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Elections in Kentucky

Elections in Kentucky
Federal government
Presidential elections
Presidential primaries
Democratic
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Republican
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
U.S. Senate elections
U.S. House of Representatives elections
State government
State elections
Gubernatorial elections
Lieutenant gubernatorial elections
Secretary of State elections
Attorney General elections
Auditor of Public Accounts elections
State Treasurer elections
Commissioner of Agriculture elections
Senate elections
House of Representatives elections
Supreme Court elections
Ballot measures
2004
Amendment 1
2022
Amendment 2
2024
Amendment 2
Lexington
Mayoral elections
Louisville
Mayoral elections
Government

Elections in the U.S. state of Kentucky are held regularly.[1] Politics in Kentucky has historically been very competitive. The state leaned toward the Democratic Party during the 1860s after the Whig Party dissolved. During the Civil War, the southeastern part of the state aligned with the Union and tended to support Republican candidates thereafter, while the central and western portions remained heavily Democratic even into the following decades. Kentucky would be part of the Democratic Solid South until the mid-20th century.

As of April 2024, 46.25 percent of the state's voters were officially registered as Republicans, while 43.36 percent were registered Democrats, whose members tend to be conservative. Some 10.40 percent were registered with another political party or as Independents.[2] Despite past Democratic voter registration advantage, the state has elected Republican candidates for federal office routinely since the beginning of the 21st century.

In a 2020 study, Kentucky was ranked as the 8th hardest state for citizens to vote in.[3]

Voter Registration

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Current voter registration by county.
  Republican
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
  Democratic
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%

On July 1, 2025, the state had 3,336,556 registered voters, who were registered with the following parties.

Party Registration
Voters %
Republican 1,583,527 47.46
Democratic 1,390,282 41.67
Independent 164,800 4.94
Libertarian 15,570 0.47
Green 2,501 0.07
Constitution 1,484 0.04
Socialist Workers 642 0.02
Reform 231 0.01
"Other" 177,519 5.32
Total 3,336,556 100.00
Source: Kentucky State Board of Elections

Ballot access

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Kentucky law divides political parties into three classes, depending on the percentage of the statewide vote they received in the previous presidential election. The three classes are political parties, political organizations, and political groups. Candidates from each class are subject to differing rules of ballot access.

Political parties

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Political parties are the first class of parties and must receive twenty percent of the statewide vote in the previous presidential election. Political party candidates are required to be nominated by primary elections, which are operated by the state. Kentucky has closed primaries, meaning that only voters registered with a party may vote in its primary election.

Following the 2024 presidential election, there were two political parties in Kentucky:

Political organizations

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Political organizations are the second class of parties and must receive two percent of the statewide vote in the previous presidential election. Political organizations may elect to hold a primary election privately funded by the party, or to nominate a slate of candidates for office by statewide convention. Political organization candidates who are denied nomination by the party may nonetheless run for office by petition with the amount of signatures required for political group candidates.

Following the 2024 presidential election, there were zero political organizations in Kentucky.

Former political organizations include:

Political groups

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Political groups are the third class of parties who did not receive at least two percent of the statewide vote in the previous presidential election. Political groups are not automatically given ballot access; political group candidates must instead run for office by petition. Independent candidates must run for office in the same manner.

Current political groups recognized by the Kentucky State Board of Elections are:[4]

The number of signatures required of candidates for each office are as follows:[5]

Independent candidate signature requirements
US Senate
Governor
Other statewide office[a] 		5,000
US House 400
County officer[b]
State legislator[c]
Commonwealth’s Attorney 		100
Officer of a division less than a county[d] 20
City officer[e] 2

