KENTUCKY 8 Electoral Votes
Population 
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Kentucky State Board of Elections)
Total Population, July 1, 2004 est.              4,145,922
Total Registration, Nov. 2004 >                   2,794,286 
Dem. 1,615,349 (57.81%)   Rep. 996,663 (35.67%)   Other 182,274 (6.52%)
Kentucky has: 120 counties. 
Largest counties: Jefferson, Fayette, Kenton, Daviess, Hardin.
Largest cities: Louisville, Lexington-Fayette, Owensboro, Bowling Green.

Government
Governor: Ernie Fletcher (R) elected Nov. 2003.
State Legislature: Kentucky Legislature   House: 100 seats   Senate: 38 seats
Local: Cities, Counties NACO Counties
U.S. House: 4R, 2D - 1. E.Whitfield (R) | 2. R.Lewis (R) | 3. A.Northup (R) | 4. K.Lucas (D) | 5. H.Rogers (R) | 6. B.Chandler (D). Feb 17, 2004 special election.         >
U.S. Senate: Mitch McConnell (R) re-elected in 2002, Jim Bunning (R) re-elected in 2004. 
Constitutional Amendment No. 1 "to provide that only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be a marriage in Kentucky" was a key factor in this election; voters approved it by a 75% to 25% margin.  The U.S. Senate race proved to be much closer than anticipated as Sen. Jim Bunning (R) squeaked in with 873,507 votes to 850,885 for Daniel Mongiardo (D) (50.7% to 49.3%).  In the open 4th CD Geoff Davis (R) def. Nick Clooney (D) by 54.4% to 43.9% with 1.7% going to an Independent candidate, thereby strengthening their hold on the U.S. House delegation to 5R, 1D.  Republicans also picked up eight House seats in the Kentucky Legislature, trimming the Democrats' majority to 57 to 43.

The Bluegrass State

 Commonwealth of Kentucky
Board of Elections

Green Party of KY
KY Democratic Party
Libertarian Party of KY
Natural Law Party--KY
Reform Party of KY
Republican Party of KY
Constitution Party of KY

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

 Politics1-KY
 

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004
+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
Past Results
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
ll
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
ll
2000
+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

Primary Election -- Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Democratic  
Registered:  1,580,524
Total Votes Cast:  253,640
% of Reg. Voters:  16.0%
Votes
Percent
+John F. Kerry
 138,175
60.1%
John Edwards
 33,403
14.5%
Uncommitted
 21,199
9.2%
Joe Lieberman
 11,062
4.8%
Howard Dean
 8,222
3.6%
Wesley K. Clark
 6,519
2.8%
Al Sharpton
 5,022
2.2%
Dennis J. Kucinich
 4,508
2.0%
Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr.
1,806
0.8%
Total
229,916
57 Delegates (49 Pledged, 8 Unpledged) and 8 Alternates
Republican

Registered:  951,255
Total Votes Cast:  125,637
% of Reg. Voters:  13.2%

Votes
Percent
George W. Bush
108,603 
92.5%
Uncommitted
8,776 
7.5%
Total
117,379
46 Delegates (18 CD and 28 AL)

2000 page >

Copyright ©  2002, 2003, 2004, 2005  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action 004, 2005  Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.