1996 United States Senate election in Kentucky
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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 with a 12.6% margin of victory over Democrat Steve Beshear, who later successfully ran in 2007 and 2011 for governor of Kentucky.
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November 5, 1996
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 County results McConnell: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Beshear: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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Democratic primary
Candidates
- Tom Barlow, former U.S. representative from Paducah (1993–95)
- Steve Beshear, former lieutenant governor of Kentucky, former attorney general of Kentucky and former state representative
- Shelby Lanier, perennial candidate
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Steve Beshear | 177,859 | 66.38% | |
| Democratic | Tom Barlow | 64,235 | 23.97% | |
| Democratic | Shelby Lanier | 25,856 | 9.65% | |
| Total votes | 267,950 | 100.00% | ||
Republican primary
Candidates
- Tommy Klein, perennial candidate
- Mitch McConnell, incumbent U.S. senator
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mitch McConnell (incumbent) | 88,620 | 88.59% | |
| Republican | Tommy Klein | 11,410 | 11.41% | |
| Total votes | 100,030 | 100.00% | ||
General election
Candidates
- Steve Beshear (Democratic), former lieutenant governor of Kentucky, former attorney general of Kentucky and former Kentucky state representative
- Mac Elroy (U.S. Tax Payers)
- Dennis Lacy (Libertarian)
- Mitch McConnell (Republican), incumbent U.S. senator
- Patricia Jo Metten (Natural Law)
Fundraising
| Campaign finance reports as of December 31, 1996 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Raised | Spent | Cash on hand |
| Mitch McConnell (R) | $5,030,245 | $5,031,293 | $189,324 |
| Steve Beshear (D) | $1,772,276 | $1,770,035 | $1,448 |
| Source: Federal Election Commission[3] | |||
Campaign
In 1996, Beshear started out trailing against McConnell, with an early general election poll placing McConnell ahead of Beshear 50% to 32%.[4] 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.[5] 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%.[6]
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mitch McConnell (incumbent) | 724,794 | 55.45% | +3.27% | |
| Democratic | Steve Beshear | 560,012 | 42.85% | −4.97% | |
| Libertarian | Dennis L. Lacy | 8,595 | 0.66% | ||
| Natural Law | Patricia Jo Metten | 8,344 | 0.64% | ||
| U.S. Taxpayers | Mac Elroy | 5,284 | 0.40% | ||
| Write-ins | 17 | 0.00% | |||
| Majority | 164,782 | 12.61% | +8.23% | ||
| Total votes | 1,307,046 | 100.00% | |||
| Republican hold | |||||