Editor’s Note: In order to get this story up on the site for our readers, we are writing it as a summary of the election. We will be adding more coverage throughout the morning.
Beshear wins … maybe?
Riding a huge margin in Jefferson County and surprise wins in rural counties across the state, Democrat Andy Beshear beat incumbent Republican governor Matt Bevin on Tuesday. The final vote margin was 5,189 out of more than 1.4 million votes cast.
While Beshear claimed victory, Bevin refused to concede, citing “irregularities” in the election. “”We know for a fact that there have been more than a few irregularities. They are very well corroborated and that’s alright. What they are exactly, how many, which ones & what effect if any they have will be determined according to law that’s well established,” said Bevin.
So what could come next?
There are three possible next steps for a challenger who wishes to contest an election result.
- Recanvass – All county clerks recheck vote totals from voting machines and absentee ballots, to make sure what was sent to the Secretary of State was accurate. Essentially, it’s a “check your math” step. Must be requested by Bevin by next Tuesday. No cost to the candidate requesting it.
- Recount – All individual votes are recounted. Must also be requested by next Tuesday by filing a petition in Franklin Circuit Court, and the recount itself must be paid for by the challenger. (It can cost tens of thousands of dollars.) If granted, the judge hearing the case takes possession of all ballots and conducts the recount, then issues a ruling. That ruling can be appealed.
- Contest the election – A third option is somewhat outlined in Kentucky statutes, involving the state legislature. A challenger can file a formal request to contest the election results by the Tuesday after the election. The filing is made with the state legislature, and must outline the reasons the challenger is contesting the election. This process has not been used in over 100 years, and some legal scholars note that it would be problematic. But, it is in the statutes, and could be used.
Republicans take all down-ballot races
Outside of the governor’s race, the Republican candidates won all the other races:
- Attorney General: Daniel Cameron defeated Greg Stumbo to become the first African American individually elected to state-wide office. (Jenean Hampton was elected as part of the Bevin candidacy.) This flips the office from Democrat to Republican.
- Secretary of State: Michael Adams defeated Heather French Henry for SOS. This was a surprise, as most felt Henry would win this easily. This office also got flipped from blue to red.
- Treasurer: Allison Ball won re-election over Michael Bowman.
- Auditor: Mike Harmon won re-election over Sheri Donahue.
- Ag Commissioner: Ryan Quarles won re-election over Robert Conway. More than one person noted that Quarles is well positioned to run for governor in four years.
Looking at the vote totals, it is obvious that numerous voters voted Beshear at the top, then Republican the rest of the way.
Turnout much higher than expected
Secretary of State Grimes had predicted a 31% turnout, which would have been about 1 million votes. On Tuesday, voters went to the polls in much higher numbers than that, with 1.4 million votes cast.
State-wide turnout was about 42%, which is the highest for a governor’s race since 2003. Numerous counties, both urban and rural, saw turnout above that.
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