Tagged: 2012 election

Kentucky Third District State Senator Joey Pendleton plans to request a recanvass after he narrowly lost in Tuesday’s election. Pendleton, a five-term Democratic incumbent, lost by around 300 votes to Republican newcomer Whitney Westerfield. Pendleton tells the Kentucky New Era he owes it to his voters to ask for the recanvass, a process that checks for accuracy. Pendleton adds that if it shows a 150-vote gap or less, he’ll ask for an official recount.

Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway says the Election Fraud Hotline received 183 calls from nearly 60 counties on Election Day. Conway says most of the calls were questions concerning procedural issues and voting machines.

Kentucky Democrats successfully defended their control of the state House -- but they're now stranded on a political island. It appears that Republicans will take control of the Arkansas House of Representatives, leaving Kentucky as the only southern state with a Democratic-controlled House. And that will make Kentucky House Democrats a big blue target in future years. The Kentucky state House will remain in Democratic control for at least two more years, when all 100 seats in the body are back on the ballot.

Princeton's retiring democratic State Representative Mike Cherry says President Barack Obama’s unpopularity in western Kentucky made a difference in state races. Four of five open races in western Kentucky, including Cherry’s fourth district seat, went to Republicans.

Democratic Rep. Ben Chandler's defeat in his re-election bid Tuesday  won't  hinder the Kentucky Democratic Party in future years, a party leader said.

But Attorney General Jack Conway also said he’s upset that Kentucky will have only one Democratic congressman for the next two years -- Rep. John Yarmuth in the Third District.

From NPR: Winning matters. Having earned a second term, President Obama will attempt to build on and expand the agenda from his first, launching new initiatives on tax policy, education and immigration. But having won the popular vote by a bare majority — and still facing a divided Congress — Obama may find it difficult to gather momentum for his policies.