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

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

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 politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

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

Andy Beshear Andrew Graham Beshear ( ; born November 29, 1977) is an American attorney and politician serving as the 63rd governor of Kentucky since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 50th attorney gen ...

, defeated Republican incumbent

Matt Bevin Matthew Griswold Bevin (; born January 9, 1967) is an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 62nd governor of Kentucky from 2015 to 2019. He is currently the CEO of Neuronetrix Solutions, LLC. Bo ...

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

1899 Events January * January 1 ** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...

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 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 ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

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 is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

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 th ...

. Results

Secretary of State

Incumbent Democratic Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes was ineligible to run for a third term due to

term limits A term limit is a legal restriction on the number of Term of office, terms a Incumbent, person may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in Presidential system, presidential and Semi-presidential republic, semi-president ...

. 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, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

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, 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 18 and 28. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is judged on competition segments with scoring percentages: ''Priva ...

*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. Its primary objective is to help elect and support Republican governors. Th ...

and former

Mitch McConnell Addison Mitchell McConnell III (; born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky, a seat he has held since 1985. McConnell is in his seventh Senate term and is the long ...

aide *Andrew English, former general counsel for the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet and U.S. Navy veteran *Stephen Knipper, cyber security expert, former Erlanger city councilman, and nominee for secretary of state in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

*Carl Nett, former counterintelligence officer

Polling

Results

General election

Polling

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

Auditor of Public Accounts

Republican primary

Candidates

* Mike Harmon, 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 WO ...

, 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 publi ...

and independent candidate for governor in

Results

General election

Results

State Treasurer

Republican primary

Candidates

* Allison Ball, 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 o ...

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

Results

General election

Results

Commissioner of Agriculture

Republican primary

Candidates

*Bill Polyniak, farmer and hemp businessman *

Ryan Quarles Ryan Francis Quarles (born October 20, 1983) is an academic administrator and American politician who was the Agriculture Commissioner of Kentucky from 2016 to 2024 and a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from 2011 to 2016. He ha ...

, incumbent Agriculture Commissioner of Kentucky

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 is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

city councilman

Results

General election

Results

Judiciary

Kentucky Supreme Court

Candidates

*Christopher Shea Nickell,

Kentucky Court of Appeals The Kentucky Court of Appeals is the lower of Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illino ...

judge for the 1st Appellate District, Division 1 * Whitney Westerfield, 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 Kentucky, the Commonwealth. There are no term limits for Kentucky senators. T ...

for the 3rd District and candidate for attorney general in

Results

Both candidates were registered Republicans, 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
{{Elections in Kentucky footer

Kentuicky elections