Mayfield's Fred Nesler - Graves Countian leaving the General Assembly this year.

In modern history, West Kentucky has never been a position for complete political and social change. Of the region’s four serving state senators, three have made plans to retire this year.

This same story of retirement is also a factor with the House seats of the Jackson Purchase and Pennyrile areas. Of the region’s six incumbent House of Representative members, four are retiring in 2012.

In modern American and for that matter, Kentucky politics, power goes to the incumbents. According to a survey of multiple years of Kentucky legislative elections, Mary Potter found in 2008 that incumbents have a 95% chance of being re- elected due to name recognition, an ability to control election media and fund raising. Despite the overwhelming possibility of keeping their jobs, ten members of the General Assembly from Western Kentucky are quitting.

The new political reality for far Western  Kentucky is that 70% of elected political power is now up for grabs.

The winners of the 2012 elections in the west will have a direct impact upon (1) control of the Kentucky Senate (2) control of the House of Representatives (3) outcome of presidential election in Kentucky, and  (4) restructuring political landscape for the US Senate race in 2014.