2018 Kentucky elections

2018 Kentucky elections

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Kentucky state elections in 2018 were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, with the primary elections being held on May 22, 2018. ^[a] These midterm elections occurred during the presidency of Republican Donald Trump and the governorship of Republican Matt Bevin, alongside other elections in the United States. All six of Kentucky's seats in the United States House of Representatives, nineteen of the 38 seats in the Kentucky State Senate, all 100 seats in the Kentucky House of Representatives, and one of the seven seats on the Kentucky Supreme Court were contested. Numerous county and local elections were also contested within the state.

In the United States House of Representatives, all six of Kentucky's incumbent congressional representatives won their individual elections. With 59.59% of ballots cast in favor of the Republican congressional candidates, the Republican party maintained its five-seat majority within the congressional delegation; Representative John Yarmuth of Kentucky's 3rd congressional district maintained his position as the only Democrat in the United States Congress from Kentucky. All six of Kentucky's incumbent representatives were reelected with at least 60% of the vote in their respective districts. Aside from the election in Kentucky's 1st congressional district, all incumbents were challenged by at least one Libertarian or Independent candidate, though no third-party candidates were able to obtain more than 2.5% of the vote.

In the Kentucky General Assembly, Democrats made a net gain of one seat, ^[b] while Republicans maintained their supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature. As the office of governor was not contested in the 2018 elections, Republicans maintained their state-level trifecta established in the 2016 elections. As Kentucky's judicial elections are non-partisan, there was no change in the partisan makeup of the Kentucky Supreme Court.

While voter turnout in the United States as a whole reached its highest point seen in a midterm election since 1914, Kentucky voter turnout remained unaffected. With approximately 45.90% of Kentucky's 3.4 million registered voters casting ballots in the election, ^{[1] [2]} turnout as a percentage of registered voters remained unchanged from 2014 levels, although the total number of ballots cast did increase. ^[3]

During the campaign, Democrats focused heavily on public education and teacher pay, frequently attacking Republicans for their support of, among other issues, a controversial overhaul to Kentucky's teacher pension system. Republican messaging centered around a theme of maintaining their trifecta, with claims that a divided legislature would not be able to get anything done.

Federal offices

United States House of Representatives

Main article: 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky

In the 2018 elections, Democrats sought to take control of the United States House of Representatives for the first time since the 2010 elections. ^{[4] [5]} As all 6 of Kentucky's voting seats in the 435 member House of Representatives were up for election to serve two-year terms, the Kentucky Democratic Party sought to capitalize on an expected increase in voter turnout to take control of at least two of Kentucky's House seats. ^[6]

While nationwide the 2018 House elections saw the largest number of retirements by incumbents of any election cycle since at least 1992, none of Kentucky's incumbent Representatives chose to retire. ^[7] The lack of Republican retirements may have harmed Democratic prospects in the 2018 mid-term elections due to the incumbency advantage. ^{[8] [9]}

State offices

Kentucky Senate

Main article: 2018 Kentucky Senate election

2018 Kentucky State Senate election General election — November 6, 2018 [10]
Party		Votes	Percentage	Not up	Contested	Before	After	+/–
	Republican	468,530	57.93%	10	16	27	28	1
	Democratic	325,800	40.28%	8	3	11	10	1
	Independent	10,946	1.35%	0	0	0	0	0
	Write-Ins	3,454	0.43%	0	0	0	0	0
Totals		808,730	100.00%	19	19	38	38	—

Kentucky House of Representatives

Main article: 2018 Kentucky House of Representatives election

In the 2018 elections, Democrats sought to regain control of the Kentucky House of Representatives, which had been lost following the 2016 elections. All 100 voting seats in the House of Representatives were up for election to serve two-year terms. At the time of the election, Republicans held a supermajority of 62 seats to Democrats 37, with one vacant seat. ^[11]

The 2018 House elections saw fifteen of the state House's members retiring. Prior to the election, 7 House Republicans and 8 House Democrats had announced their retirement or resignation, with most declining to run for reelection in order to pursue higher office.

