Democracy in Action P2020

KENTUCKY

8 Electoral Votes

Population
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Kentucky State Board of Elections)
Total Resident Population, July 1, 2019 est. 4,467,673
Total Registration, Nov. 2020 3,565,428
Kentucky has: 120 counties.
Largest counties (100,000-plus): Jefferson, Fayette, Kenton, Boone, Warren and Hardin. >
Largest cities: Louisville-Jefferson, Lexington-Fayette.

Government
Governor: Andy Beshear (D) elected in 2019.
State Legislature: Kentucky Legislature House: 100 seats Senate: 38 seats
Local: Counties KACo Municipalities KLC NACO
U.S. House: 5R, 1D - 1. J.Comer (R) | 2. B.Guthrie (R) | 3. J.Yarmuth (D) | 4. T.Massie (R) | 5. H.Rogers (R) | 6. A.Barr (R). >
U.S. Senate: Mitch McConnell (R) seeking re-election in 2020, Rand Paul (R) re-elected in 2016.

2020
Note: The 2019 race for governor set the stage for 2020.
U.S. Senate: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R), first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1984, was seeking a seventh term. McConnell was a top target for Democrats, and a lot of money flowed into this race. In the high-profile June 23 Democratic primary Amy McGrath, a Marine fighter pilot who was the Democratic nominee in CD-6 in 2018, defeated state Rep. Charles Booker, who attracted support of prominent progressives. In November McConnell defeated McGrath by 1,233,315 votes (55.76%) to 816,257 (38.23%) and 85,386 (4.00%) for Brad Barron (L).
U.S. House: All six Members were re-elected.
State Legislature: 19 of 38 Senate seats and all 100 House seats were up. Republicans made gains in both chambers; the balance in the Senate went from 28R,10D to 30R,8D and the House from 62R,38D to 75R,25D.
Ballot Measures: Kentuckians decided two constitutional amendments. They approved Amendment 1 to add a section to the constitution on victims' rights (Marsy's Law) by 63.36% to 36.64%. They defeated Amendment 2, which would have adjusted the terms of Commonwealth's Attorneys and judges of the district court and required district judges to have been licensed attorneys for at least eight years, by 69.01% to 30.99%.

Commonwealth of Kentucky
Board of Elections

KY Democratic Party
Republican Party of KY
Libertarian Party of KY
KY Green Party
Constitution Party of KY

Louisville Courier-Journal
Lexington Herald-Leader
Media (Newsp.)
TV, Radio

H-L @BGPolitics

Politics1-KY
Ballotpedia-KY

The Bluegrass State

General Election - Tuesday, November 3, 2020

Voter Registration Deadline: Oct. 5, 2020.
Election Calendar

A May 27 lawsuit led by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law eased a photo ID requirement for the Nov. 3 election and broadened the reasons a voter can cite to qualify to vote by mail (+).
On Aug. 14 Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order formalizing an agreement reached with Sec. of State Michael Adams to ensure Kentuckians can vote safely (+).

Official Results >
Trump/Pence (Rep.)	1,326,646	(62.09)
Biden/Harris (Dem.)	772,474	(36.15)
Jorgensen/Cohen (Lib.)	26,234	(1.23)
West/Tidball (Ind.)	6,483	(0.30)
Pierce/Ballard (Ind.)	3,599	(0.17)
write-ins (11)	1,332	(0.06)
Total........2,136,768

Overview: The Republican presidential ticket has carried Kentucky by solid margins since 2000 and that continued in 2020. Trump-Pence achieved a plurality of 554,172 votes (25.94 percentage points), carrying 118 of 120 counties, all except the two largest counties, Jefferson and Fayette.
BALLOT [PDF]

Democratic Presidential Preference Primary -- Tuesday, May 19, 2020 June 23, 2020

Democrats
60 Delegates: 36 District, 12 At-Large, 6 PLEO, 6 Unpledged.

Republicans

General Election Winners in Kentucky, 1992-2016

1992	1996	2000	2004	2008	2012	2016
Clinton 44.55%	Clinton 45.84%	Bush 56.50%	Bush 59.55%	McCain 57.40%	Romney 60.49%	Trump 62.52%

and the details...

General Election - Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Voting Eligible Population*: 3,276,651.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 58.7%.

Voter Registration Deadline: Oct. 11, 2016.

Official Results >
+Trump/Pence (Rep.)	1,202,971	(62.52)
Clinton/Kaine (Dem.)	628,854	(32.68)
Johnson/Weld (Lib.)	53,752	(2.79)
McMullin/Johson (Ind.)	22,780	(1.18)
Stein/Baraka (Grn.)	13,913	(0.72)
De La Fuente/Steinberg (AmD)	1,128	(0.06)
write-ins (23)	751	-
Total........1,924,149

Overview: The Republican ticket has carried Kentucky by solid margins since 2000 and that did not change in 2016. Trump-Pence achieved a plurality of 574,117 votes (29.84 percentage points), carrying 118 of 120 counties. Clinton carried only the two largest counties, Jefferson and Fayette, and her showing was worse than Obama's in 2012. In terms of visits, Donald Trump did a fundraiser at the Aviation Museum of Kentucky in Lexington on the evening of July 11. Voters in Northern Kentucky picked up some of the campaign through carry over from media in neighboring Ohio. Eastern Kentucky is coal country, where the "war on coal" is a familiar theme.
In a Dec. 4, 2015 lawsuit, Libertarian Party of Kentucky v. Grimes, the state Libertarian and the Constitution parties challenged Kentucky's ballot access requirements, which are predicated on a party's presidential candidate receiving more than 2 percent of the vote in the previous election (thereby becoming a "qualified political party" for four years). On July 8, 2016 U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove ruled against them (>).
Clinton | Trump
BALLOT [PDF]

General Election - Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Voting Eligible Population*: 3,152,629.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 57.9%.

