Sarah Cole McIntosh

Sarah Cole McIntosh
Member-elect of the Kentucky Senate
from the 36th district
Assuming office
January 1, 2027
SucceedingJulie Raque Adams
Personal details
PartyDemocratic

Sarah Cole McIntosh is an American politician. She is the Democratic member-elect of the Kentucky Senate from the 36th district, defeating Julie Raque Adams. Prior to her victory, she was a social studies teacher at Jefferson County Public Schools, where she was a Board of Education member from 2021 to 2025.

Biography

Sarah Cole McIntosh graduated from Doss High School and later studied at the University of Louisville, where she obtained a bachelor's degree in history and a master's degree in teaching. She was a teacher at the Jefferson County Public Schools, teaching social studies in middle and high school. She later retired as teacher, but remained with the JCPS as a parent–teacher association volunteer.

McIntosh was a social studies teacher at the Jefferson County Public Schools, teaching at middle and high schools. She later retired as teacher, but remained with the JCPS as a parent–teacher association volunteer, as well as a School-Based Decision Making Council member.

McIntosh ran in the 2020 Jefferson County Public Schools Board of Education election in District 7, defeating Tammy Stewart 62.6% to 36.1%; this was her first political candidacy. Her term began on January 1, 2021. McIntosh recalled about her time as a board member: "I simultaneously angered the very far left and the very far right, and so that let me know that I was in the area of ideology of the majority of the people in my community". She was not a candidate for re-election in 2024, and her term ended on January 6, 2025.

McIntosh later ran in the 2026 election as a Democratic candidate for Kentucky's 36th Senate district, which had not been held by a Democrat for three decades, challenging incumbent Julie Raque Adams. McIntosh cited extra funding for public schools as a planned legislative priority, and cited childcare, education, and healthcare as campaign priorities. She won the Democratic primary in May, defeating basketball player Luke Whitehead 57.9% to 42.1%. She defeated Adams in the November general election, 52.0% to 48.0%.

McIntosh lives in Middletown with her husband Rusty and two children.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Clark, Jess (October 18, 2020). "Election 2020: School Board Candidates In District 7". Louisville Public Media. Retrieved November 6, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kim-Martinez, Isaiah (January 8, 2026). "Former JCPS Board member launches bid for Kentucky Senate seat". WHAS.
  3. 1 2 Kobin, Billy (November 5, 2020). "Incumbent Kolb, newcomer McIntosh poised to win election". The Courier-Journal. p. A6.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Sarah Cole McIntosh". Ballotpedia. Retrieved November 6, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 Ladd, Sarah (November 4, 2026). "In Kentucky statehouse races, Democrats flip 9 seats but balance of power remains the same". Kentucky Lantern. Retrieved November 6, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Meet Sarah Cole McIntosh". www.sarahcolemcintosh.com. Retrieved November 6, 2026.