KENTUCKY 8 Electoral Votes 
link to clickable map
Population 
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Kentucky State Board of Elections)
Total Resident Population, July 1, 2012 est.                     4,380,415
Total Registration, Nov. 2012                                              3,037,153
Dem. 1,665,853 (54.85%)   Rep. 1,151,331 (37.91%)   Other 219,969 (7.24%)
Kentucky has: 120 counties. 
Largest counties (100,000-plus): Jefferson, Fayette, Kenton, Boone, Warren and Hardin. >
Largest cities: Louisville-Jefferson, Lexington-Fayette. >

Government
Governor: Steve Beshear (D) elected 2007; re-elected in 2011.
State Legislature: Kentucky Legislature   House: 100 seats   Senate: 38 seats
Local: DLG   NACO Counties
U.S. House: 4R, 2D - 1. E.Whitfield (R) | 2. B.Guthrie (R) | 3. J.Yarmuth (D) | 4. G.Davis (R) | 5. H.Rogers (R) | 6. B.Chandler (D).
U.S. Senate: Mitch McConnell (R) re-elected in 2008, Rand Paul (R) elected in 2010. 
2012
 		U.S. House:  In the 4th CD, Rep. Geoff Davis (R) retired; Lewis County Judge Executive Thomas Massie (R) defeated engineer and attorney Bill Adkins (D).  In the 6th CD attorney Andy Barr (R) prevailed in the rematch against Rep. Ben Chandler (D) by 153,222 (50.57%) to 141,438 (46.68%) and 8,340 (2.75%) for Rudolph Vance.  The delegation goes from 4R, 2D to 5R, 1D.
State Legislature:  All 100 House seat and 19 Senate seats were up.  Control remained split; Democrats kept the House with a reduced majority (from 59R, 40R, 1v to 55R, 45D) and Republicans kept the Senate (from 22R, 15D, 1I to 22R, 14D, 1I and 1v). 

 Commonwealth of Kentucky
Board of Elections

Constitution Party of KY
KY Democratic 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 6, 2012
Voting Eligible Population*: 3,152,629.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 57.9%.


Voter Registration Deadline: October 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

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]
Primary Election - Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Total Registration: 2,980,009.  Dem. 1,646,927 (55.27%)   Rep. 1,122,447 (37.67%)   Other 210,635 (7.07%).
Democrats

OfficialResults
+Barack Obama
119,293
57.85%
Uncommitted
86,925
42.15%

206,218
Republicans
45 Delegates: 3 RNC; 24 at-large; 18 by CD (3 x 6). 
1.97% of the 2,286 Delegates.

Official Results
+Mitt Romney
117,621
66.77%
Ron Paul
22,074
12.53%
Rick Santorum
 15,629
8.87%
Newt Gingrich
 10,479
5.95%
Uncommitted
 10,357
 5.88%

176,160
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 -- 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: 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