The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky were held on November 8, 2016, to elect the six U.S. representatives from the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

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 ...

, one from each of the state's six

congressional districts Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional body. Countries with congressional districts includ ...

. The elections coincided with the

2016 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kiri ...

, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives,

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

and various

and

local elections Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

. The primaries were held on May 17.

Overview

By district

Results of the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky by district:

District 1

Incumbent Republican

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 re ...

, who had represented the district since 1995, did not run for re-election for a 12th term. He was re-elected with 73% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+18.

Republican primary

Republicans

James Comer James Richardson Comer Jr. ( ; born August 19, 1972) is an American politician from Kentucky who represents the state's Kentucky's 1st congressional district, 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. A member of ...

, the Agriculture Commissioner of Kentucky, and Michael Pape, Witfield's district director, ran for the Republican Party nomination. Other potential Republican candidates included former

Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky The lieutenant governor of Kentucky was created under the state's second constitution, which was ratified in 1799. The inaugural officeholder was Alexander Scott Bullitt, who took office in 1800 following his election to serve under James Garra ...

nominee

Robbie Rudolph The 2007 Kentucky gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2007. In this election, incumbent Republican governor Ernie Fletcher ran for reelection to a second term but was soundly defeated by Democratic challenger Steve Beshear. A pri ...

, businessman Todd P'Pool,

George W. Bush administration George W. Bush's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush, a Republican from Texas, took office following his narrow electoral college vict ...

official J. Scott Jennings, and Whitfield's

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

Cory Hicks. State Senator Max Wise also was considered a potential candidate, but he endorsed Comer. In the May 17 primary, Comer won with 61% of the vote and went on to face Democrat Sam Gaskins in the general election.

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, former Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner and candidate for governor 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 ...

=Eliminated in primary

= * Jason Batts, Hickman County Attorney * Miles A. Caughey Jr. * Michael Pape, district director for Congressman

=Declined

= * Cory Hicks, former chief of staff to Congressman

* J. Scott Jennings, former White House aide * Todd P'Pool, former Hopkins County Attorney and nominee for attorney general in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, businessman, former secretary of Executive Cabinet, former State Secretary of Finance and nominee for lieutenant governor in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, incumbent U.S. Representative (endorsed Pape) * Max Wise, state senator (endorsed Comer)

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Sam Gaskins, construction worker

=Withdrawn

= *Tom Osborne, attorney

=Declined

= * Brandi Harless, vice chair of the

Kentucky Democratic Party The Kentucky Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is currently the minority party in the state, as the rival Republican Party of Kentucky overwhelmingly dominates in the state legislature, ...

and co-founder and CEO of Personal Medicine Plus * David Ramey, chair of the Calloway County Democratic Party *

Dorsey Ridley J. Dorsey Ridley (born November 26, 1953) is an American people, American politician. He was a member of the Kentucky Senate from the 4th District, serving from 2004 to 2019. He is a member of the Democratic Party. First elected in a July 2004 s ...

, state senator * John Tilley, Secretary of the Kentucky Department of Justice and Public Safety and former state representative * Gerald Watkins, state representative

Special election

Whitfield resigned on September 6, 2016. A special election was held on November 8, concurrently with the regularly-scheduled election.

Candidates

=Republican nominee

= *

, former Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner and candidate for governor in

=Democratic nominee

= * Sam Gaskins, construction worker

Results

General election

Predictions

Results

District 2

Incumbent Republican

Brett Guthrie Steven Brett Guthrie (born February 18, 1964) is an American businessman and politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 2009. The district is in central Kentucky and includes Fort Knox, Owensb ...

, who had represented the district since 2009, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 69% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+16.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

Democratic primary

No Democrats filed to run.

General election

Predictions

Results

District 3

Incumbent Democrat

John Yarmuth John Allan Yarmuth ( ; born November 4, 1947) is a retired American politician and newspaper editor who served as the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2023. His district encompassed the vast majority of the Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville M ...

, who had represented the district since 2007, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 64% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of D+4.

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Harold Bratcher, business owner

=Eliminated in primary

= * Everett Corley, real estate agent * Robert DeVore Jr., Navy veteran

Results

General election

Predictions

Results

District 4

Incumbent Republican

Thomas Massie Thomas Harold Massie (born January 13, 1971) is an American politician and engineer. A member of the Republican Party, Massie has been the United States representative for Kentucky's 4th congressional district since 2012. The district covers ...

, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 68% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+16.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *Calvin Sidle, former candidate for Pikeville City Commissioner

General election

Endorsements

Predictions

Results

District 5

Incumbent Republican

Hal Rogers Harold Dallas Rogers (born December 31, 1937) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 1981. He is a member of the Republican Party. Upon Don Young's death in 2022, Rogers became the dean of the Hous ...

, who had represented the district since 1981, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 78% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+25.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

=Eliminated in primary

= * John Burk Jr., insurance industry worker

Results

Democratic primary

No Democrats filed to run.

General election

Predictions

Results

District 6

Incumbent Republican

Andy Barr Garland Hale "Andy" Barr IV (born July 24, 1973) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Kentucky's 6th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the adm ...

, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 60% of the vote in 2014. The district had a PVI of R+9.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

=Eliminated in primary

= * Roger Brill

Results

Democratic primary

Matt Jones, host and founder of Kentucky Sports Radio, considered challenging Representative Barr, but announced on November 23, 2015, that he would not do so. Rev. Nancy Jo Kemper, a graduate of

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

and former executive director of the Kentucky Council of Churches, announced she would run for the Democratic nomination on January 21, 2016. Geoff Young, candidate for governor in Kentucky in 2014, and Michael Coblenz, a candidate for Kentucky state house in 2010 competed with Kemper for the chance to challenge Barr in the general election. Michael Coblenz later withdrew, leaving Rev. Kemper and Young as the only Democratic candidates.

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Nancy Jo Kemper, former executive director of the Kentucky Council of Churches

=Eliminated in primary

= * Geoff Young,

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...

=Withdrawn

= *Michael Coblenz, attorney and former Air Force B-52 navigator

=Declined

= * Matt Jones, host and founder of Kentucky Sports Radio

Endorsements

Results

General election

Predictions

Results

References

External links

U.S. House elections in Kentucky, 2016
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Campaign contributions
at

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...

{{Elections in Kentucky footer

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

United States House The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of the ...