1996 United States Senate election in Kentucky
The 1996 United States Senate election in Kentucky was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell won re-election to a third term with a 12.6% margin of victory. McConnell's substantial victory occurred at the same time President Bill Clinton was re-elected to a second term, winning by an 8.5% margin nationwide, but carrying Kentucky by a 0.9% margin.
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 County results McConnell: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Beshear: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Kentucky |
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 Government |
Beshear later ran successfully for Governor of Kentucky in 2007 and 2011.
Democratic primary
Candidates
- Tom Barlow, former U.S. Representative
- Steve Beshear, former Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, former Attorney General of Kentucky and former State Representative
- Shelby Lanier, perennial candidate
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Steve Beshear | 177,859 | 66.38% | |
| Democratic | Tom Barlow | 64,235 | 23.97% | |
| Democratic | Shelby Lanier | 25,856 | 9.65% | |
| Total votes | 267,950 | 100.00% | ||
Republican primary
Candidates
- Mitch McConnell, incumbent U.S. Senator
- Tommy Klein, perennial candidate
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mitch McConnell (incumbent) | 88,620 | 88.59% | |
| Republican | Tommy Klein | 11,410 | 11.41% | |
| Total votes | 100,030 | 100.00% | ||
General election
Candidates
- Steve Beshear (Democratic), former Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, former Attorney General of Kentucky and former Kentucky State Representative
- Mac Elroy (U.S. Tax Payers)
- Dennis Lacy (Libertarian)
- Mitch McConnell (Republican), incumbent U.S. Senator
- Patricia Jo Metten (Natural Law)
Campaign
In 1996, Beshear started out trailing against McConnell, with an early general election poll placing McConnell ahead of Beshear 50% to 32%.[3] The campaign ultimately became quite harsh, with the McConnell campaign sending "Hunt Man," a take off of Chicken George dressed in "the red velvet coat, jodhpurs, black riding boots and black helmet of a patrician fox hunter." This was done as a means of criticizing Beshear's membership in a fox hunting club in Lexington, and undercut the Beshear campaign's message that McConnell was a Republican in the mold of Newt Gingrich and that Beshear was the only friend of the working class in the race.[4] Beshear did not make much traction with the electorate during the campaign. By October 1996, Beshear had narrowed the gap between himself and McConnell slightly, with McConnell leading Beshear 50% to 38%.[5]
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mitch McConnell (incumbent) | 724,794 | 55.45% | +3.27% | |
| Democratic | Steve Beshear | 560,012 | 42.85% | -4.97% | |
| Libertarian | Dennis L. Lacy | 8,595 | 0.66% | ||
| Natural Law | Patricia Jo Metten | 8,344 | 0.64% | ||
| U.S. Taxpayers | Mac Elroy | 5,284 | 0.40% | ||
| Write-ins | 17 | 0.00% | |||
| Majority | 164,782 | 12.61% | +8.23% | ||
| Total votes | 1,307,046 | 100.00% | |||
| Republican hold | |||||
See also
References
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved April 26, 2011.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved April 26, 2011.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - Janofsky, Michael (June 25, 1996). "Political Briefing;The Campaigns for Congress". The New York Times.
- Wines, Michael (August 11, 1996). "The Campaigns For Congress". The New York Times.
- "McConnell Holds 12-Point Lead Over Beshear in Poll". Lexington Herald-Leader. October 6, 1996.
- "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives".