1996 United States Senate election in Kentucky

none 1996 Kentucky Senate election March 2026 September 2023 1996 United States Senate election in Kentucky Kentucky presidential no 1990 United States Senate election in Kentucky 1990 2002 United States Senate election in Kentucky 2002 November 5, 1996 150x150px Mitch-McConnell-107th (cropped).jpg Mitch McConnell Republican Party (United States) 724,794 55.45% Steve Beshear by Gage Skidmore.jpg Steve Beshear Democratic Party (United States) 560,012 42.85% 1996 United States Senate election in Kentucky results map by county.svg 300px County resultsMcConnell: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80%Beshear: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #584cde 70–80% U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell Republican Party (United States) Mitch McConnell Republican Party (United States) 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. Republican primary Candidates Tommy Klein, perennial candidate Mitch McConnell, incumbent U.S. senator Results Republican primary resultshttp://www.elect.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/8DF20961-1265-424F-B33C-0BD75C801000/6049/res_ussenate2.txt Archived copy 2011-04-26 https://web.archive.org/web/20110720150302/http://elect.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/8DF20961-1265-424F-B33C-0BD75C801000/6049/res_ussenate2.txt 2011-07-20 dead Mitch McConnell (incumbent) Republican Party (United States) 88,620 88.59% Tommy Klein Republican Party (United States) 11,410 11.41% 100,030 100.00% Democratic primary Candidates Tom Barlow, former U.S. representative from Paducah (199395) Steve Beshear, former lieutenant governor of Kentucky, former attorney general of Kentucky and former state representative Shelby Lanier, perennial candidate Results Democratic primary resultshttp://www.elect.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/8DF20961-1265-424F-B33C-0BD75C801000/6049/res_ussenate2.txt Archived copy 2011-04-26 https://web.archive.org/web/20110720150302/http://elect.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/8DF20961-1265-424F-B33C-0BD75C801000/6049/res_ussenate2.txt 2011-07-20 dead Steve Beshear Democratic Party (United States) 177,859 66.38% Tom Barlow Democratic Party (United States) 64,235 23.97% Shelby Lanier Democratic Party (United States) 25,856 9.65% 267,950 100.00% 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, 1996CandidateRaisedSpentCash on handMitch McConnell (R)$5,030,245$5,031,293$189,324Steve Beshear (D)$1,772,276$1,770,035$1,448Source: Federal Election CommissionCandidate financial totals https://www.fec.gov/data/elections/senate/KY/1996/ Federal Election Commission Campaign In 1996, Beshear started out trailing against McConnell, with an early general election poll placing McConnell ahead of Beshear 50% to 32%.Janofsky, Michael Political Briefing;The Campaigns for Congress The New York Times June 25, 1996 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.Wines, Michael The Campaigns For Congress The New York Times August 11, 1996 https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/11/us/the-campaigns-for-congress.html?scp=10&sq=%22steve%20beshear%22&st=cse 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%. McConnell Holds 12-Point Lead Over Beshear in Poll October 6, 1996 Lexington Herald-Leader http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LH&s_site=kentucky&p_multi=LH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB740A68192605C&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM Results General election resultshttps://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1996/96Stat.htm#12 Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives Republican Party (United States) Mitch McConnell (incumbent) 724,794 55.45% +3.27% Democratic Party (United States) Steve Beshear 560,012 42.85% -4.97% Libertarian Party (United States) Dennis L. Lacy 8,595 0.66% Natural Law Party (United States) Patricia Jo Metten 8,344 0.64% U.S. Taxpayers Mac Elroy 5,284 0.40% Write-ins 17 0.00% 164,782 12.61% +8.23% 1,307,046 100.00% Republican Party (United States) See also 1996 United States Senate elections References Category:1996 Kentucky elections Kentucky Category:Mitch McConnell 1996