KENTUCKY
      Nov. 2, 2010 U.S. Senate                                      

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+Rand Paul (R) 
755,706
 		55.73%
Jack Conway (D)
 600,052
 		44.25%
Billy Ray Wilson (w/in)
 338

1,356,096
  
Voter Registration: 2,885,775.
Plurality: 155,654 votes (11.48 percentage points).
 KY Secretary of State



Notes: Sen. Jim Bunning (R) announced on July 27, 2009 that he would not seek a third term.  Opthamologist and Tea Party favorite Rand Paul (R), the son of U.S. Rep. and former presidential candidate Ron Paul, defeated Attorney General Jack Conway (D) and a write-in candidate to keep the seat in the Republican column (>).

In the May 18, 2010 Republican primary Secretary of State Trey Grayson was  backed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, while Paul had the energy of the Tea Party movement.  With 352,257 votes tallied, Paul defeated Secretary of State Trey Grayson by 206,986 votes (58.76%) to 124,864 votes (35.45%); four other candidates obtained the remaining 20,425 votes (5.80%) (>). 

In the Democratic primary, Conway, who was elected Attorney General in 2007, had also run for Congress in 2002, losing to Anne Northrup (R) as the Democratic nominee in CD-3.  He faced Lt. Gov. Dan Mongiardo, who had also run for Senate in 2004, winning the nomination, but losing in the general election to Sen. Bunning.  With 521,659 votes tallied, Conway defeated Mongiardo by 229,433 votes (43.98%) to 225,260 votes (43.18%); three other candidates obtained the remaining 66,966 votes (12.84%) (>). 

Both the major party candidates were relatively young; Paul was 47 years old and Conway just 41.  Paul and Conway engaged in several debates:

Oct. 11 - hosted by the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, the Kentucky Enquirer and WCPO-TV in Cincinnati, Ohio at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights (>);

Oct. 17 sponsored by the University of Louisville and WHAS-TV (>); and

Oct. 25 on KET's "Kentucky Tonight" (>).

The race appeared to be relatively competitive until the Conway campaign released a controversial ad "Aqua Buddha" on Oct. 15.  The ad spotlighted a college incident Paul was involved in, raised questions about Paul's religious faith, and generated a strong negative response.  

According to Open Secrets, the Paul campaign spent $7.7 million and the Conway campaign $5.9 million.  There was also significant outside spending; four groups invested over $1 million: on the Republican side the NRSC ($2.8M), American Crossroads ($1.5M), and the U.S Chamber of Commerce ($1.3M) and on the Democratic side the DSCC ($1.9M).


Campaign Managers:
Rand Paul:  Jesse Benton
(from May 2010, replacing Doug Adams after the primary)  Had been serving as the campaign's lead consultant.  Senior vice president of the Campaign for Liberty.  Communications director on Rep. Ron Paul's 2008 presidential campaign starting in March 2007.  President of C.I.C Solutions, a Washington, D.C. based consulting firm.  Benton has served as press secretary at Americans for Tax Reform, communications director at the American Conservative Union, director of public policy and external affairs at the Performance Institute and communications director and policy consultant for the Liberty Coalition.  He has also worked on campaigns and in corporate and trade association government relations and external affairs.  Alumnus of Mary Washington College.  Native Philadelphian.  Married to Ron Paul's granddaughter.

Jack Conway:  Charles Halloran
Chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney (FL), Jan. 2007-Jan. 2009; consulted on Mahoney's 2006 campaign.  J.D. from University of Louisville, 1988; B.A. in political science and government from Emory University, 1982.  From Lexington, KY.


See also:
Manu Raju.  "Conway campaign seeks advantage from stomping."  Politico, Oct. 27, 2010.

Manu Raju.  "'Aqua Buddha' ad backfires."  Politico, Oct. 26, 2010.

--.  "Conway 'Lying" About 'Aqua Buddha'?"  FactCheck.org, Oct. 19, 2010.
 
Jason Zengerle.  "The Most Despicable Ad of the Year."  The New Republic, Oct. 18, 2010.

Chris Matthews.  "Interview with Jack Conway."  MSNBC/"Hardball with Chris Matthews," Oct. 18, 2010.

Phil Hirschkorn, Nancy Cordes.  "Rand Paul, Jack Conway Face Off in Kentucky Senate Debate."  CBS News, Oct. 4, 2010.






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