2019 Kentucky elections

2019 Kentucky gubernatorial election
Turnout	42%
	County results; Beshear: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%; Bevin: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Governor before election; Matt Bevin; Republican	Elected Governor ; Andy Beshear; Democratic

A general election was held in the U.S. state of Kentucky on November 5, 2019, with all executive offices in the state up for election. Primary elections were held on May 21, 2019.^[1]

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

The 2019 Kentucky gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2019, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Kentucky.^[2] The Democratic nominee, Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear, defeated Republican incumbent Matt Bevin by a margin of just over 5,000 votes, or 0.37%.^[3] It was the closest gubernatorial election in Kentucky since 1899 by total votes, and the closest ever by percentage.^[4]

Bevin won 97 counties, while Beshear won only 23 counties.^[5] Beshear carried only two of the state's six congressional districts, but those districts were the state's two most urbanized, the Louisville-based 3rd and the Lexington-based 6th.^[6]

Bevin conceded on November 14, after a recanvass took place that day that did not change the vote count.^[7]^[8] ^[9] Libertarian John Hicks also qualified for the ballot and received 2% of the vote. Statewide turnout was just over 42%,^[10] much higher than for the 2015 gubernatorial election. The result was a major swing from 2016, when Donald Trump won the state by 30 points and Republicans gained a supermajority in both chambers of the Kentucky General Assembly.

Results

Kentucky gubernatorial election, 2019^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Andy Beshear	709,890	49.20%	+5.37%
	Republican	Matt Bevin (incumbent)	704,754	48.83%	−3.68%
	Libertarian	John Hicks	28,433	1.97%	N/A
	Write-in		46	0.00%	N/A
Total votes			1,443,123	100.0%	N/A
	Democratic gain from Republican

Attorney General

The 2019 Kentucky Attorney General election was conducted on November 5. Primary elections occurred on May 21, 2019.^[12] The general election was held on November 5, 2019. Incumbent Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear declined to seek reelection to a second term to successfully run for Governor. Republican Daniel Cameron defeated Democrat Greg Stumbo in a landslide.^[13] He became the first Republican attorney general of Kentucky since 1948,^[14] and the state's first black attorney general.^[15]

Results

Kentucky Attorney General election, 2019^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Daniel Cameron	823,346	57.75%	+7.86%
	Democratic	Greg Stumbo	602,272	42.25%	−7.86%
Total votes			1,425,618	100.0%
	Republican gain from Democratic

Secretary of State

Incumbent Democratic Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes was ineligible to run for a third term due to term limits. This was the only statewide race in Kentucky in 2019 besides the gubernatorial election in which the Democratic candidate came close to winning and the only non-gubernatorial statewide election in KY, LA or MS where the Democrat achieved more than 45% of the vote in 2019.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Jason Belcher, U.S. Air Force veteran and writer^[1]
Jason Griffith, teacher and businessman^[1]
Heather French Henry, former Commissioner of Veterans Affairs of Kentucky and former Miss America^[1]
Geoff Sebesta, comic book artist^[1]

Results

Democratic primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Heather French Henry	263,419	71.0
	Democratic	Jason Belcher	47,923	12.9
	Democratic	Jason Griffith	47,655	12.8
	Democratic	Geoff Sebesta	12,088	3.3
Total votes			371,085	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Michael Adams, general counsel for the Republican Governors Association and former Mitch McConnell aide^[1]
Andrew English, former general counsel for the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet and U.S. Navy veteran^[1]
Stephen Knipper, cyber security expert, former Erlanger city councilman, and nominee for Secretary of State in 2015^[1]
Carl Nett, former counterintelligence officer^[1]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Michael Adams	Andrew English	Stephen Knipper	Carl Nett	Undecided
Cygnal	May 10–12, 2019	600	± 4.0%	11%	10%	7%	5%	68%

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael Adams	94,404	41.3
	Republican	Andrew English	62,677	27.4
	Republican	Stephen Knipper	41,367	18.1
	Republican	Carl Nett	30,340	13.3
Total votes			228,788	100.0

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Heather French Henry (D)	Michael Adams (R)	Undecided
Clarity Campaign Labs (D)^[A]	August 12–13, 2019	792	± 3.3%	52%	37%	9%

Results

Kentucky Secretary of State election, 2019^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Michael Adams	746,629	52.3
	Democratic	Heather French Henry	682,096	47.7
Total votes			1,428,725	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

