The 2008 United States Senate election in Kentucky was held on November 4, 2008. Minority Leader and incumbent Republican U.S. Senator
Mitch McConnell won re-election to a fifth term. Although
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
lost Kentucky by a 16.22% margin to
John McCain in the presidential election which occurred simultaneously, McConnell more narrowly kept his seat with a 5.94% margin against businessman
Bruce Lunsford
William Bruce Lunsford (born November 11, 1947) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician from Kentucky. He has served various roles in the Kentucky Democratic Party, including party treasurer, Deputy Development Secretary, and Head o ...
. This was a greatly reduced margin from when he won re-election in 2002 with a 29.4% margin.
Background
In 2007 Kentucky's unpopular Republican Governor,
Ernie Fletcher
Ernest Lee Fletcher (born November 12, 1952) is an American physician and politician. In 1998, he was elected to the first of three consecutive terms in the United States House of Representatives; he resigned in 2003 after being elected the 60th ...
, lost his re-election bid. The Democrats took control of both Houses of Congress in the 2006 mid-term elections and in October
Chuck Schumer
Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, an ...
acknowledged they were aiming for McConnell's seat.
State auditor Crit Luallen
Eugenia Crittenden Blackburn "Crit" Luallen (born July 21, 1952) is an American politician who served as the 56th lieutenant governor of Kentucky from November 13, 2014, to December 8, 2015. Luallen previously served as Kentucky State Auditor.
...
was considered a top contender for the Democratic nomination, but she decided to remain as auditor. Lunsford was asked to run by Kentucky Governor
Steve Beshear. Seven candidates competed for the Democratic Primary nomination. The primaries for both parties took place on May 20, 2008 in which Lunsford took more than 50%.
Republican primary
Candidates
* Daniel Essek
*
Mitch McConnell, incumbent U.S. Senator
Results
Democratic primary
Candidates
* Michael Cassaro
*
Greg Fischer, businessman
*
Bruce Lunsford
William Bruce Lunsford (born November 11, 1947) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician from Kentucky. He has served various roles in the Kentucky Democratic Party, including party treasurer, Deputy Development Secretary, and Head o ...
, former Kentucky Secretary of Commerce and candidate for
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 ...
in
2003 and
2007
* James Rice
* Kenneth Stepp
* David Williams
* David Wylie
Results
General election
Candidates
*
Bruce Lunsford
William Bruce Lunsford (born November 11, 1947) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician from Kentucky. He has served various roles in the Kentucky Democratic Party, including party treasurer, Deputy Development Secretary, and Head o ...
(D), businessman
*
Mitch McConnell (R), incumbent U.S. Senator
Campaign
In October Lunsford and McConnell were statistically tied in the polls.
Larry Sabato
Larry Joseph Sabato (; born August 7, 1952) is an American political scientist and political analyst. He is the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, where he is also the founder and director of the Center for P ...
, director of the
University of Virginia Center for Politics
The University of Virginia Center for Politics (CfP) is a nonpartisan organization based in Charlottesville, Virginia, that seeks to increase civic knowledge and involvement among all citizens. It was founded in 1998 by professor and political a ...
, said "If Lunsford is actually doing this well, its got to be because the public is so upset by the
economic meltdown and may be blaming the legislative leaders."
A debate scheduled for October 7 hosted by the
League of Women Voters was canceled when incumbent McConnell decided not to participate even though Lunsford announced he wanted to debate.
On November 2, 2008, media outlets such as
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
noted that the website of
The New Republic
''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...
had reported that anti-McConnell flyers questioning the senator's sexuality as well as the reasons for his 1967 military discharge were being distributed in Kentucky.
Predictions
Polling
Results
Results breakdown
See also
*
2008 United States Senate elections
References
External links
Kentucky State Board of ElectionsU.S. Congress candidates for Kentuckyat
Project Vote Smart
Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...
* –
CQ Politics
Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combine ...
Kentucky U.S. Senatefrom ''OurCampaigns.com''
* – ''2008 Race Tracker''
* –
OpenSecrets
OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...
* – graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
* Official campaign websites
** – Democratic nominee
*
Mitch McConnell for Senate– Republican nominee
{{2008 United States elections
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
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 ...
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...