2016 Kentucky Senate election

Not to be confused with 2016 United States Senate election in Kentucky.

2016 Kentucky Senate election

November 8, 2016
19 out of 38 seats in the Kentucky Senate 20 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Robert Stivers Ray Jones Party Republican Democratic Leader since January 8, 2013 January 6, 2015 Leader's seat 25th – Manchester 31st – Pikeville Last election 26 12 Seats before 27[a] 11 Seats won 27 11 Seat change Seats up 11 8 Races won 11 8
Results Popular vote Results:      Republican hold      Democratic hold Popular vote:      60–70%      70–80%      >90%      60–70%      80–90%      >90%
Senate President before election Robert Stivers Republican Elected Senate President Robert Stivers Republican

The 2016 Kentucky Senate election was held on November 8, 2016. The Republican and Democratic primary elections were held on May 17. Half of the senate (all odd-numbered seats) were up for election. Republicans maintained their majority in the chamber without gaining or losing any seats.

A numbered map of the senate districts at the time can be viewed here.

Overview

Party		Candidates		Votes	%	Seats
		Opposed	Unopposed			Before	Won	After	+/−
	Republican	6	7	420,578	56.12	27	11	27	-
	Democratic	6	6	328,915	43.88	11	8	11	-
Total		12	13	749,493	100.00	38	19	38	±0
Source: Kentucky Secretary of State

Retiring incumbents

A total of two senators retired, neither of whom ran for other offices.

Republican

1. 5th: Carroll Gibson (Leitchfield): Retired.^[1]
2. 15th: Chris Girdler (Somerset): Retired.^[2]

Incumbents defeated

No incumbents lost renomination or reelection.

Summary by district

Certified results by the Kentucky Secretary of State are available online for the primary election and general election.

† – Incumbent not seeking re-election

District	Incumbent	Party		Elected	Party
1	Stan Humphries		Rep	Stan Humphries		Rep
3	Whitney H. Westerfield		Rep	Whitney H. Westerfield		Rep
5	Carroll Gibson†		Rep	Stephen L. Meredith		Rep
7	Julian M. Carroll		Dem	Julian M. Carroll		Dem
9	David P. Givens		Rep	David P. Givens		Rep
11	John Schickel		Rep	John Schickel		Rep
13	Reggie Thomas		Dem	Reggie Thomas		Dem
15	Chris Girdler†		Rep	Rick Girdler		Rep
17	Damon Thayer		Rep	Damon Thayer		Rep
19	Morgan McGarvey		Dem	Morgan McGarvey		Dem
21	Albert Robinson		Rep	Albert Robinson		Rep
23	Chris McDaniel		Rep	Chris McDaniel		Rep
25	Robert Stivers		Rep	Robert Stivers		Rep
27	Stephen West		Rep	Stephen West		Rep
29	Johnny Ray Turner		Dem	Johnny Ray Turner		Dem
31	Ray Jones		Dem	Ray Jones		Dem
33	Gerald A. Neal		Dem	Gerald A. Neal		Dem
35	Denise Harper Angel		Dem	Denise Harper Angel		Dem
37	Perry B. Clark		Dem	Perry B. Clark		Dem

Closest races

There were no seats where the margin of victory was under 10%.

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Governing[3]	Safe R	October 12, 2016

Special elections

District 27 special

Results by county:

  West

•   50–60%
•   60–70%
•   70–80%

  Caudill

•   50–60%
•   60–70%

Steve West was elected in March 2015 following the resignation of Walter Blevins.

2015 Kentucky Senate 27th district special election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Steve West	5,337	54.4
	Democratic	Kelly Caudill	4,471	45.6
Total votes			9,808	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 1

Incumbent senator Stan Humphries won reelection unopposed.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Stan Humphries, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2016 Kentucky Senate 1st district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Stan Humphries (incumbent)	Unopposed
Total votes			36,264	100.0
	Republican hold

District 3

Incumbent senator Whitney H. Westerfield won reelection unopposed.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Whitney H. Westerfield, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2016 Kentucky Senate 3rd district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Whitney H. Westerfield (incumbent)	Unopposed
Total votes			28,655	100.0
	Republican hold

District 5

Incumbent senator Carroll Gibson did not seek reelection. He was succeeded by Republican Stephen L. Meredith.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Leslie J. Stith

Eliminated in primary

• Ricky Alvey

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Leslie J. Stith	5,470	52.3
	Democratic	Ricky Alvey	4,990	47.7
Total votes			10,460	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Stephen L. Meredith

General election

Results

2016 Kentucky Senate 5th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Stephen L. Meredith	31,096	63.3
	Democratic	Leslie J. Stith	18,006	36.7
Total votes			49,102	100.0
	Republican hold

District 7

Incumbent senator Julian M. Carroll won reelection unopposed.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Julian M. Carroll, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2016 Kentucky Senate 7th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Julian M. Carroll (incumbent)	Unopposed
Total votes			39,851	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 9

Incumbent senator David P. Givens won reelection unopposed.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• David P. Givens, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2016 Kentucky Senate 9th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David P. Givens (incumbent)	Unopposed
Total votes			37,791	100.0
	Republican hold

District 11

Incumbent senator John Schickel won reelection, defeating primary election challenger Josh L. Turner.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• John Schickel, incumbent senator

Eliminated in primary

• Josh L. Turner

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Schickel (incumbent)	4,804	80.9
	Republican	Josh L. Turner	1,137	19.1
Total votes			5,941	100.0

General election

Results

2016 Kentucky Senate 11th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Schickel (incumbent)	Unopposed
Total votes			47,552	100.0
	Republican hold

