KENTUCKY 8 Electoral Votes 
link to clickable map
Population 
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Kentucky State Board of Elections)
Total Resident Population, July 1, 2016 est.                     4,436,974
Total Registration, Nov. 2016                                             3,306,120   >  
Dem. 1,693,778 (51.23%)   Rep. 1,338,054 (40.47%)   Other 274,288 (8.30%)                             
Kentucky has: 120 counties. 
Largest counties (100,000-plus): Jefferson, Fayette, Kenton, Boone, Warren and Hardin.
Largest cities: Louisville-Jefferson, Lexington-Fayette.

Government
Governor: Matt Bevin (R) elected in 2015.
State Legislature: Kentucky Legislature   House: 100 seats   Senate: 38 seats
Local: DLG   NACO
U.S. House: 4R, 1D, 1v - 1.E.Whitfield (R)vacant | 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) re-elected in 2014, Rand Paul (R) re-elected in 2016. 
2016
 		U.S. Senate:  Sen. Rand Paul (R), seeking a second term, defeated Lexington Mayor Jim Gray (D) by 1,090,177 votes (57.27%) to 813,246 (42.72%)
U.S. House:  In CD-1, the southwest tip of the state, Rep. Ed Whitfield (R) announced in 2015, amid an ethics investigation, that he would not seek re-election; he then resigned effectve Sept. 6, 2016.  Nov. 8 was thus a special election and general election.  James Comer (R), who built Comer Family Farms, and who lost to Matt Bevin by a razor-thin margin in the May 19, 2015 Republican gubernatorial primary, overwhelmed Sam Gaskins (D) by a more than two-to-one margin.  The balance of the House delegation returns to 5R, 1D.
State Legislature:  Republicans won control of the State House for the first time since 1920.  All 100 seats were up, and the balance went from 53D, 46R, 1v to 64R, 36D.  In the Senate, 19 seats were up and the balance remained at 27R, 11D.

 Commonwealth of Kentucky
Board of Elections

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

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

H-L Bluegrass Politics

Politics1-KY
Ballotpedia-KY

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The Bluegrass State
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]
Republican Presidential Preference Caucus -- Saturday, March 5, 2016
Democratic Presidential Preference Primary -- Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Democrats
60 Delegates: 37 District, 12 At-Large, 6 PLEO, 5 Unpledged.

details


 Republicans
46 Delegates: 3 RNC; 25 At-Large; 18 by CD (3 x 6). 

details
According to statute, "The state executive committee of each political party shall, pursuant to its party's rules, determine whether to distribute its party's authorized delegate votes for presidential candidates at its party's national convention based on the results of a party caucus, a presidential preference primary, or a combination of the two (2) methods."  The primary date is the first Tuesday after the third Monday in May. (KRS 118.555, KRS 118.561, more).

General Election Winners in Kentucky, 1992-2012
1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012
Clinton
44.55%
 		Clinton
45.84%
 		Bush
56.50%
 		Bush
59.55%
 McCain
57.40%
 Romney
60.49%
  and the details...
 
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: 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