United States Senate election in Kentucky, 1996
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County results
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Elections in Kentucky |
![Seal of Kentucky.svg](/w/images/thumb/3/35/Seal_of_Kentucky.svg/150px-Seal_of_Kentucky.svg.png) |
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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.
Democratic primary
Candidates
Results
Democratic primary results[1] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
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Democratic |
Steve Beshear |
177,859 |
66.38 |
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Democratic |
Tom Barlow |
64,235 |
23.97 |
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Democratic |
Shelby Lanier |
25,856 |
9.65 |
Total votes |
267,950 |
100.00 |
Republican primary
Candidates
Results
Republican primary results[2] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
|
Republican |
Mitch McConnell (inc.) |
88,620 |
88.59 |
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Republican |
Tommy Klein |
11,410 |
11.41 |
Total votes |
72,373 |
100.00 |
General election
Candidates
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
References