Presidential elections

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United States presidential election results for Kentucky[6]
Year Republican / Whig Democratic Third party(ies)
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2024 1,337,494 64.40% 704,043 33.90% 35,289 1.70%
2020 1,326,646 62.05% 772,474 36.13% 38,889 1.82%
2016 1,202,971 62.52% 628,854 32.68% 92,325 4.80%
2012 1,087,190 60.47% 679,370 37.78% 31,488 1.75%
2008 1,048,462 57.37% 751,985 41.15% 27,140 1.49%
2004 1,069,439 59.54% 712,733 39.68% 13,907 0.77%
2000 872,492 56.50% 638,898 41.37% 32,797 2.12%
1996 623,283 44.88% 636,614 45.84% 128,811 9.28%
1992 617,178 41.34% 665,104 44.55% 210,618 14.11%
1988 734,281 55.52% 580,368 43.88% 7,868 0.59%
1984 822,782 60.04% 539,589 39.37% 8,090 0.59%
1980 635,274 49.07% 616,417 47.61% 42,936 3.32%
1976 531,852 45.57% 615,717 52.75% 19,573 1.68%
1972 676,446 63.37% 371,159 34.77% 19,894 1.86%
1968 462,411 43.79% 397,541 37.65% 195,941 18.56%
1964 372,977 35.65% 669,659 64.01% 3,469 0.33%
1960 602,607 53.59% 521,855 46.41% 0 0.00%
1956 572,192 54.30% 476,453 45.21% 5,160 0.49%
1952 495,029 49.84% 495,729 49.91% 2,390 0.24%
1948 341,210 41.48% 466,756 56.74% 14,692 1.79%
1944 392,448 45.22% 472,589 54.45% 2,884 0.33%
1940 410,384 42.30% 557,322 57.45% 2,457 0.25%
1936 369,702 39.92% 541,944 58.51% 14,560 1.57%
1932 394,716 40.15% 580,574 59.06% 7,773 0.79%
1928 558,734 59.36% 381,070 40.48% 1,470 0.16%
1924 398,966 48.93% 374,855 45.98% 41,511 5.09%
1920 452,480 49.26% 456,497 49.69% 9,659 1.05%
1916 241,854 46.50% 269,990 51.91% 8,225 1.58%
1912 115,512 25.46% 219,584 48.40% 118,602 26.14%
1908 235,711 48.03% 244,092 49.74% 10,916 2.22%
1904 205,457 47.13% 217,170 49.82% 13,319 3.06%
1900 227,132 48.51% 235,126 50.21% 6,007 1.28%
1896 218,171 48.93% 217,894 48.86% 9,863 2.21%
1892 135,462 39.74% 175,461 51.48% 29,941 8.78%
1888 155,138 44.98% 183,830 53.30% 5,900 1.71%
1884 118,690 42.93% 152,961 55.32% 4,830 1.75%
1880 106,490 39.87% 148,875 55.74% 11,739 4.39%
1876 97,568 37.44% 160,060 61.41% 2,998 1.15%
1872 88,766 46.44% 99,995 52.32% 2,374 1.24%
1868 39,566 25.45% 115,889 74.55% 0 0.00%
1864 27,787 30.17% 64,301 69.83% 0 0.00%
1860 1,364 0.93% 25,651 17.54% 119,201 81.52%
1856 0 0.00% 74,642 52.54% 67,416 47.46%
1852 57,428 51.44% 53,949 48.32% 266 0.24%
1848 67,145 57.46% 49,720 42.54% 0 0.00%
1844 61,249 54.09% 51,988 45.91% 0 0.00%
1840 58,488 64.20% 32,616 35.80% 0 0.00%
1836 36,861 52.59% 33,229 47.41% 0 0.00%
1832 43,449 54.49% 36,292 45.51% 0 0.00%
1828 31,468 44.46% 39,308 55.54% 0 0.00%
1824 0 0.00% 6,356 27.23% 16,982 72.77%

Since 1952, voters in the Commonwealth supported the three Democratic candidates elected to the White House, all from Southern states: Lyndon B. Johnson from Texas in 1964, Jimmy Carter from Georgia in 1976, and Bill Clinton from Arkansas in 1992 and 1996. But by the 21st century, the state had become a Republican stronghold in federal elections, supporting that party's presidential candidates by double-digit margins since 2000.

From 1964 through 2004, Kentucky voted for the eventual winner of the presidential election each time, until losing its bellwether status in the 2008 election. That year Republican John McCain won Kentucky, carrying it 57 percent to 41 percent, but lost the national popular and electoral votes to Democrat Barack Obama. Further hampering Kentucky's status as a bellwether state, 116 of Kentucky's 120 counties supported Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012 election, who lost to Barack Obama nationwide.[7][8]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Secretary of State, Attorney General, Auditor of Public Accounts, State Treasurer, or Commissioner of Agriculture.
  2. ^ Judge/Executive, Commissioner, County Clerk, Attorney, Jailer, Coroner, Surveyor, Property Valuation Administrator, Sheriff, or Circuit Clerk.
  3. ^ Member of the Kentucky Senate or House of Representatives.
  4. ^ Constable, Magistrate, or Justice of the Peace.
  5. ^ Mayor or City Councilman. However, most city elections in Kentucky are nonpartisan.

References

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  1. ^ "Kentucky: Election Tools, Deadlines, Dates, Rules, and Links - Vote.org". vote.org. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  2. ^ "Election Statistics Registration Statistics". elect.ky.gov. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  3. ^ J. Pomante II, Michael; Li, Quan (15 Dec 2020). "Cost of Voting in the American States: 2020". Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy. 19 (4): 503–509. doi:10.1089/elj.2020.0666. S2CID 225139517. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  4. ^ 31 KAR 4:150
  5. ^ KRS 118.315
  6. ^ Leip, David. "Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Kentucky". US Election Atlas. Retrieved December 31, 2009.
  7. ^ "2012 Kentucky Presidential Results". POLITICO. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  8. ^ POLITICO. "2012 Election Results Map by State – Live Voting Updates". POLITICO. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
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