1984 United States Senate election in Kentucky

none March 2026 September 2023 1984 United States Senate election in Kentucky Kentucky presidential no 1978 United States Senate election in Kentucky 1978 1990 United States Senate election in Kentucky 1990 November 6, 1984 150x150px Mitch-McConnell-99th.jpg Mitch McConnell Republican Party (United States) 644,990 49.90% WHuddleston (cropped).jpg Walter Dee Huddleston Democratic Party (United States) 639,721 49.50% 300px County results 300px Precinct results 300px McConnell: #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80% #c21b18 80–90% #A80000 >90%Huddleston: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% #3933e5 80–90% #0D0596 >90%#AE8BB1 Tie #808080 No Votes U.S. Senator Walter Huddleston Democratic Party (United States) Mitch McConnell Republican Party (United States) The 1984 United States Senate election in Kentucky was held on November 5, 1984. Incumbent Democratic Senator Walter Dee Huddleston lost re-election to a third term to Mitch McConnell, who would go on to be Senate Majority Leader, by less than 0.5%. This is the last time a Senator from Kentucky lost re-election. Despite Ronald Reagan winning nationwide in a landslide in the concurrent presidential election (even carrying Kentucky by a 20% margin), this was the only Republican flip of the 1984 Senate elections, and Huddleston significantly outperformed Democratic nominee Walter Mondale's margin of defeat in the concurrent presidential race. Democratic primary Candidates Walter Dee Huddleston, incumbent U.S. Senator Results Huddleston was unopposed in the Democratic Party's primary. Governor John Y. Brown Jr. filed to run in March 1984, but withdrew for health reasons a few weeks later.2015-05-24 CAMPAIGN NOTES - Brown of Kentucky Quits Race for Senate - NYTimes.com https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/28/us/campaign-notes-brown-of-kentucky-quits-race-for-senate.html live https://web.archive.org/web/20150524160933/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/28/us/campaign-notes-brown-of-kentucky-quits-race-for-senate.html 2015-05-24 2023-10-25 New York Times Associated Press Republican primary Candidates Mitch McConnell, Jefferson County Executive Roger Harker Tommy Klein, perennial candidate Thurman Jerome Hamlin, perennial candidate Results Republican primary resultshttp://www.elect.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/5E42331C-5BAB-4949-9A30-EDEFAA77208B/0/ussenate.txt Kentucky State Board of Elections Welcome to the State Board of Elections Elect.ky.gov April 4, 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20101113225644/http://elect.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/5E42331C-5BAB-4949-9A30-EDEFAA77208B/0/ussenate.txt 2010-11-13 dead Mitch McConnell Republican Party (United States) 39,465 79.22% C. Roger Harker Republican Party (United States) 3,798 7.62% Tommy Klein Republican Party (United States) 3,352 6.73% Thurman Jerome Hamlin Republican Party (United States) 3,202 6.43% 49,817 100.00% General election Candidates Walter Dee Huddleston (D), incumbent U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R), Jefferson County Executive Dave Welters (SW) Fundraising Campaign finance reports as of December 31, 1984CandidateRaisedSpentCash on handMitch McConnell (R)$1,591,303$1,776,128$27,443Walter Huddleston (D)$2,420,771$2,444,091$3,138Source: Federal Election CommissionCandidate financial totals https://www.fec.gov/data/elections/senate/KY/1984/ Federal Election Commission Campaign Huddleston led in polling up until 2 months to election day against McConnell by as much as 40 points. McConnell attacked Huddleston for missed votes to make paid speeches in Congress, using television advertisements of bloodhounds trying to track down the Democratic Senator.https://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/mitch-mcconnell-bloodhound-ad-112243 Mitch McConnell Bloodhound Ad Huddleston's 94% voting record was largely ignored. McConnell hired Roger Ailes for his campaign, a move he later called "one of the smartest moves I've ever made."https://www.lpm.org/news/2017-05-19/how-roger-ailes-helped-launch-mitch-mcconnells-senate-career How Roger Ailes helped launch Mitch McConnell's Senate Career Kentucky was a Democratic-leaning state up until McConnell's victory in 1984, though Ronald Reagan also carried the state. McConnell would serve with Democrat Wendell Ford until 1999, and served with Republicans thereafter. He later would become Senate Majority Leader. Results General election results https://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1984election.pdf Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 6, 1984 Clerk of the United States House of Representatives U.S. Government Printing Office 1985 Republican Party (United States) Mitch McConnell 644,990 49.90% +13.03% Democratic Party (United States) Walter Dee Huddleston (incumbent) 639,721 49.50% -11.48% Socialist Workers Party (United States) Dave Welters 7,696 0.60% +0.60% 1,292,407 100.00% N/A Republican Party (United States) Democratic Party (United States) See also 1984 United States Senate elections References Category:1984 Kentucky elections Kentucky 1984 Category:Mitch McConnell