1966 United States Senate election in Kentucky

1966 United States Senate election in Kentucky

←  1960 November 8, 1966 1972  →

Nominee John Sherman Cooper John Y. Brown Sr. Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 483,805 266,079 Percentage 64.52% 35.48%

County results Cooper:      50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80–90% Brown:      50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election John Sherman Cooper Republican Elected U.S. Senator John Sherman Cooper Republican

The 1966 United States Senate election in Kentucky took place on November 8, 1966. Incumbent Republican Senator John Sherman Cooper was elected to a second consecutive term in office, ^[a] defeating Democrat John Y. Brown Sr. in a rematch of the 1946 special election. This would be the first statewide election in Kentucky in which a Republican won Elliott County, and the only one until 2016 when Donald Trump won the county for president.

Republican primary

Candidates

• John Sherman Cooper, incumbent Senator since 1957 ^[a]
• Thurman Jerome Hamlin, perennial candidate from London
• Sam M. Ward

Results

Republican Primary results ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Sherman Cooper (incumbent)	65,023	92.80%
	Republican	Sam M. Ward	2,927	4.18%
	Republican	W. Howard Clay	2,120	3.03%
Total votes			70,070	100.00%

Democratic primary

Candidates

• John Y. Brown Sr., former U.S. Representative at-large and nominee for Senate in 1946
• Jesse N.R. Cecil
• James Ward Lentz
• Gaines P. Wilson

Results

Democratic primary results ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Y. Brown Sr.	71,759	75.58%
	Democratic	Gaines P. Wilson	12,921	13.61%
	Democratic	James Ward Lentz	5,339	5.69%
	Democratic	Jesse N.R. Cecil	4,861	5.12%
Total votes			94,940	100.00%

General election

Results

1966 U.S. Senate election in Kentucky ^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Sherman Cooper (incumbent)	483,805	64.52%
	Democratic	John Y. Brown Sr.	266,079	35.48%
Total votes			749,884	100.00%

