Republican Russell Coleman will be Kentucky's next attorney general
Republican Russell Coleman wins race for attorney general over Democratic Rep. Pam Stevenson.
Coleman is a former Trump-appointed U.S. attorney from Louisville. During his victory speech he said he would represent “all” Kentuckians.
“We will protect your family, we will defend your rights and we will back the blue,” he said.—Jess Clark, posted at 8:28 pm central.
GOP wins all other statewide offices, except governor
The AP has called the remaining races in Kentucky for the Republican candidates: Russell Coleman in the race for Attorney General; Mark Metcalf for state Treasurer; and Jonathan Shell has won the contest for Agriculture Commissioner.—posted at 8:17 pm central.
Beshear wins second term
Democratic incumbent Gov. Andy Beshear has won a second term, fending off a challenge from Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron.
Initial results show Beshear winning Kentucky's largest urban centers and large swathes of rural Kentucky, a marked difference from the performance of other Democrats running statewide races in recent years.—Kentucky Public Radio at 8:06 pm central.
Cameron scores narrow victories in Oldham, Shelby counties
Daniel Cameron received more votes than Beshear in two key counties east of Louisville, though Beshear continued to outperform his 2019 model there.
Cameron bested Beshear by just 225 votes in Oldham County, with a margin of victory that was less than one percentage point. That’s considerably less than Bevin’s margin of victory there in 2019, where the GOP incumbent won by five percentage points and 1,373 votes.
A similar trend emerged in neighboring Shelby County, where Cameron beat Beshear by five percentage points and 805 votes – less than Bevin’s victory margin of 10 percentage points and 1,682 votes in 2019.—Joe Sonka at 7:47 pm central.
Beshear picks up a big win in Kentucky’s third-largest county.
Beshear picked up a big victory in northern Kentucky for the second consecutive election, winning Kenton County with 53% of the vote and a margin of 2,765 votes.
This is a much larger victory for Beshear than 2019 when he bested Bevin by just one percentage point and 543 votes.
As we reported here earlier, Beshear also performed more than 1,000 votes better in neighboring Boone County than he did in 2019.—Joe Sonka at 7:38 pm central.
Beshear clears 72% of the vote in Kentucky's second-most populous county.
The vote count is complete in Fayette County, with Beshear running up the score over Cameron in the Democratic stronghold and performing even better than his 2019 win there.
Beshear won 72% of the vote in Fayette this time, leading Cameron by more than 45,000 votes. In 2019, the county that is the home to Lexington played a large role in his victory, but he won with only 65% and a margin of 36,482 votes.
Voting results are also starting to come in at a faster pace from the central time zone counties, with Beshear performing significantly better in Hopkins County, which has completed its vote count.
This year Beshear lost Hopkins County to Cameron by nine percentage points, or 1,139 votes. He still greatly outperformed his 2019 model, when he lost to Bevin by 19 percentage points and 2,666 votes – an improvement of roughly 1,500 votes.—Joe Sonka at 7:28 pm central.
Beshear underperforming in some rural counties
Several counties show Beshear underperforming his 2019 totals, though the margins remain small.
Cameron won Grant and Meade counties by larger margins than Bevin won in 2019, increasing the margins of victory by 124 votes and 340 votes, respectively.
Though Beshear beat Cameron by 238 votes in Marion County, that margin of victory was 130 votes less than in 2019.—Joe Sonka at 7:20 pm central.
Republican Treasurer Allison Ball wins State Auditor election
Two-term Republican Treasurer Allison Ball will be Kentucky's next state auditor.
Ball will replace outgoing GOP Auditor Mike Harmon, who is term-limited.
Ball is an attorney from Prestonsburg and said her experience as treasurer give her the experience necessary to be the state's chief financial watchdog.
In an interview for the Kentucky Public Radio Voter Guide, she said she wants to focus on problems in Kentucky’s largest school system, Jefferson County Public Schools, and audit the state's disaster relief funds.—Ryland Barton at 7:17 pm central.
Beshear gains ground in Republican stronghold
Cameron won the northern Kentucky Republican stronghold of Boone County with 56% of the vote.
However, there are more positive signs for Beshear in those totals. The incumbent Democrat lost by 4,824 votes, which was less than the 6,053 votes he lost by in 2019, despite losing by roughly the same number of percentage points.
These totals show Cameron underperforming Bevin from 2019 because roughly 1,000 fewer people voted this year.—Joe Sonka at 7:04 pm central.
Counties now reporting final vote totals
More than two dozen counties have reported their entire vote totals, according to the secretary of state’s website. Several show Cameron with more votes, but Beshear is outperforming his 2019 model.
In Anderson County, Cameron picked up 54% of the vote and won by 866 votes. However, Beshear’s percentage of the vote was four points higher than 2019, when he lost by 1,402 votes.
Likewise in Taylor County, where Beshear lost by 1,443 votes, about 600 votes less than his 2019 margin of defeat.
Beshear also has a hopeful sign from Fayette County, where an estimated 93% of the vote has been counted. He leads there with 72% and by roughly 45,000 votes – much larger than his 36,482 vote margin of victory in 2019 when he picked up 65% of the vote in the county. —Joe Sonka at 6:55 pm central.
Michael Adams wins second term as Kentucky's Republican secretary of state
Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams defeated Democratic challenger Buddy Wheatley, according to the Associated Press.
Adams is an election lawyer from Paducah who gained bipartisan support after advocating for an expansion of early voting in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. He drew the ire of some conservative colleagues for tamping down claims of election fraud after the 2020 election.
Early in his first term, Adams successfully pushed for a voter ID law that split Republicans and Democrats. —Ryland Barton at 6:48 pm central.
Polls are now closed in Kentucky
The final polls have closed in the state’s Central Standard Time counties. Most of the initial totals are tallying early votes, though day-of votes have begun streaming in.
Beshear appears to be outperforming his 2019 margins in many of the eastern time zone counties that are reporting early totals – such as Boone, Floyd, Letcher and Oldham counties – though most of these appear to only be reporting early voting ballots, which are expected to skew Democratic.
The incumbent governor has also stretched out a large lead in Jefferson and Fayette counties after their early votes were tallied, with 76% and 80% of the vote, respectively. They are Kentucky’s two most populous counties where Beshear ran up the score in 2019 winning roughly two-thirds of the vote there that year.