1995 Kentucky gubernatorial election

Last updated

1995 Kentucky gubernatorial election
Flag of Kentucky.svg
  1991 November 7, 1995 1999  
Turnout43.8% Decrease2.svg 0.4 pp
  Paul E. Patton 2013 (cropped).jpg 3x4.svg
Nominee Paul Patton Larry Forgy
Party Democratic Republican
Running mate Steve Henry Tom Handy
Popular vote500,605479,227
Percentage50.9%48.7%

1995 Kentucky gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
1995 Kentucky gubernatorial election results map by congressional district.svg
Patton:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
Forgy:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

Governor before election

Brereton Jones
Democratic

Elected Governor

Paul E. Patton
Democratic

The 1995 Kentucky gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1995. Incumbent Governor Brereton Jones was not eligible to run for a second term due to term limits established by the Kentucky Constitution, creating an open seat. At the time, Kentucky and Virginia were the only states that prohibited their Governors from serving immediate successive terms. The Democratic nominee, Lieutenant Governor Paul E. Patton, defeated Republican nominee Larry Forgy to win his first term as governor. It was the last time that the election was held until the Kentucky General Assembly changed its term limits law in 1992, allowing Patton to run again in 1999 and leaving Virginia as the only state that prohibits its governor from serving immediate successive terms.

Contents

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Paul Patton 152,203 44.95
Democratic Bob Babbage81,35224.02
Democratic John A. Rose, Jr.71,74021.18
Democratic Gatewood Galbraith29,0398.58
Democratic Steven Maynard4,3051.27
Total votes338,639 100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Larry Forgy 97,099 82.44
Republican Robert E. Gable17,05414.48
Republican Tommy Klein3,6273.08
Total votes117,780 100.00

General election

Results

Kentucky gubernatorial election, 1995 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Paul Patton 500,605 50.88% −13.85%
Republican Larry Forgy 479,22748.71%+13.44%
Write-in Gatewood Galbraith 3,9650.40%
Majority21,3782.17%−27.29%
Turnout 983,797
Democratic hold Swing

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul E. Patton</span> American politician

Paul Edward Patton is an American politician who served as the 59th governor of Kentucky from 1995 to 2003. Because of a 1992 amendment to the Kentucky Constitution, he was the first governor eligible to run for a second term in office, since James Garrard, in 1800. Since 2013, he has been the chancellor of the University of Pikeville in Pikeville, Kentucky, after serving as its president from 2010 to 2013. He also served as chairman of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education from 2009 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2005 United States gubernatorial elections</span>

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 8, 2005, in the states of New Jersey and Virginia as well as in the U.S. commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Peppy Martin is an American public relations executive who is also a perennial candidate for office in the state of Kentucky. She was the unsuccessful Republican nominee in the 1999 gubernatorial election, and later ran in the 2003 Republican primary for Auditor of Public Accounts, and in the 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election Democratic primary for governor.

Shirley Webster Palmer-Ball was a politically active Kentucky Republican who was his party's nominee for lieutenant governor in 1975.

Steve Henry is an American politician and orthopedic surgeon who was the 52nd Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky from 1995 through 2003. He twice ran unsuccessfully in statewide elections, finishing third in Democratic primaries for the United States Senate in 1998 and for Governor of Kentucky in 2007.

In the United States, a governor serves as the chief executive and commander-in-chief in each of the fifty states and in the five permanently inhabited territories, functioning as head of state and head of government therein. While like all officials in the United States, checks and balances are placed on the office of the governor, significant powers may include ceremonial head of state, executive, legislative, judicial, and military. As such, governors are responsible for implementing state laws and overseeing the operation of the state executive branch. As state leaders, governors advance and pursue new and revised policies and programs using a variety of tools, among them executive orders, executive budgets, and legislative proposals and vetoes. Governors carry out their management and leadership responsibilities and objectives with the support and assistance of department and agency heads, many of whom they are empowered to appoint. A majority of governors have the authority to appoint state court judges as well, in most cases from a list of names submitted by a nominations committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larry Forgy</span> American politician (1939–2022)

Lawrence Eugene Forgy was an American Republican politician and gubernatorial candidate from Lexington, Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1999 Kentucky gubernatorial election</span>

The 1999 Kentucky gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 1999, for the post of Governor of Kentucky. Democratic incumbent Governor Paul E. Patton defeated Republican nominee Peppy Martin to win a second term.

Wanda B. Cornelius is a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 United States gubernatorial elections</span>

United States gubernatorial elections were held in 12 states and two territories. Of the eight Democratic and four Republican seats contested, only that of North Carolina changed party hands, giving the Republicans a net gain of one governorship. These elections coincided with the presidential election on November 6, 2012. As of 2024, this marked the last time in which a Democrat won the governorship in Missouri and the last time in which a Republican won the governorship in North Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1998 Illinois gubernatorial election</span>

The 1998 Illinois gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1998. Incumbent Republican Governor Jim Edgar did not run for a third term in office. Republican nominee George Ryan, the Illinois Secretary of State, narrowly won the election against Democratic Congressman Glenn Poshard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1986 Illinois gubernatorial election</span>

The 1986 Illinois gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986. Republican candidate James R. Thompson won a fourth term in office, defeating the Illinois Solidarity Party nominee, former United States Senator Adlai Stevenson III, by around 400,000 votes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1991 Kentucky gubernatorial election</span>

The 1991 Kentucky gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1991. Incumbent Governor Wallace Wilkinson was not eligible to seek a second term due to term limits established by the Kentucky Constitution, creating an open seat. At the time, Kentucky was one of two states, along with Virginia, which prohibited its governors from serving immediate successive terms. The Democratic nominee, Lieutenant Governor Brereton Jones, defeated Republican nominee and U.S. Congressman Larry J. Hopkins to win a term as governor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Virginia elections</span>

The following offices were up for election in the United States Commonwealth of Virginia in the November 5, 2013 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1977 Virginia gubernatorial election</span>

In the 1977 Virginia gubernatorial election, incumbent Governor Mills E. Godwin, Jr., a Republican, was unable to seek re-election due to term limits. John N. Dalton, the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, was nominated by the Republican Party to run against the Democratic nominee, former Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Henry Howell.

Walter Arnold Baker was an American lawyer and politician who served in both houses of the Kentucky General Assembly, in the presidential administration of Ronald Reagan, and on the Kentucky Supreme Court. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Baker also served as a judge advocate general in the Kentucky Air National Guard for 20 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Kentucky gubernatorial election</span>

The 2019 Kentucky gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2019, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Kentucky. The Democratic nominee, Andy Beshear, defeated Republican Incumbent governor Matt Bevin. It was the closest gubernatorial election by votes since 1899. It was the closest race of the 2019 gubernatorial election cycle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 United States gubernatorial elections</span>

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 3, 2020, in 11 states and two territories. The previous gubernatorial elections for this group of states took place in 2016, except in New Hampshire and Vermont where governors only serve two-year terms. These two states elected their current governors in 2018. Nine state governors ran for reelection and all nine won, while Democrat Steve Bullock of Montana could not run again due to term limits and Republican Gary Herbert of Utah decided to retire at the end of his term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Virginia elections</span>

Statewide and municipal elections were held in the U.S. state of Virginia on November 7, 2017. The main election being held in Virginia was the state's gubernatorial election. In addition, all of Virginia's House of Delegates seats were up for re-election. Primary elections for the House of Delegates and the governor were held on June 13, 2017. Ralph Northam (D) was elected to become the 73rd Governor of Virginia, Justin Fairfax (D) was elected to become the 41st Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, and Mark Herring (D) was reelected as the 47th Attorney General of Virginia.

References