Kentucky House of Representatives election, 2018 [10] General election — November 6, 2018
Party		Votes	Percentage	Seats	+/–
	Republican	814,787	53.33%	61	1
	Democratic	700,379	45.84%	39	2
	Libertarian	907	0.06%	0	0
	Write-In Candidates	8,112	0.53%	0	0
	Independent Candidates	3,626	0.24%	0	0
Totals		1,527,819	100.00%	100	—
		Note: 1 seat vacant prior to election

Kentucky Supreme Court

Results by county:

  Lee

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%

  Ballou

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%
•   80–90%

The Kentucky Supreme Court is composed of seven justices who are elected in nonpartisan elections by voters. A full term on the court is eight years. Kentucky's nonpartisan judicial elections take place during its general elections. The court is elected to staggered terms, with district 3 being the only one up for election in 2018. Incumbent justice Daniel J. Venters announced he would retire and not seek reelection. ^[12]

Candidates

• Debra Hembree Lee (Non-Aligned), former judge on the Kentucky Court of Appeals, representing the 3rd Appellate District, Division 1 from 2015 to 2018. ^[13]
• Daniel Ballou (Non-Aligned), chief circuit judge for the 34th Judicial Circuit in Kentucky, first elected in 2008.

Results

Kentucky's 3rd State Supreme Court district, 2018 ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Non-Partisan	Debra Hembree Lee	95,237	65.1
	Non-Partisan	Daniel Ballou	51,075	34.9
Total votes			146,312	100.0

Kentucky Court of Appeals

Kentucky Court of Appeals 5th district, 1st division, 2018 ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Non-Partisan	Pamela R. Goodwine	126,373	56.1
	Non-Partisan	Robert Johnson	98,861	43.9
Total votes			225,234	100.0

Kentucky Court of Appeals 7th district, 2nd division, 2018 ^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Non-Partisan	Larry E. Thompson	64,551	53.9
	Non-Partisan	David Allen Barber	55,310	46.1
Total votes			119,861	100.0

Other judicial elections

All judges of the Kentucky District Courts were elected in non-partisan elections to four-year terms.

Commonwealth’s Attorneys

Commonwealth's Attorneys, who serve as the prosecutors for felonies in the state, are elected to six-year terms. One attorney was elected for each of the 57 circuits of the Kentucky Circuit Courts.

Circuit Clerks

Each county elected a Circuit Court Clerk to a six-year term.

Local offices

County officers

All county officials were elected in partisan elections to four-year terms. The offices included the County Judge/Executive, Magistrates, Commissioners, County Clerk, County Attorney, Jailer, Coroner, Surveyor, Property Value Administrator, Constables, and Sheriff. ^[15]

Mayors

Mayors in Kentucky are elected to four-year terms, with cities holding their elections in either presidential or midterm years. ^[15] Cities with elections in 2018 include those in Louisville and in Lexington.

City councils

Each incorporated city elected its council members to a two-year term. ^[15]

School boards

Local school board members are elected to staggered four-year terms, with half up for election in 2018. ^[15]

Louisville Metro Council

The Louisville Metro Council is elected to staggered four-year terms, with odd-numbered districts up for election in 2018. ^[15]

Ballot measures

The Constitution of Kentucky does not provide for citizen-initiated ballot measures and referendums at the state level. Under the state Constitution, aside from Constitutional amendments, approval from the Kentucky General Assembly is required to put anything to a statewide vote. ^{[16] [17]}

• Senate Bill 3 - Results declared invalid by order of the Kentucky Supreme Court

  A Legislatively referred constitutional amendment which was a type of Marsy's Law, which would have added a new section to the Kentucky Constitution regarding the rights of victims accused of a crime. ^[18] The amendment appeared on the ballot, and was approved with 63% in favor and 37% opposed, however the Kentucky Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, barred Secretary of State Allison Lundergan Grimes from certifying the election results, declaring "Our constitution is too important and valuable to be amended without the full amendment ever being put to the public." ^[19] The ruling also stated, "We hold that Section 256 of the Kentucky Constitution requires the General Assembly to submit the full text of a proposed constitutional amendment to the electorate for a vote. Likewise, Section 257 requires the secretary of state to publish the full text of the proposed amendment at least ninety days before the vote. Because the form of the amendment that was published and submitted to the electorate for a vote in this case was not the full text, and was instead a question, the proposed amendment is void." ^[20]