State Auditor

Republican primary

Candidates

Mike Harmon, incumbent State Auditor of Kentucky^[1]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Kelsey Hayes Coots, teacher^[1]
Sheri Donahue, former U.S. Navy engineer^[1]
Chris Tobe, pension consultant^[1]

Withdrew

Drew Curtis, founder of Fark and independent candidate for governor in 2015^[16]

Results

Democratic primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sheri Donahue	134,952	46.7
	Democratic	Kelsey Hayes Coots	95,685	33.1
	Democratic	Chris Tobe	58,548	20.2
Total votes			289,185	100.0

General election

Results

Kentucky State Auditor election, 2019^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Harmon (incumbent)	779,730	55.7
	Democratic	Sheri Donahue	574,820	41.0
	Libertarian	Kyle Hugenberg	46,563	3.3
Total votes			1,401,113	100.0
	Republican hold

State Treasurer

Republican primary

Candidates

Allison Ball, incumbent State Treasurer of Kentucky^[1]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Michael Bowman, bank manager and former Louisville Metro Council staffer^[1]
Josh Mers, insurance agent and treasurer for the Lexington Human Rights Commission^[1]

Results

Democratic primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Michael Bowman	218,174	66.4
	Democratic	Josh Mers	110,349	33.6
Total votes			328,523	100.0

General election

Results

Kentucky State Treasurer election, 2019^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Allison Ball (incumbent)	856,150	60.7
	Democratic	Michael Bowman	555,259	39.3
Total votes			1,411,409	100.0
	Republican hold

Agriculture Commissioner

Republican primary

Candidates

Bill Polyniak, farmer and hemp businessman^[1]
Ryan Quarles, incumbent Agriculture Commissioner of Kentucky^[1]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Bill Polyniak	Ryan Quarles	Undecided
Cygnal	May 10–12, 2019	600	± 4.0%	8%	35%	58%

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ryan Quarles (incumbent)	193,994	82.2
	Republican	Bill Polyniak	41,971	17.8
Total votes			235,965	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Robert Haley Conway, district supervisor of the Scott County Soil and Water Conservation Board and former chair of the Scott County Board of Education^[1]
Joe Trigg, Glasgow city councilman^[1]

Results

Democratic primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robert Haley Conway	202,894	60.2
	Democratic	Joe Trigg	134,009	39.8
Total votes			336,903	100.0

General election

Results

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner election, 2019^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ryan Quarles (incumbent)	821,414	58.2
	Democratic	Robert Conway	545,099	38.6
	Libertarian	Joshua Gilpin	44,596	3.2
Total votes			1,411,409	100.0
	Republican hold

Judiciary

Supreme Court

Candidates

Christopher Shea Nickell, Kentucky Court of Appeals judge for the 1st Appellate District, Division 1^[17]
Whitney Westerfield, member of the Kentucky Senate for the 3rd District and candidate for Attorney General in 2015^[18]

Results

Both candidates were registered Republicans, but the election was conducted under a non-partisan format.^[19]

Kentucky Supreme Court District 1 special election, 2019^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Christopher Shea Nickell	71,991	57.4
	Nonpartisan	Whitney Westerfield	53,633	42.6
Total votes			125,624	100.0

Court of Appeals

Kentucky Court of Appeals 3rd Division 1 special election, 2019^[20]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Nonpartisan	Jacqueline Caldwell	62,851	53.7
	Nonpartisan	Michael Caperton	54,098	46.3
Total votes			116,949	100.0

