Kentucky 2018 Election Results

Kentucky held its general election on November 6, 2018, deciding 119 legislative seats. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• A spring of teacher protests against the Republican legislature did not translate into a shift in power: the seats that changed hands nearly canceled out, leaving Democrats two seats better off in the House and Republicans one seat better off in the Senate.
• Teachers had rallied against the legislature over changes to the state's retirement system and a bill allowing charter schools, and dozens of educators ran for legislative seats; most of them lost. One who won was special education teacher Tina Bojanowski (D), who defeated the incumbent, Rep. Phil Moffett (R), by about 7 points in House District 32.
• In House District 13, Jim Glenn (D) beat Rep. DJ Johnson (R) by a single vote on Election Day. Glenn was sworn in, but at Johnson's request the Republican-led legislature ordered a recount, which ended in a tie. That put the seat in the hands of a House contest board that could have settled it by drawing lots. Johnson withdrew his challenge and conceded in February 2019.
• The other seats that changed party included several near-ties:
  • Democratic pickups: Kathy Hinkle (D) unseated Rep. Jill York (R) in House District 96 by 5 votes, Cluster Howard (D) ousted Rep. Toby Herald (R) in District 91 by 7, and Cherlynn Stevenson (D) won an open Republican seat in District 88 by fewer than 50. Democrats also unseated two more Republicans by wider margins: Maria Sorolis (D) beat Rep. Ken Fleming (R) in District 48, and Ashley Tackett Laferty (D) beat Rep. Larry Brown (R) in District 95. In District 11, Rob Wiederstein (D) won an open Republican seat.
  • Republican pickups: Nancy Tate (R) unseated Rep. Jeff Greer (D) in House District 27 by 6 votes, and Thomas Huff (R) defeated Rep. Linda Belcher (D) in District 49. Republicans also won four open Democratic seats: District 3 (Randy Bridges (R)), District 6 (Chris Freeland (R)), District 72 (Matthew Koch (R)), and District 87 (Adam Bowling (R)). In the Senate, Robby Mills (R) unseated Sen. Dorsey Ridley (D), who had held Senate District 4 since 2004, by fewer than 500 votes.
• Beyond the flips, 3 more races finished inside two points, the tightest in House District 81, where Deanna Frazier (R) held the seat for Republicans by 24 votes. Only 11 races went uncontested.
• Voters approved Marsy's Law, a crime victims' rights amendment, by a wide margin, but the Kentucky Supreme Court voided it in June 2019, ruling that the ballot should have carried the full 553-word amendment rather than a 38-word summary.

Legislature

• House (100 seats): 37 D, 63 R before the election, 38 D, 61 R, 1 other or vacant after; control stayed with Republicans.
• Senate (38 seats): 11 D, 27 R before the election, 10 D, 27 R, 1 other or vacant after; control stayed with Republicans.

Legislative races

Ballot measures