Results by county

County	John Sherman Cooper Republican		John Young Brown Sr. Democratic		Margin		Total votes cast [4]
	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adair	3,003	70.21%	1,274	29.79%	1,729	40.43%	4,277
Allen	2,094	70.51%	876	29.49%	1,218	41.01%	2,970
Anderson	1,799	60.27%	1,186	39.73%	613	20.54%	2,985
Ballard	1,347	54.73%	1,114	45.27%	233	9.47%	2,461
Barren	4,194	61.24%	2,655	38.76%	1,539	22.47%	6,849
Bath	1,591	55.92%	1,254	44.08%	337	11.85%	2,845
Bell	4,240	61.28%	2,679	38.72%	1,561	22.56%	6,919
Boone	3,692	63.57%	2,116	36.43%	1,576	27.13%	5,808
Bourbon	2,051	60.01%	1,367	39.99%	684	20.01%	3,418
Boyd	8,462	62.95%	4,980	37.05%	3,482	25.90%	13,442
Boyle	3,368	67.16%	1,647	32.84%	1,721	34.32%	5,015
Bracken	1,190	64.46%	656	35.54%	534	28.93%	1,846
Breathitt	1,195	34.43%	2,276	65.57%	-1,081	-31.14%	3,471
Breckinridge	2,847	60.65%	1,847	39.35%	1,000	21.30%	4,694
Bullitt	2,399	56.98%	1,811	43.02%	588	13.97%	4,210
Butler	2,513	81.70%	563	18.30%	1,950	63.39%	3,076
Caldwell	2,752	69.85%	1,188	30.15%	1,564	39.70%	3,940
Calloway	3,244	63.68%	1,850	36.32%	1,394	27.37%	5,094
Campbell	12,128	64.02%	6,817	35.98%	5,311	28.03%	18,945
Carlisle	1,417	61.08%	903	38.92%	514	22.16%	2,320
Carroll	940	47.36%	1,045	52.64%	-105	-5.29%	1,985
Carter	3,234	66.65%	1,618	33.35%	1,616	33.31%	4,852
Casey	3,299	80.48%	800	19.52%	2,499	60.97%	4,099
Christian	4,394	58.96%	3,058	41.04%	1,336	17.93%	7,452
Clark	2,850	62.97%	1,676	37.03%	1,174	25.94%	4,526
Clay	2,802	76.68%	852	23.32%	1,950	53.37%	3,654
Clinton	2,150	84.41%	397	15.59%	1,753	68.83%	2,547
Crittenden	1,825	70.30%	771	29.70%	1,054	40.60%	2,596
Cumberland	1,698	80.13%	421	19.87%	1,277	60.26%	2,119
Daviess	10,152	59.62%	6,877	40.38%	3,275	19.23%	17,029
Edmonson	1,878	75.48%	610	24.52%	1,268	50.96%	2,488
Elliott	846	53.85%	725	46.15%	121	7.70%	1,571
Estill	2,201	67.66%	1,052	32.34%	1,149	35.32%	3,253
Fayette	22,374	66.27%	11,390	33.73%	10,984	32.53%	33,764
Fleming	1,892	63.81%	1,073	36.19%	819	27.62%	2,965
Floyd	4,890	55.98%	3,846	44.02%	1,044	11.95%	8,736
Franklin	5,002	47.91%	5,439	52.09%	-437	-4.19%	10,441
Fulton	1,406	65.49%	741	34.51%	665	30.97%	2,147
Gallatin	529	51.01%	508	48.99%	21	2.03%	1,037
Garrard	2,210	67.92%	1,044	32.08%	1,166	35.83%	3,254
Grant	1,476	61.89%	909	38.11%	567	23.77%	2,385
Graves	5,231	61.82%	3,230	38.18%	2,001	23.65%	8,461
Grayson	3,642	72.94%	1,351	27.06%	2,291	45.88%	4,993
Green	2,099	67.06%	1,031	32.94%	1,068	34.12%	3,130
Greenup	4,676	61.02%	2,987	38.98%	1,689	22.04%	7,663
Hancock	980	64.64%	536	35.36%	444	29.29%	1,516
Hardin	5,876	64.69%	3,207	35.31%	2,669	29.38%	9,083
Harlan	6,056	69.26%	2,688	30.74%	3,368	38.52%	8,744
Harrison	1,905	55.56%	1,524	44.44%	381	11.11%	3,429
Hart	2,730	65.93%	1,411	34.07%	1,319	31.85%	4,141
Henderson	3,523	54.85%	2,900	45.15%	623	9.70%	6,423
Henry	1,625	52.30%	1,482	47.70%	143	4.60%	3,107
Hickman	1,298	69.30%	575	30.70%	723	38.60%	1,873
Hopkins	4,534	56.85%	3,442	43.15%	1,092	13.69%	7,976
Jackson	2,549	87.53%	363	12.47%	2,186	75.07%	2,912
Jefferson	113,648	66.48%	57,312	33.52%	56,336	32.95%	170,960
Jessamine	2,379	68.76%	1,081	31.24%	1,298	37.51%	3,460
Johnson	3,623	73.80%	1,286	26.20%	2,337	47.61%	4,909
Kenton	16,115	67.84%	7,638	32.16%	8,477	35.69%	23,753
Knott	1,474	43.49%	1,915	56.51%	-441	-13.01%	3,389
Knox	3,884	74.35%	1,340	25.65%	2,544	48.70%	5,224
Larue	2,052	69.16%	915	30.84%	1,137	38.32%	2,967
Laurel	4,988	78.54%	1,363	21.46%	3,625	57.08%	6,351
Lawrence	1,961	61.94%	1,205	38.06%	756	23.88%	3,166
