Early voting began today in Kentucky's primary election as voters pick nominees for the U.S. House, state, House and state Senate, and the Kentucky State House.

There are 14 Republicans facing opposition that includes South central Kentucky's 19th House district covering Edmonson and part of Warren County.

Our Laura Rogers has more on that race as we preview Primary 2024.

A fundamental requirement of democracy is that you have choice between candidates.

And in Kentucky's 19th district, Republicans had two choices.

Incumbent Representative Michael Meredith and political newcomer Kelsey Rock.

Michael Meredith, in a lot of ways is kind of emerged as the Dean really in terms of House members representing Warren County.

We've been able through those relationships that are built in the minority and into majority to get a lot of good things done over the last several years.

Taking office in 2011.

Meredith counts among his accomplishments the Bowling Green Veterans Center being built at the Kentucky Trans Park Six and a half million dollars for Edmonson County water projects and $10 million for a new vocational center at Edmonson County High School.

We know every student's not going to go to college.

And so we need to prepare those students that are for the workforce.

And those are things that I'm really, really proud of that we've been able to accomplish.

One of the main things I want to run for is for my kids, for the kids of the Commonwealth.

Kelsey Rock, who lives on a farm in Bowling Green's Albertan community, says he believes Republicans in Frankfurt have lost sight of the social issues important to conservatives.

The Republicans that have been in the General Assembly for four years now are getting a little further away from the original values for the Republican Party.

I think if you look at this race from a broader perspective, it kind of fits a lot of races.

Rock, in this case is kind of playing the role of the outsider pitching himself as a grass roots candidate.

Rock says he's committed to fighting for school choice.

I like to call it parents choice.

I think that parents and students should have the opportunity to get the education that they want.

Rock says he supports a constitutional amendment that will be on the November ballot, letting voters decide if school choice should be further explored in Kentucky.

My opponent actually voted no against that, and it's not even making school choice a thing.

It's just giving the people of Kentucky the opportunity to vote if they want a constitutional amendment that will allow for tax dollars to move forward to fund school choice, to let the dollars follow, the student to go to private school charter schools.

Rock says he believes that policy would make public education stronger as schools would likely raise teacher salaries to compete for the best educators.

I do seem to identify way more with constitutional conservatism.

Our rights are given by God, and it's up to the government and ourselves to protect those rights.

He supports term limits, personal property rights, and the Second Amendment.

No forced vaccinations.

Our ability to run our businesses the way we need to run them with minimal government interference, with minimal taxation.

If you really look at the record of most of us who have served in Frankfurt for any length of time, we all have pretty conservative records where the liberty and the establishment wings, I think depart are on small and minor issues that that really are not big dividing issues within the caucus, but they become big personality type issues.

Meredith says if reelected, he has much more on his to do list.

I want to continue to see us getting the income tax down.

You know, I've been a part of in the years that I've been there, the years that we've been in the majority, we've lowered the income tax in Kentucky three different times from six down to four now.

And we've got it on a path to get to zero over the next several years.

He says he also wants to focus on infrastructure, needs to keep up with the district's growth.

Make sure we have infrastructure, whether it be roads, water and sewer in place to take on the massive amount of people that we think are going to be moving there in the next 20 years.

The race has turned negative with both sides lobbing attacks at the other.

Many of these are completely false or they're very misleading in what they're trying to say.

Most of it is coming from out of state money.

They've went from complete lies to extreme exaggerations.

And with just days to go before Election Day.

They're both making final pushes to get out the vote.

I plan to take this role as a true public servant.

I want to go to Frankfort and actually represent the values of Edmonson and Warren County.

I think it's important that we continue to elect people that have experience and have had a proven track record of getting things done in the districts that they represent.

And that's what I bring to the table.

And that's why I think it's important that we get as many voters as we can out during this primary.

It all comes down to whose narrative motivates voters to show up at the polls.

Supermajorities Republicans have right now are just so large that these primaries are going to be really impactful in terms of what happens in Frankfurt and save the policy agenda.

For Kentucky Edition.

I'm Laura Rogers.

Thank you, Laura.

This House contest is also among the most expensive of the state primary races.

The Bowling Green Daily News reports Representative Michael Meredith has raised $154,000 in campaign contributions.

Kelsey Rock has collected 13,000, about a third of it is his own money.

There is no Democrat running in this race, so the primary winner will serve as the district state representative during the next legislative session.