2015 Kentucky elections
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Kentucky on November 3, 2015. All of Kentucky's executive officers were up for election. Primary elections were held on May 19, 2015.
Governor and Lieutenant Governor
2015 Kentucky gubernatorial election Turnout 30%
County resultsBevin : 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%Conway : 40–50% 50–60%
Incumbent Democratic Governor Steve Beshear was term-limited and could not run for re-election to a third term in office.
In Kentucky, gubernatorial candidates pick their own running mates and they are elected on shared tickets in both the primary and general elections.
The candidates for the Democratic nomination were Attorney General of Kentucky Jack Conway and his running mate State Representative Sannie Overly ;[ 1] and retired engineer and 2014 Congressional candidate Geoff Young and his running mate Jonathan Masters.[ 2] Conway and Overly easily defeated Young and Masters in the primary election for the Democratic Party nomination.[ 3]
For the Republicans, businessman and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2014 Matt Bevin ran on a ticket with Tea Party activist and 2014 State House candidate Jenean Hampton;[ 4] Agriculture Commissioner of Kentucky James Comer ran on a ticket with State Senator Christian McDaniel ;[ 5] [ 6] former Louisville Metro Councilman and nominee for Mayor of Louisville in 2010 Hal Heiner ran on a ticket with former Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilwoman and nominee for Kentucky State Treasurer in 2011 K.C. Crosbie;[ 7] [ 8] and former Associate Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court Will T. Scott ran on a ticket with former Menifee County Sheriff Rodney Coffey.[ 9] [ 10] Bevin held an 83-vote lead over Comer in the primary election, with both Heiner and Scott conceding. The Associated Press , referring to the race between Bevin and Comer a "virtual tie", did not call the race in favor of either candidate. In addition, Comer refused to concede and stated that he would ask for a recanvass.[ 11] The request for recanvass was filed with the Kentucky Secretary of State's office on May 20, 2015, with Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes ordering the recanvass to occur at 9:00 a.m. local time on May 28, 2015.[ 12] [ 13] Upon completion of the recanvass, Grimes announced that Bevin remained 83 votes ahead of Comer. Grimes also stated that should Comer want a full recount , it would require a court order from the Franklin Circuit Court .[ 14] On May 29, Comer announced he would not request a recount and conceded the nomination to Bevin.[ 15]
Results
Attorney general
2015 Kentucky Attorney General election
County results State house district results Beshear: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80-90% Westerfield: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80-90%
Incumbent Democratic attorney general Jack Conway was term-limited and could not run for re-election to a third term in office. He instead ran for governor.
The candidate that would go on to be elected Attorney General was Andy Beshear , the son of retiring governor Steve Beshear .
In 2016, Steve Beshear's former personal cabinet secretary, Tim Longmeyer, was marred in controversy when he was exposed on bribery charges, including redirecting $6,000 of kickbacks into Andy Beshear's Attorney General campaign.[ 17] Andy Beshear had recently hired Longmeyer as a deputy. However, the prosecutors in Longmeyer's case indicated that there is no evidence to support that Andy Beshear knew what Longmeyer was doing.[ 18]
Over the next three years, Republican Governor Matt Bevin spearheaded an investigation into former governor Steve Beshear's administration as well as Andy Beshear's Attorney General campaign. Spending approximately $550,000 leading up to the 2019 Kentucky gubernatorial election , the investigation led to no conclusive results regarding the culpability of Steve or Andy Beshear.[ 19]
Beshear defeated Republican Whitney Westerfield by a margin of 0.2 percent, getting 50.1% of the vote to Westerfield's 49.9%.[ 20] [ 21] The margin was approximately 2,000 votes.[ 22]
Democratic primary
Candidates
Declared
Declined
Republican primary
Candidates
Declared
Declined
Luke Morgan, attorney[ 31]
Mark Wohlander, attorney[ 32]
Results
General election
Polling
Poll source
Date(s) administered
Sample size
Margin of error
Andy Beshear (D)
Whitney Westerfield (R)
Other
Undecided
SurveyUSA
October 23–26, 2015
798
± 3.5%
47%
35%
—
17%
WKU
October 19–25, 2015
770
± 3.5%
42%
36%
—
22%
SurveyUSA
September 22–27, 2015
701
± 3.8%
38%
38%
—
22%
SurveyUSA
July 22–28, 2015
685
± 3.8%
40%
33%
—
24%
Public Policy Polling
June 18–21, 2015
1,108
± 2.9%
36%
41%
—
23%
Hypothetical polling
Poll source
Date(s) administered
Sample size
Margin of error
Andy Beshear (D)
Luke Morgan (R)
Other
Undecided
Gravis Marketing
January 5–6, 2015
608
± 4%
42%
37%
—
22%
Results
Secretary of State
2015 Kentucky Secretary of State election
County results State house district results Lundergan Grimes : 50–60% 60–70%Knipper : 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Incumbent Democratic Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes was eligible to run for re-election to a second term in office. She had considered running for Governor of Kentucky or for Attorney General of Kentucky .[ 34] [ 35] [ 36] She decided to seek re-election.
