2016 Kentucky House of Representatives election

Not to be confused with 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky.

2016 Kentucky House of Representatives election

← 2014 November 8, 2016 2018  →
All 100 seats in the Kentucky House of Representatives 51 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Jeff Hoover Greg Stumbo (lost reelection) Party Republican Democratic Last election 46 54 Seats before 47 [a] 53 [b] Seats won 64 36 Seat change 17 17
Results:      Democratic hold     Democratic gain      Republican hold     Republican gain
Speaker before election Greg Stumbo Democratic Elected Speaker Jeff Hoover Republican

The 2016 Kentucky House of Representatives elections were held on November 8, 2016, as part of the biennial United States elections. All 100 of Kentucky's state representatives were up for reelection. In Kentucky, members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms. Accordingly, they are up for reelection in both presidential and midterm election years.

Republicans gained 17 seats in the election, winning the chamber outright. This ended nearly 100 years of Democratic control of the house, as the last time that Republicans won a majority was in 1919. ^[2] Republicans performed well in rural districts and flipped many seats held by Democrats, including Democratic Speaker Greg Stumbo who lost reelection. ^[3] Together with Republican governor Matt Bevin, this was the first time in history that Republicans gained a trifecta in the state.

A numbered map of the house districts at the time can be viewed here.

Retiring incumbents

Brad Montell resigned in October 2016. Thomas Kerr resigned in September 2016.

Democratic

1. 23rd: Johnny Bell: Retired.
2. 46th: Larry Clark: Retired.
3. 70th: Mike Denham: Retired.
4. 94th: Leslie A. Combs: Retired.

Republican

1. 48th: Bob DeWeese: Retired.
2. 50th: David Floyd: Retired.

Defeated incumbents

In primary elections

Democratic

1. 41st: Tom Riner (first elected in 1981) lost renomination to Attica Scott, who won the general election.

Republican

1. 33rd: Ronald Crimm (first elected in 1996) lost renomination to Jason Nemes, who won the general election.

In general elections

Democratic

1. 8th: Jeffrey R. Taylor (elected in March 2016) lost to Walker Thomas.
2. 11th: David Watkins (first elected in 2006) lost to Robby Mills.
3. 13th: Jim Glenn (first elected in 2006) lost to DJ Johnson.
4. 14th: Tommy Thompson (first elected in 2002) lost to Matt Castlen.
5. 15th: Brent Yonts (first elected in 1996) lost to Melinda Gibbons Prunty.
6. 16th: Martha Jane King (first elected in 2008) lost to Jason Petrie.
7. 24th: Terry Mills (first elected in 2010) lost to Brandon Reed.
8. 49th: Linda H. Belcher (first elected in 2008) lost to Dan Johnson.
9. 62nd: Chuck Tackett (elected in March 2016) lost to Phillip Pratt.
10. 78th: Tom McKee (first elected in 1996) lost to Mark Hart.
11. 81st: Rita Smart (first elected in 2010) lost to C. Wesley Morgan.
12. 84th: Fitz Steele (first elected in 2008) lost to Chris Fugate.
13. 91st: Cluster Howard (first elected in 2014) lost to Toby Herald.
14. 92nd: John Short (first elected in 2010) lost to John Blanton.
15. 95th: Greg Stumbo (first elected in 1979) lost to Larry D. Brown.
16. 97th: Hubert Collins (first elected in 1990) lost to Scott Wells.
17. 98th: Lew Nicholls (elected in March 2016) lost to Danny Bentley.

Republican

1. 38th: Denver Butler (first elected in 2012) lost to McKenzie Cantrell.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Governing [4]	Tossup	October 12, 2016

Closest races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. District 81, 0.42% gain
2. District 49, 0.84% gain
3. District 100, 0.88%
4. District 94, 1.46%
5. District 13, 1.58% gain
6. District 38, 1.74% gain
7. District 93, 2.76%
8. District 87, 3.00%
9. District 92, 3.04% gain
10. District 11, 3.24% gain
11. District 8, 3.74% gain
12. District 37, 4.02%
13. District 6, 4.76%
14. District 95, 5.90% gain
15. District 28, 6.54%
16. District 27, 7.68%
17. District 24, 8.14% gain
18. District 98, 8.22% gain
19. District 72, 8.50%
20. District 78, 8.88% gain

