A general election was held in the U.S. state of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

on November 5, 2019, with all executive offices in the state up for election. Primary elections were held on May 21, 2019.

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

The 2019 Kentucky gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2019, to elect the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

. The Democratic nominee,

Kentucky Attorney General The Attorney General of Kentucky is an office created by the Kentucky Constitution. (Ky.Const. § 91). Under Kentucky law, they serve several roles, including the state's chief prosecutor (KRS 15.700), the state's chief law enforcement officer (K ...

Andy Beshear Andrew Graham Beshear (born November 29, 1977) is an American attorney and politician who has served as the 63rd governor of Kentucky since December 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the son of the 61st governor of Kentucky, Steve B ...

, defeated

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

incumbent

Matt Bevin Matthew Griswold Bevin (; born January 9, 1967) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 62nd governor of Kentucky, from 2015 to 2019. He was the third Republican elected Kentucky governor since World War II, after Ernie Fletc ...

by a margin of just over 5,000 votes, or 0.37%. It was the closest gubernatorial election in Kentucky since

1899 Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a c ...

by total votes, and the closest ever by percentage. Bevin won 97 counties, while Beshear won only 23 counties. Beshear carried only two of the state's six congressional districts, but those districts were the state's two most urbanized, the Louisville-based

3rd Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and the Lexington-based 6th. Bevin conceded on November 14, after a recanvass took place that day that did not change the vote count.

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

John Hicks also qualified for the ballot and received 2% of the vote. Statewide turnout was just over 42%, much higher than for the 2015 gubernatorial election. The result was a major swing from 2016, when

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

won the state by 30 points and Republicans gained a supermajority in both chambers of the

Kentucky General Assembly The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets annually in the ...

. Results

Attorney General

The 2019 Kentucky Attorney General election was conducted on November 5. Primary elections occurred on May 21, 2019. The general election was held on November 5, 2019. Incumbent Democratic Attorney General

declined to seek reelection to a second term to successfully run for Governor. Republican

Daniel Cameron Daniel, Dan or Danny Cameron may refer to: Politicians *Daniel Alexander Cameron (1870–1937), Canadian politician from the province of Nova Scotia *Daniel R. Cameron (1885–1933), lumber merchant and political figure in Nova Scotia, Canada *Dan ...

defeated Democrat

Greg Stumbo Gregory D. Stumbo (born August 14, 1951) is an American lawyer and former Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Kentucky Attorney general from 2004 to 2008. He was the Democratic candida ...

. He became the first Republican attorney general of Kentucky since 1948, and the state's first black attorney general. Results

Secretary of State

Incumbent Democratic Secretary of State

Alison Lundergan Grimes Alison Case Lundergan Grimes (born November 23, 1978) is an American lawyer and Democratic politician who was the secretary of state of Kentucky from 2012 until 2020. Grimes was elected in 2011 after defeating incumbent Elaine Walker in the De ...

was ineligible to run for a third term due to

term limits A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

. This was the only statewide race in Kentucky in 2019 besides the

gubernatorial election A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

in which the Democratic candidate came close to winning and the only non-gubernatorial statewide election in KY, LA or MS where the Democrat achieved more than 45% of the vote in 2019.

Democratic primary

Candidates

*Jason Belcher, U.S. Air Force veteran and writer *Jason Griffith, teacher and businessman *

Heather French Henry Heather Renee French Henry (born December 29, 1974) is a Miss America title holder, fashion designer, and veterans advocate. She is married to former Kentucky Lieutenant Governor Steve Henry. Biography Raised in Augusta, Kentucky, Heather Fre ...

, former Commissioner of Veterans Affairs of Kentucky and former

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

*Geoff Sebesta, comic book artist

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

* Michael Adams, general counsel for the

Republican Governors Association The Republican Governors Association (RGA) is a Washington, D.C.-based 527 organization founded in 1961, consisting of U.S. state and territorial Republican governors. The Republican Governors Association is dedicated to one primary objective: ele ...

and former

Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell McConnell III (born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and retired attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky and the Senate minority leader since 2021. Currently in his seventh term, McConne ...

aide *Andrew English, former general counsel for the

Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet The Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet (JPSC) is an agency of the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky that is responsible for providing law enforcement, criminal justice and correctional services to the citizens of Kentucky. The Cabinet is head ...

and U.S. Navy veteran *Stephen Knipper, cyber security expert, former Erlanger city councilman, and nominee for Secretary of State in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

*Carl Nett, former counterintelligence officer

Polling

Results

General election

Polling

Results

State Auditor

Republican primary

Candidates

Mike Harmon Michael Joseph Harmon (born January 24, 1958) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro for Mike Harmon Racing. In the past, he drove in ...

