United States presidential elections in Kentucky

Presidential elections in Kentucky

Number of elections	58
Voted Democratic	26
Voted Republican	16
Voted Whig	5
Voted Democratic-Republican	9
Voted other	2 [a]
Voted for winning candidate	38
Voted for losing candidate	21

Following is a table of United States presidential elections in Kentucky, ordered by year. Since its admission to statehood in 1792, Kentucky has participated in every U.S. presidential election. Prior to the election of 1792, Kentucky was part of Virginia, and residents of the area voted as part of that state.

Winners of the state are in bold.

Elections from 1864 to present

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Other national candidates [b]	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes	Notes
2024 [1]	Donald Trump	1,335,516	64.59	Kamala Harris	700,606	33.88	—			8
2020 [2]	Joe Biden	772,474	36.15	Donald Trump	1,326,646	62.09	—			8
2016 [3]	Donald Trump [c]	1,202,971	62.52	Hillary Clinton	628,854	32.68	—			8
2012 [4]	Barack Obama	679,370	37.80	Mitt Romney	1,087,190	60.49	—			8
2008 [5]	Barack Obama	751,985	41.17	John McCain	1,048,462	57.40	—			8
2004 [6]	George W. Bush	1,069,439	59.55	John Kerry	712,733	39.69	—			8
2000 [7]	George W. Bush [c]	872,492	56.50	Al Gore	638,898	41.37	—			8
1996 [8]	Bill Clinton	636,614	45.84	Bob Dole	623,283	44.88	Ross Perot	120,396	8.67	8
1992	Bill Clinton	665,104	44.55	George H. W. Bush	617,178	41.34	Ross Perot	203,944	13.66	8
1988	George H. W. Bush	734,281	55.52	Michael Dukakis	580,368	43.88	—			9
1984	Ronald Reagan	822,785	60.04	Walter Mondale	539,589	39.37	—			9
1980	Ronald Reagan	635,274	49.07	Jimmy Carter	616,417	47.61	John B. Anderson	31,127	2.40	9
1976	Jimmy Carter	615,717	52.75	Gerald Ford	531,852	45.57	—			9
1972	Richard Nixon	676,446	63.37	George McGovern	371,159	34.77	—			9
1968	Richard Nixon	462,411	43.79	Hubert Humphrey	397,541	37.65	George Wallace	193,098	18.29	9
1964	Lyndon B. Johnson	669,659	64.01	Barry Goldwater	372,977	35.65	—			9
1960	John F. Kennedy	521,855	46.41	Richard Nixon	602,607	53.59	—			10
1956	Dwight D. Eisenhower	572,192	54.30	Adlai Stevenson II	476,453	45.21	T. Coleman Andrews/ Unpledged Electors [d]	—	—	10
1952	Dwight D. Eisenhower	495,029	49.84	Adlai Stevenson II	495,729	49.91	—			10
1948	Harry S. Truman	466,756	56.74	Thomas E. Dewey	341,210	41.48	Strom Thurmond	10,411	1.27	11
1944	Franklin D. Roosevelt	472,589	54.45	Thomas E. Dewey	392,448	45.22	—			11
1940	Franklin D. Roosevelt	557,222	57.44	Wendell Willkie	410,384	42.30	—			11
1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	541,944	58.51	Alf Landon	369,702	39.92	—			11
1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	580,574	59.06	Herbert Hoover	394,716	40.15	—			11
1928	Herbert Hoover	558,064	59.33	Al Smith	381,070	40.51	—			13
1924	Calvin Coolidge	398,966	48.93	John W. Davis	374,855	45.98	Robert M. La Follette	38,465	4.72	13
1920	Warren G. Harding	452,480	49.25	James M. Cox	456,497	49.69	Parley P. Christensen	—	—	13
1916	Woodrow Wilson	269,990	51.91	Charles E. Hughes	241,854	46.50	—			13
1912	Woodrow Wilson	219,484	48.48	Theodore Roosevelt	101,766	22.48	William H. Taft	115,510	25.52	13
1908	William H. Taft	235,711	48.03	William Jennings Bryan	244,092	49.74	—			13
1904	Theodore Roosevelt	205,457	47.13	Alton B. Parker	217,170	49.82	—			13
1900	William McKinley	227,132	48.51	William Jennings Bryan	235,126	50.21	—			13
1896	William McKinley	218,171	48.93	William Jennings Bryan	217,894	48.86	—			13	Electoral vote split twelve to one.
1892	Grover Cleveland	175,461	51.48	Benjamin Harrison	135,462	39.74	James B. Weaver	23,500	6.89	13
1888	Benjamin Harrison [c]	155,138	44.98	Grover Cleveland	183,830	53.30	—			13
1884	Grover Cleveland	152,961	55.32	James G. Blaine	118,690	42.93	—			13
1880	James A. Garfield	106,490	39.87	Winfield S. Hancock	148,875	55.74	James B. Weaver	11,506	4.31	12
1876	Rutherford B. Hayes	97,568	37.44	Samuel J. Tilden	160,060	61.41	—			12
1872	Ulysses S. Grant	88,766	46.44	Horace Greeley	99,995	52.32	—			12
1868	Ulysses S. Grant	39,566	25.5	Horatio Seymour	115,889	74.5	—			11
1864	Abraham Lincoln	27,787	30.2	George B. McClellan	64,301	69.8	—			11

