RW—know anything about this guy or a likely replacement?
Whitfield was part of the class of 1994 and the first Republican to represent the district. Democrats gave up trying to win it back several terms ago and he has been winning in huge landslides. It is probably a safe GOP seat at this point but you never know. He’s pretty much your typical squishy right of center Republican but doesn’t stir the pot and follows the leadership.
The most high profile possible candidate in the district is the current Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer, who narrowly lost the GOP primary for governor. It would be an oddity for him to represent it, however, as the district is strangely drawn (originally gerrymanders for Democrats which later backfired). Comer is from the smaller eastern end of the district in south central Kentucky while the majority of the district is the western part of the state, so I would not say this is a shoo-in as someone prominent from the western part of the state may be able to win it...we’ll see.