• House Bill 10 - Failed to gain Legislative Approval

  The Kentucky Legislative Review of Administrative Regulations Amendment (also known as HB 10, or the phonetic acronym "Klara"), was a measure would have authorized the Kentucky General Assembly to establish a process to review any state executive administrative regulation and approve or disapprove the regulation. The measure would have allowed the legislature, or a committee established by the legislature, to review, approve, or disapprove regulations while lawmakers were in session or between sessions. ^[21] Proponents argued the amendment was necessary to ensure legislative oversight over the actions of the executive branch, while opponents argued the measure would violate Kentucky's Constitution, which only allows the General Assembly to make binding decisions while in session (a time-frame which is constitutionally confined to between January 1 and May 31, except in emergencies.) ^[22] Despite the opposition, the bill passed the House 68-22 (8 abstentions), but failed to receive a vote in the Senate. As the Amendment did not meet the required 60% threshold in both legislative chambers, it was not included on the 2018 ballot.

Notes

1. Some special elections were held on other dates.
2. Democrats won a net gain of 2 seats in the Kentucky House of Representatives, but lost one seat in the Kentucky Senate

References

1. Kobin, Billy (November 7, 2018). "Kentucky Voter Turnout 2018: Louisville election polls packed". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
2. "Kentucky has more than 3.4 million registered voters". U.S. News & World Report. Associated Press. October 10, 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
3. "Voter Turnout Kentucky 2014 Midterm election" (PDF). Kentucky Secretary of State. February 5, 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
4. Leamon, Eileen J.; Bucelato, Jason, eds. (December 2017). Federal Elections 2016: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Federal Election Commission.
5. "What happens now that Democrats will retake the House". NBC News. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
6. Loftus, Tom (October 29, 2018). "Kentucky Democrats have high hopes despite long odds". The Courier Journal. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
7. Seitz-Wald, Alex (April 11, 2018). "Retiring Republicans are practically handing House seats to Democrats". NBC News. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
8. Rakich, Nathaniel (September 12, 2017). "The Recent Rush Of GOP Retirements Is Good For Democrats". FiveThirtyEight. FiveThirtyEight . Retrieved November 11, 2010.
9. Cohn, Nate (September 29, 2017). "Why Retirements May Hold the Key in Whether Republicans Can Keep the House". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved November 10, 2017.
10. "2018 General Election Certified Results" (PDF). Kentucky Secretary of State. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
11. Loftus, Tom (November 6, 2018). "Kentucky election results 2018: Teachers got a failing grade on election day" . Retrieved July 16, 2019.
12. Latek, Tom (December 9, 2018). "Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Daniel J Venters announces retirement after 35 years on the bench". Kentucky Today. Retrieved July 14, 2019.
13. "Ky Court of Appeals Judge Debra Hembree Lee files to run for open Supreme Court seat". The Interior Journal. February 1, 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
14. "Kentucky intermediate appellate court elections, 2018".
15. "Kentucky Election Schedule" (PDF). Kentucky Secretary of State. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
16. "State by state listing of where they are used". Iandrinstitute.org. Archived from the original on February 11, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
17. "Kentucky". Archived from the original on February 7, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
18. "Senate Bill 3 Text". Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. January 16, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
19. Wolfson, Andrew (June 13, 2019). "Kentucky Supreme Court Strike down Marsy's Law". The Courier-Journal. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
20. Cheves, John (June 13, 2019). "Kentucky Supreme Court strikes down Marsy's Law, says wording is too vague". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
21. "House Bill 10". Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. January 16, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
22. Latek, Tom (February 8, 2018). "Administrative regulations proposal passes house after debate over vote legality". Kentucky Today. Retrieved July 13, 2019.