Notes

Partisan clients

^ Poll sponsored by Democratic Attorney General Association

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t Barton, Ryland (January 30, 2019). "Here's Who's Running For Kentucky Governor And Other Offices". WKMS. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
^ "Kentucky gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2019". Ballotpedia. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
^ "Watch live: Democrat Andy Beshear speaks after declaring victory in Kentucky election". CBS News. November 6, 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
^ Watson, Kathryn (November 6, 2019). "Watch live: Democrat Andy Beshear speaks after declaring victory in Kentucky election". CBS News. Archived from the original on January 10, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
^ "Voter turnout for 2019 general election". WKYT. November 6, 2019.
^ J. Miles Coleman. "... Beshear carried #KY03 (Louisville) by 37% & #KY06 (metro Lexington) by 14%. He only won two CDs, but his districts also had the highest turnout. Beshear also kept #KY04 (Cincy suburbs) close," Twitter.
^ Lemieux, Melissa (November 5, 2019). "Gov. Matt Bevin refuses to concede Kentucky race, even after Secretary of State calls it for Democrat Andy Beshear". Newsweek. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
^ Barton, Ryland (2019-11-06). "Kentucky GOP Gov. Bevin Officially Requests Recanvass Of Election Results". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
^ "Gov. Matt Bevin won't contest results, concedes from gubernatorial race". WLKY. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
^ ACQUISTO, Alex. "Voter turnout tops 41 percent in tight race for Kentucky governor". Lexington Herald Leader. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "2019 General Election" (PDF). Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
^ "Election calendar" (PDF). elect.ky.gov. 2019.
^ Wiegel, David (May 23, 2019). "Democrats look past 2020". Washington Post. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
^ "President Trump endorses Daniel Cameron in Kentucky attorney general race". WKYT-TV. July 29, 2019. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
^ Crain, Brennan (July 31, 2019). "Trump endorses Cameron for attorney general". WCLU. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
^ "Democrat Drew Curtis withdraws from auditor's race". Associated Press. April 2, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
^ "Appellate judge announces run for Supreme Court seat". Associated Press. February 6, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
^ [1]^{[dead link]}
^ Niemeyer, Liam. "Nickell Elected To Kentucky Supreme Court". www.wkms.org.
^ "Kentucky intermediate appellate court elections, 2019". Ballotpedia.

External links

Official campaign websites for Secretary of State

Michael Adams (R) for Secretary of State
Heather French Henry (D) for Secretary of State Archived 2019-08-10 at the Wayback Machine

Official campaign websites for Auditor

Official campaign websites for Treasurer

Official campaign websites for Agriculture Commissioner

Official campaign websites for Supreme Court

Whitney Westerfield for Supreme Court

[DAGA-16] Poll sponsored by Democratic Attorney General Association

[Barton-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t Barton, Ryland (January 30, 2019). "Here's Who's Running For Kentucky Governor And Other Offices". WKMS. Retrieved May 14, 2019.

[2] "Kentucky gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2019". Ballotpedia. Retrieved June 22, 2019.

[3] "Watch live: Democrat Andy Beshear speaks after declaring victory in Kentucky election". CBS News. November 6, 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2019.

[auto5-4] Watson, Kathryn (November 6, 2019). "Watch live: Democrat Andy Beshear speaks after declaring victory in Kentucky election". CBS News. Archived from the original on January 10, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2019.

[5] "Voter turnout for 2019 general election". WKYT. November 6, 2019.

[6] J. Miles Coleman. "... Beshear carried #KY03 (Louisville) by 37% & #KY06 (metro Lexington) by 14%. He only won two CDs, but his districts also had the highest turnout. Beshear also kept #KY04 (Cincy suburbs) close," Twitter.

[7] Lemieux, Melissa (November 5, 2019). "Gov. Matt Bevin refuses to concede Kentucky race, even after Secretary of State calls it for Democrat Andy Beshear". Newsweek. Retrieved 6 November 2019.

[:2-8] Barton, Ryland (2019-11-06). "Kentucky GOP Gov. Bevin Officially Requests Recanvass Of Election Results". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-11-07.

[wlky-9] "Gov. Matt Bevin won't contest results, concedes from gubernatorial race". WLKY. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.

[acquisto1-10] ACQUISTO, Alex. "Voter turnout tops 41 percent in tight race for Kentucky governor". Lexington Herald Leader. Retrieved November 5, 2019.

[KYGeneral-11] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "2019 General Election" (PDF). Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved December 7, 2019.

[12] "Election calendar" (PDF). elect.ky.gov. 2019.

[Wiegel2020-13] Wiegel, David (May 23, 2019). "Democrats look past 2020". Washington Post. Retrieved July 31, 2019.

[GeneralRace-14] "President Trump endorses Daniel Cameron in Kentucky attorney general race". WKYT-TV. July 29, 2019. Retrieved July 31, 2019.

[CrainGeneral-15] Crain, Brennan (July 31, 2019). "Trump endorses Cameron for attorney general". WCLU. Retrieved August 1, 2019.

[17] "Democrat Drew Curtis withdraws from auditor's race". Associated Press. April 2, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2019.

[18] "Appellate judge announces run for Supreme Court seat". Associated Press. February 6, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2019.

[19] [1]^{[dead link]}

[20] Niemeyer, Liam. "Nickell Elected To Kentucky Supreme Court". www.wkms.org.

[21] "Kentucky intermediate appellate court elections, 2019". Ballotpedia.

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