Elections in the U.S. state of Kentucky are held regularly.[1] Politics in Kentucky has historically been very competitive. The state leaned toward the Democratic Party during the 1860s after the Whig Party dissolved. During the Civil War, the southeastern part of the state aligned with the Union and tended to support Republican candidates thereafter, while the central and western portions remained heavily Democratic even into the following decades. Kentucky would be part of the Democratic Solid South until the mid-20th century.
As of April 2024, 46.25 percent of the state's voters were officially registered as Republicans, while 43.36 percent were registered Democrats, whose members tend to be conservative. Some 10.40 percent were registered with another political party or as Independents.[2] Despite past Democratic voter registration advantage, the state has elected Republican candidates for federal office routinely since the beginning of the 21st century.
In a 2020 study, Kentucky was ranked as the 8th hardest state for citizens to vote in.[3]
Voter Registration
Current voter registration by county.
Republican
40–50%
50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
Democratic
40–50%
50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
On July 1, 2025, the state had 3,336,556 registered voters, who were registered with the following parties.
Kentucky law divides political parties into three classes, depending on the percentage of the statewide vote they received in the previous presidential election. The three classes are political parties, political organizations, and political groups. Candidates from each class are subject to differing rules of ballot access.
Political parties
Political parties are the first class of parties and must receive twenty percent of the statewide vote in the previous presidential election. Political party candidates are required to be nominated by primary elections, which are operated by the state. Kentucky has closed primaries, meaning that only voters registered with a party may vote in its primary election.
Political organizations are the second class of parties and must receive two percent of the statewide vote in the previous presidential election. Political organizations may elect to hold a primary election privately funded by the party, or to nominate a slate of candidates for office by statewide convention. Political organization candidates who are denied nomination by the party may nonetheless run for office by petition with the amount of signatures required for political group candidates.
Political groups are the third class of parties who did not receive at least two percent of the statewide vote in the previous presidential election. Political groups are not automatically given ballot access; political group candidates must instead run for office by petition. Independent candidates must run for office in the same manner.
Current political groups recognized by the Kentucky State Board of Elections are:[4]
Since 1952, voters in the Commonwealth supported the three Democratic candidates elected to the White House, all from Southern states: Lyndon B. Johnson from Texas in 1964, Jimmy Carter from Georgia in 1976, and Bill Clinton from Arkansas in 1992 and 1996. But by the 21st century, the state had become a Republican stronghold in federal elections, supporting that party's presidential candidates by double-digit margins since 2000.
From 1964 through 2004, Kentucky voted for the eventual winner of the presidential election each time, until losing its bellwether status in the 2008 election. That year Republican John McCain won Kentucky, carrying it 57 percent to 41 percent, but lost the national popular and electoral votes to Democrat Barack Obama. Further hampering Kentucky's status as a bellwether state, 116 of Kentucky's 120 counties supported Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012 election, who lost to Barack Obama nationwide.[7][8]
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Government 