District 13

Incumbent senator Reggie Thomas won reelection unopposed.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Reggie Thomas, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2016 Kentucky Senate 13th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Reggie Thomas (incumbent)	Unopposed
Total votes			33,373	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 15

Incumbent senator Chris Girdler did not seek reelection. He was succeeded by Republican Rick Girdler.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Rick Girdler

Eliminated in primary

• Michael Keck
• Don Moss
• Joshua Nichols

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rick Girdler	3,395	31.7
	Republican	Don Moss	2,638	24.7
	Republican	Michael Keck	2,449	22.9
	Republican	Joshua Nichols	2,214	20.7
Total votes			10,696	100.0

General election

Results

2016 Kentucky Senate 15th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rick Girdler	Unopposed
Total votes			39,614	100.0
	Republican hold

District 17

Incumbent senator Damon Thayer won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Charlie Hoffman.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Charlie Hoffman

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Damon Thayer, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2016 Kentucky Senate 17th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Damon Thayer (incumbent)	36,656	67.9
	Democratic	Charlie Hoffman	17,302	32.1
Total votes			53,958	100.0
	Republican hold

District 19

Incumbent senator Morgan McGarvey won reelection, defeating Republican candidate Larry West.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Morgan McGarvey, incumbent senator

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Larry West

General election

Results

2016 Kentucky Senate 19th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Morgan McGarvey (incumbent)	39,026	61.7
	Republican	Larry West	24,214	38.3
Total votes			63,240	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 21

Incumbent senator Albert Robinson won reelection, defeating primary and general election challengers.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Janice Odom

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Albert Robinson, incumbent senator

Eliminated in primary

• Michael Bryant

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Albert Robinson (incumbent)	5,005	55.4
	Republican	Michael Bryant	4,034	44.6
Total votes			9,039	100.0

General election

Results

2016 Kentucky Senate 21st district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Albert Robinson (incumbent)	33,770	75.1
	Democratic	Janice Odom	11,185	24.9
Total votes			44,955	100.0
	Republican hold

District 23

Incumbent senator Chris McDaniel won reelection unopposed.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Chris McDaniel, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2016 Kentucky Senate 23rd district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Chris McDaniel (incumbent)	Unopposed
Total votes			37,409	100.0
	Republican hold

District 25

Incumbent senator Robert Stivers won reelection unopposed.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Robert Stivers, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2016 Kentucky Senate 25th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Robert Stivers (incumbent)	Unopposed
Total votes			30,577	100.0
	Republican hold

District 27

Incumbent senator Stephen West won reelection, defeating Democratic candidate Charles L. Linville III.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Charles L. Linville III

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Stephen West, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2016 Kentucky Senate 27th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Stephen West (incumbent)	30,548	67.5
	Democratic	Charles L. Linville III	14,681	32.5
Total votes			45,229	100.0
	Republican hold

District 29

Incumbent senator Johnny Ray Turner won reelection unopposed.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Johnny Ray Turner, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2016 Kentucky Senate 29th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Johnny Ray Turner (incumbent)	Unopposed
Total votes			26,890	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 31

Incumbent senator Ray Jones won reelection, defeating primary election challenger Glenn Martin Hammond.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Ray Jones, incumbent senator

Eliminated in primary

• Glenn Martin Hammond

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ray Jones (incumbent)	9,527	71.1
	Democratic	Glenn Martin Hammond	3,870	28.9
Total votes			13,397	100.0

General election

Results

2016 Kentucky Senate 31st district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ray Jones (incumbent)	Unopposed
Total votes			26,598	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 33

Incumbent senator Gerald A. Neal won reelection, defeating primary and general election challengers.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Gerald A. Neal, incumbent senator

Eliminated in primary

• Charles Booker
• Joan A. "Toni" Stringer

Results

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Gerald A. Neal (incumbent)	9,013	48.4
	Democratic	Joan A. "Toni" Stringer	5,945	31.9
	Democratic	Charles Booker	3,681	19.7
Total votes			18,639	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Shenita Rickman

Eliminated in primary

• John Yuen

Results

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Shenita Rickman	537	51.8
	Republican	John Yuen	499	48.2
Total votes			1,036	100.0

General election

Results

2016 Kentucky Senate 33rd district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Gerald A. Neal (incumbent)	34,588	84.3
	Republican	Shenita Rickman	6,432	15.7
Total votes			41,020	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 35

Incumbent senator Denise Harper Angel won reelection unopposed.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Denise Harper Angel, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2016 Kentucky Senate 35th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Denise Harper Angel (incumbent)	Unopposed
Total votes			35,860	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 37

Incumbent senator Perry B. Clark won reelection unopposed.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Perry B. Clark, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2016 Kentucky Senate 37th district election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Perry B. Clark (incumbent)	Unopposed
Total votes			31,555	100.0
	Democratic hold

Notes

1. Republican Steve West was elected in March 2015 to fill the vacant seat of Democrat Walter Blevins.

References

1. "Kentucky Senate - Republicans keep lopsided control of Kentucky Senate". The Lexington Herald-Leader. November 9, 2016. p. 5A. The seat was open because Republican Sen. Carroll Gibson, who had held it for more than a decade, did not seek re-election.
2. "Primary - 15th district". The Lexington Herald-Leader. May 15, 2016. p. 3C. Four men are seeking the Republican nomination to replace Sen. Chris Girdler in the 15th District, ... Girdler did not seek re-election.
3. Cournoyer, Caroline (October 12, 2016). "November Likely to Lessen GOP's Advantage in Legislatures". Governing. Retrieved June 24, 2024.

See also

• 2016 Kentucky elections
  • 2016 Kentucky House of Representatives election
  • 2016 United States Senate election in Kentucky
  • 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky