Governor's race:
Steve Beshear - 55.65%
David Williams - 35.38
Gatewood Galbraith - 8.97
Attorney General:
Jack Conway - 54.95
Todd P'Pool - 45.05
Secretary of State:
Alison Lundergan-Grimes - 60.55
Bill Johnson - 39.45
State Auditor:
John Kemper - 44.32
Adam Edelen - 55.68
State Treasurer:
K.C. Crosbie - 46.67
Todd Hollenbach - 48.72
Ken Moellman - 4.62
Commissioner of Agriculture:
James Comer - 63.84
Bob Farmer - 36.16
Voter Turnout - 28.69% (844,942 ballots cast out of 2,944,603 registered voters)
So, quick thoughts first. P'Pool wasn't strong enough to overcome the David Williams handicap. Todd Hollenbach is the state treasurer because Ken Moellman cock-blocked K.C. Crosbie. Alison Lundergan-Grimes faced a pushover in Bill Johnson, but despite the face that she could use improvement in her stump speaking prowess, she will have a future in state politics. And finally, to the ag commissioner race...
James Comer had a couple of important things going for him this in this election. Firstly, he became the choice of KY GOP suzerain Mitch McConnell and secondly, he was matched against an absolute bust of a candidate in Bob Farmer. Bob Farmer's campaign was doomed from the beginning. His comedy was bad, sure, but that wasn't the problem so much as the fact that his riff on Eastern Kentuckians alienated a large amount of voters right off the bat. He also had no experience that would be considered relevant to the job he was seeking. Far more qualified candidates were on the Democrat primary ballot, but Farmer won basically because his last name was Farmer (remember when that used to be a good thing in Kentucky, like 6 months ago?).
That being said, Comer had disadvantages, too. Most notably is the disadvantage that he was on the same ticket as David Williams. To be the only GOP candidate to win in a year where every other single statewide race was won by the democrats is very impressive in its own right. To do so by the largest margin of the night is something else entirely.
What we saw last night was the birth of a future political player in Kentucky politics. He's also the only real hope for the state GOP. Todd P'Pool flamed out and is cursed with an awful name for a politician in this state. Trey Grayson was exposed in his primary with Rand Paul. In other words, all the republican eggs are now in the James Comer basket.
They would be wise, and something tells they will be, to cultivate the commissioner over the next four years in an effort to make a play for 2015 gubernatorial race. They don't have any other options, and the appeal that James Comer obviously has with moderates, even democrats, in this state could be a massive threat to the opposition.
Meanwhile, the democratic party let a fox in the hen house yesterday. Many local office-holding democrats cast their lot with Comer all across the state. They were both very much supportive of Comer and disappointed in Bob Farmer as a candidate. By basically conceding the race to James Comer, they created a GOP candidate who will be very difficult to beat in 4 years. It's hard to argue that Comer wasn't the better man for the job, but politically it is a dangerous result for the KDP.
In four years, Jerry Abramson will want his turn at the governorship. Jack Conway may feel it's his time. Then, you might find a candidate that gets in the race simply on the hopes of letting those two beat up on each other, a la Wallace Wilkinson in 1987. In other words, the democratic primary could potentially be hotly contested while the republicans should already know who their candidate is going to be. There's only one guy, and its James Comer.
Of course, it's four years away and the last election wasn't even 24 hours ago but this scenario is very real and very probable. While the headlines might be suggesting a big victory for the democrats, the real story is birth of a formidable GOP candidate and the beginning of another gubernatorial election.
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