Scrutinel— 2026 midterms

UpdatedOct 10, 2026, 11:27 AM EDT
To election day24 days
Simulations200,000

Kentucky 4th District

Currently held by a Republican · open seat

Democrat
Melissa Strange
1%
Republican
Ed Gallrein
99%
ForecastSafe R
Projected margin
R+27.4
80% range
R+39.9 to R+14.8
Partisan lean
R+35.1
Uncertainty multiplier
2.01×

The 80% range comes from 200,000 simulations in which this race’s error is correlated with every other race through the national, state and demographic layers.

How the estimate is built
Fundamentals >99.9%
Polling average
no polls
Fundamentals
R+27.1
Blended
R+27.1
Similar-race shift
+2.6
Polling

No public polling of this matchup. The forecast rests on fundamentals plus the polling residuals of demographically and politically similar races — which is the normal case: most of the 435 House seats are never polled.

Fundamentals
Partisan lean
R+35.1
Elasticity
0.94
Incumbency
0.0
Candidate experience
0.0
Fundraising
−4.0
National environment
D+7.1
Expected margin
R+29.7
How it voted for presidenttwo-party
2024 margin
R+36.2
2020 margin
R+33.3
Shift 2020 → 2024
R+2.8
Votes cast, 2024
375,012

Presidential results reaggregated onto the 2026 district lines. This is where the seat’s partisan lean comes from, and it carries most of the forecast in a race nobody has polled.

Who lives hereCensus ACS
Population
569,659
Median age
49.2
Median household income
$75,800
Bachelor’s degree or higher
31%
White
89%
Black
4%
Hispanic
3%
Asian
2%

Used to find demographically similar districts, so a race with no polling can borrow the polling error of races that look like it.

Campaign fundraisingFEC filings to Invalid Date
CandidatePartyRaisedCash on hand
Ed GallreinREP$3.6M$179k
Melissa Claire StrangeDEM$94k$11k

Receipts across the cycle, from FEC bulk filings. The model uses the ratio between the two sides rather than either total, and weights it lightly — money follows a competitive race at least as much as it causes one.

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