, incumbent State Auditor of Kentucky

Democratic primary

Candidates

*Kelsey Hayes Coots, teacher *Sheri Donahue, former U.S. Navy engineer *Chris Tobe, pension consultant

Withdrew

Drew Curtis Drew Curtis (born February 7, 1973) is the founder and an administrator of Fark, an Internet news aggregator. He is also the author of '' It's Not News, It's FARK: How Mass Media Tries to Pass off Crap as News'' in May 2007. He is a guest on WOC ...

, founder of

Fark Fark is a community website created by Drew Curtis that allows members to comment on a daily batch of news articles and other items from various websites. The site receives many story submissions per day and approximately 100 of them are public ...

and independent candidate for governor in

Results

General election

Results

State Treasurer

Republican primary

Candidates

Allison Ball Allison Ball (born August 27, 1981) is an American attorney and politician who serves as the Kentucky State Treasurer. She is a member of the Republican Party. Early years and career Ball is a ninth-generation Eastern Kentuckian. Her family h ...

, incumbent State Treasurer of Kentucky

Democratic primary

Candidates

*Michael Bowman, bank manager and former

Louisville Metro Council The Louisville Metro Council is the city council of Louisville, Kentucky (Louisville Metro). It was formally established in January 2003 upon the merger of the former City of Louisville with Jefferson County and replaced the city's Board of A ...

staffer *Josh Mers, insurance agent and treasurer for the Lexington Human Rights Commission

Results

General election

Results

Agriculture Commissioner

Republican primary

Candidates

*Bill Polyniak, farmer and hemp businessman *

Ryan Quarles Ryan Francis Quarles (born October 20, 1983) is an American Republican politician who has served as Agriculture Commissioner of Kentucky since 2016. He served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 2011 to 2016. Early life and education ...

, incumbent

Agriculture Commissioner of Kentucky The Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture is an elected position in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The Commissioner of Agriculture serves as head of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. The commissioner manages agriculture markets, rural developm ...

Polling

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

*Robert Haley Conway, district supervisor of the Scott County Soil and Water Conservation Board and former chair of the Scott County Board of Education *Joe Trigg,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

city councilman

Results

General election

Results

Judiciary

Supreme Court

Candidates

*Christopher Shea Nickell,

Kentucky Court of Appeals The Kentucky Court of Appeals is the lower of Kentucky's two appellate courts, under the Kentucky Supreme Court. Prior to a 1975 amendment to the Kentucky Constitution the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky. The ...

judge for the 1st Appellate District, Division 1 *

Whitney Westerfield Whitney H. Westerfield (born November 29, 1980) is an American attorney, politician and a Republican member of the Kentucky Senate representing District 3 since January 8, 2013. In 2015, Westerfield was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for At ...

, member of the

Kentucky Senate The Kentucky Senate is the upper house of the Kentucky General Assembly. The Kentucky Senate is composed of 38 members elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. There are no term limits for Kentucky Senators. The Kentu ...

for the 3rd District and candidate for Attorney General in

Results

Both candidates were registered

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, but the election was conducted under a non-partisan format.

Court of Appeals

Notes

;Partisan clients

References

External links

;Official campaign websites for Secretary of State
Michael Adams (R) for Secretary of State

Heather French Henry (D) for Secretary of State
;Official campaign websites for Auditor
Sheri Donahue (D) for Auditor

Mike Harmon (R) for Auditor
;Official campaign websites for Treasurer
Allison Ball (R) for Treasurer

Michael Bowman (D) for Treasurer
;Official campaign websites for Agriculture Commissioner
Robert Haley Conway (D) for Ag Commissioner

Ryan Quarles (R) for Ag Commissioner
;Official campaign websites for Supreme Court
Whitney Westerfield for Supreme Court
{{2019 United States elections

November 2019 events in the United States