Lee	1,449	68.71%	660	31.29%	789	37.41%	2,109
Leslie	2,049	82.39%	438	17.61%	1,611	64.78%	2,487
Letcher	3,528	65.88%	1,827	34.12%	1,701	31.76%	5,355
Lewis	2,327	75.65%	749	24.35%	1,578	51.30%	3,076
Lincoln	2,916	66.00%	1,502	34.00%	1,414	32.01%	4,418
Livingston	1,483	64.06%	832	35.94%	651	28.12%	2,315
Logan	2,638	46.54%	3,030	53.46%	-392	-6.92%	5,668
Lyon	977	62.91%	576	37.09%	401	25.82%	1,553
Madison	5,329	61.77%	3,298	38.23%	2,031	23.54%	8,627
Magoffin	1,605	59.69%	1,084	40.31%	521	19.38%	2,689
Marion	1,927	55.82%	1,525	44.18%	402	11.65%	3,452
Marshall	3,465	64.75%	1,886	35.25%	1,579	29.51%	5,351
Martin	1,446	76.11%	454	23.89%	992	52.21%	1,900
Mason	2,812	66.23%	1,434	33.77%	1,378	32.45%	4,246
McCracken	9,039	66.21%	4,612	33.79%	4,427	32.43%	13,651
McCreary	2,460	86.86%	372	13.14%	2,088	73.73%	2,832
McLean	1,478	55.61%	1,180	44.39%	298	11.21%	2,658
Meade	1,823	57.85%	1,328	42.15%	495	15.71%	3,151
Menifee	710	57.68%	521	42.32%	189	15.35%	1,231
Mercer	2,695	60.93%	1,728	39.07%	967	21.86%	4,423
Metcalfe	1,636	62.92%	964	37.08%	672	25.85%	2,600
Monroe	3,171	80.73%	757	19.27%	2,414	61.46%	3,928
Montgomery	2,053	65.72%	1,071	34.28%	982	31.43%	3,124
Morgan	1,254	50.38%	1,235	49.62%	19	0.76%	2,489
Muhlenberg	4,016	56.19%	3,131	43.81%	885	12.38%	7,147
Nelson	3,280	61.93%	2,016	38.07%	1,264	23.87%	5,296
Nicholas	886	61.49%	555	38.51%	331	22.97%	1,441
Ohio	3,279	68.10%	1,536	31.90%	1,743	36.20%	4,815
Oldham	1,727	60.68%	1,119	39.32%	608	21.36%	2,846
Owen	1,042	44.10%	1,321	55.90%	-279	-11.81%	2,363
Owsley	980	81.46%	223	18.54%	757	62.93%	1,203
Pendleton	1,548	58.28%	1,108	41.72%	440	16.57%	2,656
Perry	4,303	65.31%	2,286	34.69%	2,017	30.61%	6,589
Pike	8,495	52.96%	7,544	47.04%	951	5.93%	16,039
Powell	1,277	61.04%	815	38.96%	462	22.08%	2,092
Pulaski	8,364	80.91%	1,973	19.09%	6,391	61.83%	10,337
Robertson	394	65.89%	204	34.11%	190	31.77%	598
Rockcastle	2,841	75.80%	907	24.20%	1,934	51.60%	3,748
Rowan	2,054	64.41%	1,135	35.59%	919	28.82%	3,189
Russell	2,592	79.98%	649	20.02%	1,943	59.95%	3,241
Scott	1,932	55.84%	1,528	44.16%	404	11.68%	3,460
Shelby	2,504	56.63%	1,918	43.37%	586	13.25%	4,422
Simpson	1,419	61.64%	883	38.36%	536	23.28%	2,302
Spencer	849	60.08%	564	39.92%	285	20.17%	1,413
Taylor	2,563	69.74%	1,112	30.26%	1,451	39.48%	3,675
Todd	1,514	60.01%	1,009	39.99%	505	20.02%	2,523
Trigg	1,412	57.21%	1,056	42.79%	356	14.42%	2,468
Trimble	683	43.75%	878	56.25%	-195	-12.49%	1,561
Union	1,788	51.86%	1,660	48.14%	128	3.71%	3,448
Warren	6,570	62.99%	3,861	37.01%	2,709	25.97%	10,431
Washington	1,930	63.34%	1,117	36.66%	813	26.68%	3,047
Wayne	2,642	66.13%	1,353	33.87%	1,289	32.27%	3,995
Webster	1,801	53.46%	1,568	46.54%	233	6.92%	3,369
Whitley	5,023	77.68%	1,443	22.32%	3,580	55.37%	6,466
Wolfe	1,100	65.13%	589	34.87%	511	30.25%	1,689
Woodford	2,305	64.62%	1,262	35.38%	1,043	29.24%	3,567
Totals	483,805	64.52%	266,079	35.48%	217,726	29.03%	749,884

See also

• 1966 United States Senate elections

Notes

1. Cooper had served three partial non-consecutive terms from 1946–1949, 1952–1955, and 1957–1961 and one full term beginning in 1961.

References

1. "Our Campaigns - KY US Senate - R Primary Race - May 24, 1966". www.ourcampaigns.com.
2. "Our Campaigns - KY US Senate - D Primary Race - May 24, 1966". www.ourcampaigns.com.
3. Clerk of the United States House of Representatives (1967). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 8, 1966" (PDF). U.S. Government Printing Office.
4. "KY US Senate Race, November 08, 1966". Our Campaigns.