Election of 1860

The election of 1860 was a complex realigning election in which the breakdown of the previous two-party alignment culminated in four parties each competing for influence in different parts of the country. The result of the election, with the victory of an ardent opponent of slavery, spurred the secession of eleven states and brought about the American Civil War.

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes
1860	Abraham Lincoln	1,364	0.9	Stephen A. Douglas	25,651	17.5	John C. Breckinridge	53,143	36.3	John Bell	66,058	45.2	12

Elections from 1828 to 1856

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Other national candidates [b]	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes	Notes
1856	James Buchanan	74,642	52.54	John C. Frémont	no ballots		Millard Fillmore	67,416	47.46	12
1852	Franklin Pierce	53,494	48.32	Winfield Scott	57,428	51.44	John P. Hale	266	0.24	12
1848	Zachary Taylor	67,145	57.46	Lewis Cass	49,720	42.54	Martin Van Buren	no ballots		12
1844	James K. Polk	51,988	45.91	Henry Clay	61,249	54.09	—			12
1840	William Henry Harrison	58,488	64.20	Martin Van Buren	32,616	35.80	—			15
1836	Martin Van Buren	33,229	47.41	William Henry Harrison	36,861	52.59	various [e]			15
1832	Andrew Jackson	36,292	45.51	Henry Clay	43,449	54.49	William Wirt	no ballots		15
1828	Andrew Jackson	39,308	55.54	John Quincy Adams	31,468	44.46	—			14

Election of 1824

The election of 1824 was a complex realigning election following the collapse of the prevailing Democratic-Republican Party, resulting in four different candidates each claiming to carry the banner of the party, and competing for influence in different parts of the country. The election was the only one in history to be decided by the House of Representatives under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution after no candidate secured a majority of the electoral vote. It was also the only presidential election in which the candidate who received a plurality of electoral votes (Andrew Jackson) did not become president, a source of great bitterness for Jackson and his supporters, who proclaimed the election of Adams a corrupt bargain.

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes
1824	Andrew Jackson	6,356	27.23	John Quincy Adams	no ballots		Henry Clay	16,982	72.77	William H. Crawford	no ballots		14

Elections from 1792 to 1820

In the election of 1820, incumbent President James Monroe ran effectively unopposed, winning all twelve of Kentucky's electoral votes, and all electoral votes nationwide except one vote in New Hampshire. To the extent that a popular vote was held, it was primarily directed to filling the office of vice president.

Year	Winner (nationally)	Runner-up (nationally)	Electoral Votes	Notes
1820	James Monroe	-	12	Monroe effectively ran unopposed.
1816	James Monroe	Rufus King	12
1812	James Madison	DeWitt Clinton	12
1808	James Madison	Charles C. Pinckney	7
1804	Thomas Jefferson	Charles C. Pinckney	8
1800	Thomas Jefferson	John Adams	4
1796	John Adams	Thomas Jefferson	4
1792	George Washington	—	4	Washington effectively ran unopposed.

See also

• Elections in Kentucky

Notes

1. John Bell, 1860; George Washington, 1792.
2. For purposes of these lists, other national candidates are defined as those who won at least one electoral vote, or won at least ten percent of the vote in multiple states.
3. Won the electoral college while losing the popular vote
4. Was allied with a slate of unpledged electors in Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina
5. Three other candidates ran and received electoral votes nationally as part of the unsuccessful Whig strategy to defeat Martin Van Buren by running four candidates with local appeal in different regions of the country. The others were Hugh Lawson White, Daniel Webster, and Willie Person Mangum. None of these candidates appeared on the ballot in Kentucky.

References

1. "Kentucky Presidential Election Results". The New York Times . 8 November 2024. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
2. "Presidential Election Results: Biden Wins". The New York Times . 3 November 2020. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
3. 2016 official Federal Election Commission report.
4. 2012 official Federal Election Commission report.
5. 2008 official Federal Election Commission report.
6. "Federal Elections 2004: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives" (PDF). Federal Elections Commission. May 2005.
7. "2000 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
8. "1996 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2018-03-05.