By Chad Lampe
From Associated Press: Ky.'s Beshear Re-Elected; States Mull Ballot Items. Click here to read the article.
Tuesday was a good election night for Kentucky Democrats. Of the six statewide races, only one went to a GOP candidate, Republican James Comer defeating Democrat Bob Farmer for the position of Commissioner of Agriculture. Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear will remain his post for the next four years in a big win over Republican Senate President David Williams and Independent Gatewood Galbraith.
Democrat Adam Edelen, Beshear's former chief of staff declared victory over Republican John Kemper.
Democrat Jack Conway wins his second term as Kentucky Attorney General against Republican Todd P'Pool who only narrowly won his home county, where he serves as Hopkins County Attorney.
The lone Republican to win thus far tonight is Representative James Comer who won over Louisville Democrat Bob Farmer in the Commissioner of Agriculture Race. Comer spent a half-million dollars in the campaign's closing days on a statewide ad campaign against Farmer, a marketing specialist from Louisville. One Comer ad featured an old Farmer stand-up comedy routine that poked fun at eastern Kentucky residents.
Alison Lundergan Grimes, daughter of former Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Lundergan wins her first state-wide run for office. She beat out west Kentuckian Bill Johnson in the race for secretary of state. Johnson delivered a short concession speech thanking his staff, and saying he would now begin the process of finding a job in the private sector.
In one of the closest races of the evening, incumbent Democrat Todd Hollenbach won re-election as Kentucky treasurer over GOP challenger K.C. Crosbie. With 95 percent of precincts reporting, Hollenbach had 49 percent of the vote, to Crosbie's 46 percent. Libertarian candidate Kenneth Moellman-who campaigned on a platform of eliminating the office of the treasurer-won 5 percent.
