Home » The Bottom Line: Beshear beats Bevin

The Bottom Line: Beshear beats Bevin

Voter turnout at approximately 42 percent

By Jacqueline Pitts, The Bottom Line

Democratic candidate Andy Beshear declared victory in last night’s governor’s race.

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Democrat Andy Beshear won the Kentucky governor’s race on Tuesday night, defeating incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin.

Beshear led Bevin in a tight race with 49.2 percent of the vote compared to the Republican incumbent’s 48.9 percent. The independent in the governor’s race received 2 percent of the vote.

According to the Courier Journal, with 100 percent of Kentucky precincts reporting, Beshear had a lead over Bevin of 5,100 votes out of more than 1.4 million counted Tuesday. That’s a margin of 0.3 percentage points, according to the Associated Press.

Bevin has not conceded the race, however. A recount is a possibility. Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes declared Beshear the winner.

GOP candidate Daniel Cameron won the attorney general’s race, making him the first Republican to hold the position in over 70 years. Cameron was running against Democrat Greg Stumbo, who held the office from 2003-2007 and served in the Kentucky state House. The final numbers in that race were 58 percent-42 percent.

Republicans were also successful in all other down-ballot races Tuesday night, including treasurer, agriculture commissioner, auditor, and secretary of state.

Incumbent Allison Ball won the treasurer race, defeating Democrat Michael Bowman with 60 percent of the vote.


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Incumbent Republican Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles also pulled in 58 percent of the vote, beating Democratic candidate Robert Haley Conway.

The state auditor’s office remains in Republican control as Mike Harmon won his re-election race with 55 percent of the vote, compared to the 41 percent received by Democrat Sherri Donahue. The independent candidate in that race ended up with 3 percent.

Republicans also took control of the secretary of state’s office as election lawyer Michael Adams beat Democratic candidate Heather French Henry. French Henry was predicted by many to win that race as the former Miss America was seen as being very popular.

Two state House districts were also retained by Republicans with GOP candidates Samara Heavrin and Kimberly Banta winning special elections in state House Districts 18 and 63.

In the Kentucky Supreme Court race in western Kentucky, Court of Appeals Judge Shea Nickell beat state Senator Whitney Westerfield.

Unofficial vote totals

Unofficial results for yesterday’s General Election reflect 1,455,161 ballots cast out of 3,451,537 registered voters.

The call to action by Secretary Grimes for increased turnout was headed with turnout at approximately 42 percent.

The unofficial Kentucky General Election vote totals for all counties are available at GoVoteKY.com.

The deadline to request a recanvass in any race is 4 p.m. Nov. 12 local time. Requested recanvasses will be conducted at 9 a.m. Nov. 14 local time.

The State Board of Elections is scheduled to certify vote totals for the General Election at 10 a.m. Nov. 21.