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2022 United States Senate election in Kentucky
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 2022 United States Senate election in Kentucky was held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent Kentucky. Incumbent Republican Rand Paul won re-election to a third term, defeating Democratic nominee Charles Booker with 61.8% of the vote.
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Paul was first elected in 2010 with 55.7% of the vote, filling the seat of retiring Jim Bunning, then re-elected in 2016 with 57.3% of the vote. Paul ran for a third term.[1] Booker is a former state representative and a candidate in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in 2020. The election was called for Paul shortly after polls closed in the state.[2]
This was the biggest landslide victory for a U.S. Senate race in Kentucky since Mitch McConnell's win in 2002.
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Background
Although Rand Paul supports a Constitutional amendment limiting Senators to two terms, he said, "I'm not in favor of term limits for some and not others. So I'm not in favor of people self-imposing term limits. I'm a co-sponsor of the constitutional amendment, but I will run again in 2022."[1] Kentucky held its primary election on May 17.[3]
Republican primary
Candidates
Nominee
Eliminated in primary
Endorsements
Rand Paul
Executive Branch officials
- Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)[7]
Statewide officials
- Allison Ball, Kentucky State Treasurer (2016–present)[8]
Organizations
Results
Paul
- 70–80%
- 80–90%
- 90–100%
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Democratic primary
Summarize
Perspective
Candidates
Nominee
- Charles Booker, former state representative (2019–2021) and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2020[13]
Eliminated in primary
Declined
- Rocky Adkins, senior advisor to Governor Andy Beshear, former minority leader of the Kentucky House of Representatives, and candidate for governor in 2019[16]
- Jim Gray, Kentucky Secretary of Transportation, former mayor of Lexington, KY, nominee for U.S. Senate in 2016 and candidate for Kentucky's 6th congressional district in 2018[17]
Endorsements
Charles Booker
U.S. Senators
- Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator from Vermont (2007–present)[18]
- Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (2013–present)[19]
U.S. Representatives
- John Yarmuth, U.S. Representative from Kentucky's 3rd congressional district (2007–2023)[20]
Labor unions
- Communications Workers of America – Louisville Chapter[21]
- IUE-CWA – Louisville Chapter[21]
- Kentucky AFL–CIO[22]
- National Education Association[23]
Organizations
- Brand New Congress[24]
- Democracy for America[25]
- Indivisible[26]
- League of Conservation Voters[27]
- March On[28]
- Planned Parenthood Action Fund[29]
- Sunrise Movement[30]
- Working Families Party[31]
Individuals
Results
Booker
- 40–50%
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 70–80%
- 80–90%
Blanton
- 40–50%
Merrill
- 60–70%
General election
Summarize
Perspective
Although Paul had initially pledged to serve only one term,[33] he later reversed this stance and ran for re-election.[34] In both 2010 and 2016, he faced tight races, even as these years were generally unfavorable for the Democratic Party and Kentucky's conservative partisan lean. Paul had gained a reputation as one of the most libertarian senators and often breaks with his party despite still holding conservative views on most issues.[35][36]
Following a narrow primary defeat to Amy McGrath in the 2020 Kentucky Senate Democratic primaries, State Representative Charles Booker announced his intention to run again, this time against Paul.[37] Booker positioned himself as a progressive populist, advocating for abortion rights, Universal Basic Income, Medicare for All, and a Green New Deal.[38] He aimed to resonate with traditional Democratic voters in the urban centers of Louisville and Lexington, while also reaching out to ancestral Democrats in Kentucky's Appalachian region.[39]
An early February poll showed Paul leading by only a few points against a generic Democrat.[40] However, a later poll revealed Paul had a substantial lead over Booker.[41] In October, a debate was scheduled to include both Paul and Booker, but Paul did not respond to the invitation, resulting in Booker debating alone.[42]
Paul went on to easily win re-election, improving his 2016 performance by approximately 9 percentage points. However, due to lower voter turnout, he underperformed compared to Trump's 2020 performance in the state by 2 points and received a slightly smaller percentage of the vote.
Predictions
Endorsements
Rand Paul (R)
Executive Branch officials
- Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)[7]
U.S. Senators
- Mitch McConnell, U.S. Senator from Kentucky (1985–present), Senate Minority Leader (2021–present, 2007–2015), and former Senate Majority Leader (2015–2021)[52]
U.S. Representatives
- Andy Barr, U.S. Representative from Kentucky's 6th congressional district (2013–present)[53]
Statewide officials
- Allison Ball, Kentucky State Treasurer (2016–present)[8]
- Ryan Quarles, Agriculture Commissioner of Kentucky (2016–present)[54]
Sheriffs
- Tracy Beatty, sheriff of Ohio County[55]
- Ed Brady, former sheriff of Ohio County[55]
- Keith Cain, former sheriff of Daviess County (Democratic)[55]
- David Crafton, sheriff of Henderson County (Democratic)[55]
- Ken Frizzell, sheriff of McLean County[55]
- Barry Smith, sheriff of Daviess County[55]
Organizations
- Americans for Legal Immigration[56]
- Campaign for Working Families[56]
- Citizens Against Government Waste[57]
- Club for Growth[9]
- FreedomWorks[10]
- Huck PAC[56]
- Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police[58]
- Kentucky Right to Life[56]
- National Federation of Independent Business - Kentucky chapter[56]
- National Right to Life Committee[56]
- NRA Political Victory Fund[59][56]
- Senate Conservatives Fund[56]
- Turning Point Action[11]
Charles Booker (D)
U.S. Senators
- Cory Booker, U.S. Senator from New Jersey (2013–present)[60]
- Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator from Vermont (2007–present)[18]
- Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts (2013–present)[19]
U.S. Representatives
- John Yarmuth, U.S. Representative from Kentucky's 3rd congressional district (2007–2023)[20]
Statewide officials
- Jerry Abramson, former lieutenant governor of Kentucky (2011–2014)[61]
- Andy Beshear, Governor of Kentucky (2019–present)[61]
- Martha Layne Collins, former governor of Kentucky (1983–1987)[61]
- Daniel Mongiardo, former lieutenant governor of Kentucky (2007–2011)[61]
- Paul E. Patton, former governor of Kentucky (1995–2003)[61]
Newspapers
Labor unions
- Communications Workers of America – Louisville Chapter[21]
- IUE-CWA – Louisville Chapter[21]
- Kentucky AFL–CIO[22]
- National Association of Social Workers[63]
- National Education Association[23]
- United Mine Workers of America[63]
Organizations
- Brand New Congress[24]
- Common Defense[63]
- Democracy for America[25]
- End Citizens United[63]
- Everytown for Gun Safety[63]
- Indivisible[26]
- League of Conservation Voters[27]
- LegalizeKY [64]
- March On[28]
- MoveOn[63]
- NARAL Pro-Choice America[65]
- New Power PAC[63]
- Newtown Action Alliance[63]
- Peace Action[63]
- Planned Parenthood Action Fund[29]
- Progressive Turnout Project[63]
- Sierra Club[66]
- Sunrise Movement[30]
- Working Families Party[31]
Individuals
Polling
Hypothetical polling
Rand Paul vs. generic Democrat
Results
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
By congressional district
Paul won five of six congressional districts.[70]
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See also
Notes
References
External links
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