kentucky GOP rules required national convention delegates to have supported the 2012 Republican presidential nominee. Kentucky GOP rules and Kentucky state law required delegates from Kentucky to vote for the candidate to whom they were allocated through the first round of voting at the national convention. If a candidate died or withdrew prior to the first round of voting at the national convention, the chairman of the Kentucky delegation was to call a meeting at which the delegates were to vote on the remaining candidates and be reallocated on the basis of the results.

Kentucky caucus results

See also:Presidential election in Kentucky, 2016

Kentucky Republican Caucus, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes	Delegates
Donald Trump	35.9%	82,493	17
Ted Cruz	31.6%	72,503	15
Marco Rubio	16.4%	37,579	7
John Kasich	14.4%	33,134	7
Ben Carson	0.8%	1,951	0
Rand Paul	0.4%	872	0
Other	0.2%	496	0
Jeb Bush	0.1%	305	0
Mike Huckabee	0.1%	174	0
Chris Christie	0%	65	0
Carly Fiorina	0%	64	0
Rick Santorum	0%	31	0
Totals		229,667	46
Source:The New York Times andRepublican Party of Kentucky

Delegate allocation

See also:2016 presidential nominations: calendar and delegate rules

Kentucky had 46 delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Of this total, 18 were district-level delegates (three for each of the state's six congressional districts). District delegates were allocated proportionally; a candidate had to win at least 5 percent of the statewide caucus vote in order to be eligible to receive any district delegates.^[24][25]

Of the remaining 28 delegates, 25 served at large. At-large delegates were allocated proportionally; a candidate had to win at least 5 percent of the statewide caucus vote in order to be eligible to receive any of the state's at-large delegates. In addition, three national party leaders (identified on the chart below as RNC delegates) served as bound delegates to the Republican National Convention. The RNC delegates were allocated in the same manner as the at-large delegates.^[24][25][26]

Scorecards

See also:State legislative scorecards andState legislative scorecards in Kentucky

Ascorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Kentucky scorecards, email suggestions toeditor@ballotpedia.org.

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