The 2004 House elections in

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 ...

occurred on November 2, 2004, to elect the members of the

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

of Kentucky's delegation to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

. Kentucky had six seats in the House, apportioned according to the

2000 United States census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 cen ...

. These elections occurred simultaneously with the United States Senate elections of 2004 ( including one in Kentucky), the United States House elections in other states, and various state and local elections. Though Democrats picked up a seat via a special election in the 6th congressional district in February of that year, this was later cancelled out by a victory for Republicans in the Fourth district.

Overview

District 1

Incumbent Republican Congressman

Ed Whitfield Wayne Edward Whitfield (born May 25, 1943) is an American politician and attorney who served as the U.S. representative of from January 1995, until his resignation in September 2016. He is a member of the Republican Party, and the first to repr ...

defeated Democratic challenger Billy Cartwright by a solid margin in this solidly-conservative west

-based district.

District 2

Incumbent Republican Congressman

Ron Lewis Ronald Edward Lewis (born September 14, 1946) is an American retired politician who was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1994 to 2009, having represented the 2nd congressional district of Kentucky. Lewis a ...

faced no difficulty seeking a fifth term in his conservative district based in west-central

, riding the coattails of President Bush's re-election in Kentucky over Democratic nominee Adam Smith.

District 3

Incumbent Republican Congresswoman

Anne Northup Anne Meagher Northup (born January 22, 1948) is an American Republican politician and educator from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. From 1997 to 2007, she represented the Louisville-centered 3rd congressional district of Kentucky in the United ...

was used to facing tough elections in this swing district based in

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

, but this election proved different. Despite the fact that

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

, the Democratic nominee for president, won Northup's district, her Democratic opponent, Tony Miller, the Circuit Court Clerk for Jefferson County was unable to defeat Northup and his campaign crumbled in a landslide.

District 4

When incumbent Congressman Ken Lucas, a Democrat, declined to seek re-election as part of a campaign pledge to only serve three terms, an intense battle emerged in this conservative district based in northern

. Reporter

Nick Clooney Nicholas Joseph Clooney (born January 13, 1934) is an American journalist, anchorman, and television host. He is the brother of singer Rosemary Clooney and the father of actor George Clooney. Early life Clooney was born in Maysville, Kentucky, t ...

, the father of renowned actor George Clooney, became the Democratic nominee;

Geoff Davis Geoffrey Clark Davis (born October 26, 1958) is an American businessman, politician and former U.S. Representative for , serving from 2005 to 2012. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes 24 counties in the northeastern p ...

, Lucas's opponent in 2002, became the Republican nominee. In what some dubbed "

Heartland Heartland or Heartlands may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Heartland Bank, a New Zealand-based financial institution * Heartland Inn, a chain of hotels based in Iowa, United States * Heartland Alliance, an anti-poverty organization i ...

vs. Hollywood," Davis rode a

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 ...

tidal wave to victory, defeating Clooney by a fair margin. Michael E. Slider, a High School teacher from Oldham County, also ran in the race as an Independent.

District 5

Incumbent Republican Congressman Hal Rogers was unopposed for another term in this strongly conservative district based in

East Kentucky The Eastern Kentucky Coalfield is part of the Central Appalachian bituminous coalfield, including all or parts of 30 Kentucky counties and adjoining areas in Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee. It covers an area from the Allegheny M ...

District 6

Emerging from a successful

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

earlier in the year, freshman incumbent Congressman

Ben Chandler Albert Benjamin Chandler III (born September 12, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States representative for from 2004 to 2013. A Democrat, Chandler was first elected to Congress in a 2004 special election. He ...

faced off against the Republican nominee, Kentucky State Senator

Tom Buford Tom Buford (May 23, 1949 – July 6, 2021) was an American politician who served in the Kentucky Senate from the 22nd district from 1991 until his death in 2021. He died of cancer on July 6, 2021, in Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the west ...

. Chandler won a second term with relative ease in this conservative Central Kentucky district.

References

{{United States elections, 2004

2004 2004 Kentucky elections