2019 Kentucky elections

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]

2019 Kentucky elections

← 2018 2020 →

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

Main article: 2019 Kentucky gubernatorial election

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

Main article: 2019 Kentucky Attorney General election

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.^[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

Main article: 2019 Kentucky Secretary of State election

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[16]	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)[17][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

2019 Kentucky Auditor General election

← 2015 November 5, 2019 2023 →

Nominee Mike Harmon Sheri Donahue Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 779,729 574,769 Percentage 55.7% 41.0%

County results Precinct results Harmon:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Donahue:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80-90%      >90% Tie:      40-50%      50%      No data

Auditor before election Mike Harmon Republican Elected Auditor Mike Harmon Republican

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^[18]

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

2019 Kentucky Treasurer General election

← 2015 November 5, 2019 2023 →

Nominee Allison Ball Michael Bowman Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 856,144 555,209 Percentage 60.7% 39.3%

County results Precinct results Ball:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Bowman:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80-90%      >90% Tie:      50%      No data

Treasurer before election Allison Ball Republican Elected Treasurer Allison Ball Republican

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

2019 Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner General election

← 2015 November 5, 2019 2023 →

Nominee Ryan Quarles Robert Haley Conway Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 821,369 545,050 Percentage 58.2% 38.6%

County results Precinct results Quarles:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80-90%      >90% Conway:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80-90%      >90% Tie:      40-50%      50%      No data

Agriculture Commissioner before election Ryan Quarles Republican Elected Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles Republican

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[16]	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

Kentucky Supreme Court

Candidates

• Christopher Shea Nickell, Kentucky Court of Appeals judge for the 1st Appellate District, Division 1^[19]
• Whitney Westerfield, member of the Kentucky Senate for the 3rd District and candidate for attorney general in 2015^[20]

Results

Results by county:

  Nickell

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%

  Westerfield

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%

Both candidates were registered Republicans, but the election was conducted under a non-partisan format.^[21]

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^[22]

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

1. Poll sponsored by Democratic Attorney General Association