Voter Registration Deadline: Oct. 9, 2012.

Official Results >
+Romney/Ryan (Rep.)	1,087,190	(60.49)
Obama/Biden (Dem.)	679,370	(37.80)
Stein/Honkala (Grn.)	6,337	(0.35)
Terry/Smith (Ind.)	6,872	(0.38)
Johnson/Gray (Lib.)	17,063	(0.94)
write-ins	380
Total........1,797,212

2012 Overview
President Obama's embarassing showing in the primary presaged a poor showing in the general election. Romney/Ryan achieved a plurality of 407,820 votes (22.69 percentage points), carrying 116 counties to four for Obama/Biden (Jefferson, Fayette, Franklin and Elliott). The vice presidential debate at Centre College in Danville marked the highlight of the presidential campaign in Kentucky. There were a few other visits. Mitt Romney did a fundraiser in the Louisville area on April 19 and Ann Romney did one in Lexington on Sept. 19. Libertarian VP nominee Jim Gray toured a small business in the Louisville area on Aug. 6. Green VP nominee Cheri Honkala visited coinciding with the debate and did events in Kentucky on Oct. 10-12.
Obama | (Romney)
BALLOT [PDF]

General Election -- Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Voting Eligible Population*: 3,156,794.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 57.9%.

Total Registration: 2,906,809.
Dem. 1,662,093 (57.18%) Rep. 1,053,871 (36.26%) Other 190,845 (6.57%)

Official Results >
+McCain/Palin (Rep.)	1,048,462	(57.40)
Obama/Biden (Dem.)	751,985	(41.17)
Nader/Gonzalez (Ind.)	15,378	(0.84)
Barr/Root (Lib.)	5,989	(0.33)
Baldwin/Thornsberry (Const.)	4,694	(0.26)
Total........1,826,508

2008 Overview
McCain-Palin prevailed with a plurality of 296,477 votes (16.23 percentage points), carrying 112 counties to just 8 for Obama. In terms of congressional districts, McCain carried all but the 3rd CD. In terms of 2008 campaign activity, Sen. McCain attended a fundraiser at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville on June 28, and Sen. Biden attended a fundraiser at the downtown Marriott in Louisville on Sept. 24; Gov. Palin came close with her Oct. 29 stop in Jeffersonville, IN, across the river from Louisville.
Obama/Allies | McCain/Allies | Nader

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Voting Eligible Population*: 3,057,741.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 58.7%.

Total Registration: 2,794,286.
Dem. 1,615,349 (57.81%) Rep. 996,663 (35.67%) Other 182,274 (6.52%)

+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)	1,069,439	(59.55)
Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)	712,733	(39.69)
Nader/Camejo (Ind.)	8,856	(0.49)
Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.)	2,619	(0.14)
Peroutka/Baldwin (Const.)	2,213	(0.12)
Total........1,795,860

2004 Overview
The Kerry campaign had a brief presence in the state after the Democratic Convention, but pulled out after about six weeks. Bush improved upon his 2000 showing, gaining a plurality of 356,706 votes (19.86 percentage points). Bush carried 109 counties to 11 for Kerry.
General Election Details
Kerry/Allies | Bush/Cheney '04

General Election - Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Voting Eligible Population*: 2,955,628.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 52.2%.

Total Registration: 2,556,815.
Dem. 1,539,562 (60.21%) Rep. 846,621 (33.11%) Other 170,632 (6.67%)

Official Results
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)	872,492	(56.50)
Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)	638,898	(41.38)
Nader/LaDuke (Grn.)	23,192	(1.50)
Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)	4,173	(0.27)
Browne/Olivier (Lib.)	2,896	(0.19)
Hagelin/Goldhaber (NLP )	1,533	(0.10)
Phillips/Sobran (Const. )	923	(0.06)
G.D. Strickland (w/in)	80	-
Total........1,544,187

Total Voting: 1,568,058.
Turnout: 61.3% of 2,556,815 registered voters.

2000 Overview
In 1996 Kentucky ended up as the closest state percentagewise in the presidential election, giving Clinton a margin of just 0.96%. 2000 saw a very different story as Bush handily won Kentucky's eight electoral votes, racking up a plurality of 233,594 votes (15.12 percentage points). Bush carried 105 counties to 15 for Gore. A highlight of the campaign was the vice presidential debate at Centre College in Danville on Oct. 5.
General Election Activity

1992 and 1996 General Elections

Archive Pages: 2016 | 2012 | 2008 | 2004 | 2000

1992

Clinton (Dem.)........665,104	(44.55)
Bush (Rep.)............617,178	(41.34)
Perot (Ind.)............ 203,944	(13.66)
Others (4+w/in)..........6,674	(0.45)
Total........1,492,900

1996

Clinton (Dem.)........636,614	(45.84)
Dole (Rep.)............623,283	(44.88)
Perot (Ref.)............120,396	(8.67)
Others (3+w/ins)........8,415	(0.61)
Total........1,388,708