Results by district

District	Democratic		Republican		Total
	%	Vote	%	Vote
1	29.80%	5,963	70.20%	14,046	20,009
2	39.53%	7,647	60.47%	11,699	19,346
3	55.36%	9,869	44.64%	7,958	17,827
4	0.00%	0	100.00%	15,065	15,065
5	30.88%	6,153	69.12%	13,770	19,923
6	52.38%	11,399	43.16%	9,393	21,764
7	37.01%	7,750	62.99%	13,189	20,939
8	48.13%	6,103	51.87%	6,577	12,680
9	0.00%	0	100.00%	11,425	11,425
10	55.19%	10,712	44.81%	8,698	19,410
11	48.38%	9,117	51.62%	9,728	18,845
12	38.80%	8,059	61.20%	12,711	20,770
13	49.21%	8,170	50.79%	8,434	16,604
14	36.45%	7,775	63.55%	13,554	21,329
15	42.93%	7,973	57.07%	10,597	18,570
16	34.60%	5,788	65.40%	10,938	16,726
17	0.00%	0	100.00%	17,761	17,761
18	0.00%	0	100.00%	14,996	14,996
19	31.07%	5,614	68.93%	12,455	18,069
20	58.23%	8,561	41.77%	6,140	14,701
21	0.00%	0	100.00%	13,728	13,728
22	100.00%	12,115	0.00%	0	12,115
23	38.46%	7,154	61.54%	11,445	18,599
24	45.93%	8,972	54.07%	10,563	19,535
25	27.57%	5,187	72.43%	13,629	18,816
26	0.00%	0	100.00%	14,565	14,565
27	53.84%	9,056	46.16%	7,763	16,819
28	53.27%	8,953	46.73%	7,854	16,807
29	0.00%	0	100.00%	17,535	17,535
30	76.79%	12,678	23.21%	3,833	16,511
31	57.89%	12,085	42.11%	8,792	20,877
32	0.00%	0	100.00%	15,243	15,243
33	44.39%	11,291	55.61%	14,146	25,437
34	100.00%	19,596	0.00%	0	19,596
35	100.00%	13,913	0.00%	0	13,913
36	0.00%	0	100.00%	21,458	21,458
37	52.01%	7,387	47.99%	6,817	14,204
38	50.87%	7,600	49.13%	7,341	14,941
39	55.84%	10,839	44.16%	8,572	19,411
40	73.55%	11,038	26.45%	3,970	15,008
41	100.00%	13,257	0.00%	0	13,257
42	87.26%	15,896	12.74%	2,320	18,216
43	76.18%	13,173	23.82%	4,120	17,293
44	100.00%	13,538	0.00%	0	13,538
45	39.39%	9,991	60.61%	15,375	25,366
46	55.31%	9,939	44.69%	8,032	17,971
47	100.00%	13,033	0.00%	0	13,033
48	42.81%	11,302	57.19%	15,097	26,399
49	49.58%	9,186	50.42%	9,342	18,528
50	36.37%	7,457	63.63%	13,048	20,505
51	0.00%	0	100.00%	16,344	16,344
52	0.00%	0	100.00%	13,376	13,376
53	27.58%	6,127	72.42%	16,091	22,218
54	33.13%	6,245	66.87%	12,607	18,852
55	24.99%	5,597	75.01%	16,797	22,394
56	59.63%	12,590	40.37%	8,525	21,115
57	100.00%	15,747	0.00%	0	15,747
58	38.66%	7,894	61.34%	12,527	20,421
59	0.00%	0	100.00%	19,159	19,159
60	0.00%	0	100.00%	19,737	19,737
61	24.39%	4,958	75.61%	15,373	20,331
62	42.31%	9,288	57.69%	12,662	21,950
63	0.00%	0	100.00%	18,728	18,728
64	30.90%	6,807	69.10%	15,220	22,027
65	100.00%	10,099	0.00%	0	10,099
66	0.00%	0	100.00%	18,743	18,743
67	100.00%	9,232	0.00%	0	9,232
68	0.00%	0	100.00%	20,003	20,003
69	0.00%	0	100.00%	13,892	13,892
70	56.18%	10,049	43.82%	7,839	17,888
71	0.00%	0	100.00%	16,951	16,951
72	54.25%	9,668	45.75%	8,154	17,822
73	39.60%	7,464	60.40%	11,385	18,849
74	42.77%	8,142	57.23%	10,894	19,036
75	61.61%	9,816	38.39%	6,116	15,932
76	100.00%	15,028	0.00%	0	15,028
77	100.00%	13,245	0.00%	0	13,245
78	45.56%	7,562	54.44%	9,035	16,597
79	59.36%	11,909	40.64%	8,155	20,064
80	0.00%	0	100.00%	13,698	13,698
81	49.79%	8,980	50.21%	9,056	18,036
82	21.53%	3,639	78.47%	13,265	16,904
83	0.00%	0	100.00%	16,813	16,813
84	36.91%	6,012	63.09%	10,278	16,290
85	0.00%	0	100.00%	15,858	15,858
86	0.00%	0	100.00%	14,497	14,497
87	51.50%	7,224	48.50%	6,804	14,028
88	0.00%	0	100.00%	20,242	20,242
89	0.00%	0	100.00%	15,479	15,479
90	0.00%	0	100.00%	12,758	12,758
91	44.79%	7,161	55.21%	8,828	15,989
92	48.48%	7,287	51.52%	7,745	15,032
93	51.38%	7,363	48.62%	6,968	14,331
94	50.73%	8,393	49.27%	8,153	16,546
95	47.05%	8,466	52.95%	9,528	17,994
96	41.95%	6,760	58.05%	9,353	16,113
97	42.28%	6,978	57.72%	9,525	16,503
98	45.89%	8,330	54.11%	9,823	18,153
99	66.00%	11,143	34.00%	5,741	16,884
100	50.44%	9,215	49.56%	9,055	18,270
Totals [5]	39.93%	695,707	60.01%	1,045,502	1,742,181

References

1. Gerth, Joseph (March 9, 2016). "Democrats retain control of Kentucky House". Louisville Courier Journal. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
2. Beam, Adam (January 3, 2017). "After 95 years, GOP takes control of Kentucky legislature". The Associated Press. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
3. "House Speaker Stumbo loses to Brown in election upset". WKYT. November 8, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
4. Cournoyer, Caroline (October 12, 2016). "November Likely to Lessen GOP's Advantage in Legislatures". Governing. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
5. "Kentucky State Board of Elections" (PDF).

Notes

1. Two democratic incumbents switched parties after the 2014 election. ^[1]
2. Democrats flipped a seat in a March 2016 special election following the resignation of Ryan Quarles. ^[1]