Election Results
In the 2024 presidential election, Kentucky voted for Donald Trump (Republican) by a wide margin, continuing its status as a reliably red state.
Democratic presidential vote share
1976–2024MIT Election Data and Science Lab, compiled from certified state results (Harvard Dataverse).
Republican presidential vote share
1976–2024MIT Election Data and Science Lab, compiled from certified state results (Harvard Dataverse).
Governors
Kentucky's governor is Andy Beshear, a Democrat re-elected in 2023 despite the state's strong Republican lean in federal elections.
| Governor | Party | In office |
|---|---|---|
| Andy Beshear | Democratic | 2019–present |
| Matt Bevin | Republican | 2015–2019 |
| Steven L. Beshear | Democratic | 2007–2015 |
| Ernie Fletcher | Republican | 2003–2007 |
| Paul E. Patton | Democratic | 1995–2003 |
| Brereton C. Jones | Democratic | 1991–1995 |
| Wallace G. Wilkinson | Democratic | 1987–1991 |
| Martha Layne Collins | Democratic | 1983–1987 |
| John Y. Brown Jr. | Democratic | 1979–1983 |
| Julian Morton Carroll | Democratic | 1974–1979 |
| Wendell Hampton Ford | Democratic | 1971–1974 |
| Louie Broady Nunn | Republican | 1967–1971 |
| Edward Thompson Breathitt | Democratic | 1963–1967 |
| Bert Thomas Combs | Democratic | 1959–1963 |
| Lawrence Winchester Wetherby | Democratic | 1950–1955 |
| Earle Chester Clements | Democratic | 1947–1950 |
| Simeon Slavens Willis | Republican | 1943–1947 |
| Keen Johnson | Democratic | 1939–1943 |
| Ruby Laffoon | Democratic | 1931–1935 |
| Flem Davis Sampson | Republican | 1927–1931 |
| William Jason Fields | Democratic | 1923–1927 |
| Edwin Porch Morrow | Republican | 1919–1923 |
| James Dixon Black | Democratic | 1919–1919 |
| Augustus Owsley Stanley | Democratic | 1915–1919 |
| Augustus Everett Willson | Republican | 1907–1911 |
| John Crepps Wickliffe Beckham | Democratic | 1900–1907 |
| William Goebel | Democratic | 1900–1900 |
| William Sylvester Taylor | Republican | 1899–1900 |
| William O. Bradley | Republican | 1895–1899 |
| John Young Brown Sr. | Democratic | 1891–1895 |
| Simon Bolivar Buckner | Democratic | 1887–1891 |
| James Proctor Knott | Democratic | 1883–1887 |
| Luke Pryor Blackburn | Democratic | 1879–1883 |
| Preston Hopkins Leslie | Democratic | 1871–1875 |
| John White Stevenson | Democratic | 1867–1871 |
| Thomas Elliott Bramlette | Democratic | 1863–1867 |
| James Fisher Robinson | Democratic | 1862–1863 |
| Beriah Magoffin | Democratic | 1859–1862 |
| Charles Slaughter Morehead | American | 1855–1859 |
| Lazarus Whitehead Powell | Democratic | 1851–1855 |
| John Jordan Crittenden | Whig | 1848–1850 |
| William Owsley | Whig | 1844–1848 |
| Robert Perkins Letcher | Whig | 1840–1844 |
| Charles Anderson Wickliffe | Whig | 1839–1840 |
| James Clark | Whig | 1836–1839 |
| James Turner Morehead | Whig | 1834–1836 |
| John Breathitt | Jacksonian Democratic | 1832–1834 |
| Thomas Metcalfe | Whig | 1828–1832 |
| Joseph Desha | Jeffersonian-Republican | 1824–1828 |
| John Adair | Democratic-Republican | 1820–1824 |
| Gabriel Slaughter | Jeffersonian-Republican | 1816–1820 |
| George Madison | Jeffersonian-Republican | 1816–1816 |
| Charles Scott | Jeffersonian-Republican | 1808–1812 |
| Christopher Greenup | Jeffersonian-Republican | 1804–1808 |
| James Garrard | Jeffersonian-Republican | 1796–1804 |
| Isaac Shelby | Jeffersonian-Republican | 1792–1796 |
Source: National Governors Association, current and former governors.
Senators
Kentucky's two U.S. Senators are Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, both Republicans.
Democratic vote share, U.S. Senate elections
1978–2022MIT Election Data and Science Lab, compiled from certified state results (Harvard Dataverse). Regular-term races; special elections only when no regular race was held. Independents (e.g. caucusing with Democrats) are not counted as Democratic; years without a Democratic nominee are omitted.
Republican vote share, U.S. Senate elections
1978–2022MIT Election Data and Science Lab, compiled from certified state results (Harvard Dataverse).
Representatives
Kentucky has 6 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, currently held mostly by Republicans.
U.S. House seats apportioned to Kentucky
1910–2020U.S. Census Bureau, decennial apportionment counts.
Voting Trends
Kentucky has voted Republican in every presidential election since 2000, though it has elected Democratic governors in recent decades.
Total votes cast for president
1976–2024MIT Election Data and Science Lab, compiled from certified state results (Harvard Dataverse).
- •Kentucky has a Democratic governor (Andy Beshear) despite voting solidly Republican for president.
Party Distribution
Kentucky's state legislature is dominated by Republican supermajorities, even as the governorship remains Democratic.