Democratic primary
Candidates
Declared
Declined
Results
Primary results by county: 50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
Republican primary
Candidates
Declared
Withdrew
Michael Pitzer, candidate for the State House in 2008[ 37]
Declined
General election
Polling
Poll source
Date(s) administered
Sample size
Margin of error
Alison Lundergan Grimes (D)
Steve Knipper (R)
Other
Undecided
SurveyUSA
October 23–26, 2015
798
± 3.5%
50%
37%
—
12%
WKU
October 19–25, 2015
770
± 3.5%
46%
35%
—
19%
SurveyUSA
September 22–27, 2015
701
± 3.8%
46%
38%
—
15%
SurveyUSA
July 22–28, 2015
685
± 3.8%
46%
40%
—
12%
Public Policy Polling
June 18–21, 2015
1,108
± 2.9%
42%
47%
—
12%
Gravis Marketing
January 5–6, 2015
608
± 4%
47%
46%
—
7%
Results
State auditor
2015 Kentucky State Auditor election
County resultsHarmon : 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%Edelen : 50–60% 60–70%
Incumbent Democratic state auditor Adam Edelen had considered running for governor in 2015, even lining up a running mate, but ultimately declined to do so. He instead ran for re-election to a second term in office.[ 45]
Democratic primary
Candidates
Declared
Declined
Chris Tobe, CFA, writer, former trustee of the Kentucky Retirement Systems and former staffer to State Auditor Ed Hatchett [ 39]
Republican primary
Candidates
Declared
Declined
General election
Polling
Poll source
Date(s) administered
Sample size
Margin of error
Adam Edelen (D)
Mike Harmon (R)
Other
Undecided
SurveyUSA
October 23–26, 2015
798
± 3.5%
42%
34%
—
22%
WKU
October 19–25, 2015
770
± 3.5%
40%
35%
—
25%
SurveyUSA
September 22–27, 2015
701
± 3.8%
35%
33%
—
27%
SurveyUSA
July 22–28, 2015
685
± 3.8%
35%
31%
—
30%
Public Policy Polling
June 18–21, 2015
1,108
± 2.9%
33%
39%
—
27%
Hypothetical polling
Poll source
Date(s) administered
Sample size
Margin of error
Adam Edelen (D)
John Kemper (R)
Other
Undecided
Gravis Marketing
January 5–6, 2015
608
± 4%
30%
38%
—
32%
Results
State Treasurer
2015 Kentucky Treasurer General election
County results State house district results Ball: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%Nelson: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80-90%
Incumbent Democratic State Treasurer Todd Hollenbach was term-limited and could not run for re-election to a third term in office. He had said that he may run for another office in 2015, but did not specify which, and eventually declined to run for another statewide office.[ 39] He instead successfully ran for an open seat on the Jefferson County District Court, defeating 20 other candidates.[ 47]
Democratic primary
Candidates
Declared
Neville Blakemore, Executive Chairman of Great Northern Building Products and nominee for Louisville Metro Council in 2006[ 48]
Jim Glenn , State Representative and candidate for State Auditor in 2003[ 49]
Daniel Grossberg, Jefferson County Commissioner and President of the Louisville Young Democrats[ 48]
Richard Henderson, former State Representative and former Mayor of Jeffersonville [ 50]
Rick Nelson , state representative[ 51]
Declined
Colmon Elridge, aide to Governor Steve Beshear and former Executive Vice President of Young Democrats of America [ 38] [ 52] [ 53]
Dee Dee Ford-Keene, businesswoman and former President of the Democratic Women's Club of Kentucky[ 39] [ 54] [ 55]
Chris Tobe, CFA, writer, former trustee of the Kentucky Retirement Systems and former staffer to State Auditor Ed Hatchett[ 39] [ 54]
Results
Republican primary
Candidates
Declared
Results
General election
Polling
Poll source
Date(s) administered
Sample size
Margin of error
Rick Nelson (D)
Allison Ball (R)
Other
Undecided
SurveyUSA
October 23–26, 2015
798
± 3.5%
35%
37%
—
25%
WKU
October 19–25, 2015
770
± 3.5%
32%
37%
—
31%
SurveyUSA
September 22–27, 2015
701
± 3.8%
33%
35%
—
28%
SurveyUSA
July 22–28, 2015
685
± 3.8%
36%
33%
—
29%
Public Policy Polling
June 18–21, 2015
1,108
± 2.9%
32%
41%
—
26%
Gravis Marketing
January 5–6, 2015
608
± 4%
32%
34%
—
35%
Results
Agriculture Commissioner
Incumbent Republican Agriculture Commissioner James Comer did not run for re-election to a second term in office. He instead ran for governor, and was defeated by Matt Bevin in the Republican primary.
Democratic primary
Candidates
Declared
Jean-Marie Lawson Spann, businesswoman, radio host and agriculture activist[ 59] [ 60]
Declined
Republican primary
Candidates
Declared
Declined
Results
General election
Polling
Poll source
Date(s) administered
Sample size
Margin of error
Ryan Quarles (R)
Jean-Marie Lawson Spann (D)
Other
Undecided
SurveyUSA
October 23–26, 2015
798
± 3.5%
40%
33%
—
24%
WKU
October 19–25, 2015
770
± 3.5%
37%
30%
—
33%
SurveyUSA
September 22–27, 2015
701
± 3.8%
34%
31%
—
29%
SurveyUSA
July 22–28, 2015
685
± 3.8%
33%
32%
—
30%
Gravis Marketing
January 5–6, 2015
608
± 4%
39%
31%
—
30%
Results
Kentucky Supreme Court
District 7
Results by county:
A non-partisan special election was held along with the May 19, 2015 primary elections to fill the 7th district seat of the Kentucky Supreme Court .[ 67] The seat was vacated when Justice Will T. Scott resigned to run for governor.[ 68] The winner of the election was elected to serve the remainder of Scott's term, with the seat coming up for re-election next in 2020.
Candidates
Declared
Withdrew
Results
References
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^ Unofficial results 2015 General Elections Archived September 21, 2021, at the Wayback Machine
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