2010 Kentucky Senate election

2010 Kentucky Senate election
19 out of 38 seats in the Kentucky Senate; 20 seats needed for a majority
	Results:; Republican hold Republican gain; Democratic hold Democratic gain; Independent hold No election; Popular vote:; 50–60% 60–70% >90% ; 50–60% >90%; 40–50%
Senate President before election; David Williams; Republican	Elected Senate President ; David Williams; Republican

The 2010 Kentucky Senate election was held on November 2, 2010. The Republican and Democratic primary elections were held on May 18. Half of the senate (all even-numbered seats) were up for election. Republicans increased their majority in the chamber, gaining two seats.^[1]

A numbered map of the senate districts at the time can be viewed here.

Overview

Party		Candidates		Votes	%	Seats

Party		Opposed	Unopposed	Votes	%	Before	Won	After	+/−
	Republican	15	3	398,458	57.88	20	13	22	+2
	Democratic	15	1	271,350	39.42	17	5	15	-2
	Independent	1	0	17,606	2.56	1	1	1	-
	Evangelical Christian	1	0	1,004	0.15	0	0	0	-
Total		32	4	688,418	100.00	38	19	38	±0
Source: Kentucky Secretary of State

Retiring incumbents

A total of two senators (one Democrat and one Republican) retired, neither of which ran for other offices.^[2]

Democratic

34th: Ed Worley (Richmond): Retired.

Republican

20th: Gary Tapp (Shelbyville): Retired.

Defeated incumbents

Three incumbents (two Democrats and one Republican) were defeated for reelection.

Democrats

8th: David Boswell (first elected in 1990) lost to Joseph R. Bowen.
32nd: Mike Reynolds (elected in February 2009) lost to Mike Wilson.

Republicans

10th: Elizabeth Tori (first elected in 1994) lost to Dennis Parrett.

Summary by district

Certified results by the Kentucky Secretary of State are available online for the primary election and general election.

District	Incumbent		Elected
2	Bob Leeper	Ind	Bob Leeper	Ind
4	Dorsey Ridley	Dem	Dorsey Ridley	Dem
6	Jerry Rhoads	Dem	Jerry Rhoads	Dem
8	David Boswell	Dem	Joseph R. Bowen	Rep
10	Elizabeth Tori	Rep	Dennis Parrett	Dem
12	Alice Forgy Kerr	Rep	Alice Forgy Kerr	Rep
14	Jimmy Higdon	Rep	Jimmy Higdon	Rep
16	David Williams	Rep	David Williams	Rep
18	Robin L. Webb	Dem	Robin L. Webb	Dem
20	Gary Tapp	Rep	Paul Hornback	Rep
22	Tom Buford	Rep	Tom Buford	Rep
24	Katie Kratz Stine	Rep	Katie Kratz Stine	Rep
26	Ernie Harris	Rep	Ernie Harris	Rep
28	R. J. Palmer	Dem	R. J. Palmer	Dem
30	Brandon Smith	Rep	Brandon Smith	Rep
32	Mike Reynolds	Dem	Mike Wilson	Rep
34	Ed Worley	Dem	Jared Carpenter	Rep
36	Julie Denton	Rep	Julie Denton	Rep
38	Dan Seum	Rep	Dan Seum	Rep

Closest races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

District 12, 2.38%
District 2, 2.49%
District 10, 3.30% (gain)
District 8, 3.34% (gain)
District 6, 5.19%
District 28, 5.41%
District 18, 6.62%

Special elections

District 32 special

Mike Reynolds was elected in February 2009 following the resignation of Brett Guthrie.

2009 Kentucky Senate 32nd district special election^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mike Reynolds	8,283	54.7
	Republican	J. Marshall Hughes	6,858	45.3
Total votes			15,141	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 18 special

Robin L. Webb was elected in August 2009 following the resignation of Charlie Borders.

2009 Kentucky Senate 18th district special election^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robin L. Webb	8,684	48.1
	Republican	Jack F. Ditty	8,402	46.6
	Independent	Guy E. Gibbons Jr.	953	5.3
Total votes			18,039	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 14 special

Jimmy Higdon was elected in December 2009 following the resignation of Dan Kelly.

2009 Kentucky Senate 14th district special election^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jimmy Higdon	11,327	56.1
	Democratic	Jodie Haydon	8,881	43.9
Total votes			20,208	100.0
	Republican hold

District 2

Incumbent senator Bob Leeper won reelection, defeating Democratic and Republican challengers.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Rex Smith, representative from the 4th district (1987–1995)

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

William Michael East

Independent candidates

Bob Leeper, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2010 Kentucky Senate 2nd district election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Bob Leeper	17,606	46.3
	Democratic	Rex Smith	16,657	43.8
	Republican	William Michael East	3,790	10.0
Total votes			38,053	100.0
	Independent hold

District 4

Incumbent senator Dorsey Ridley won reelection unopposed.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Dorsey Ridley, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2010 Kentucky Senate 4th district election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dorsey Ridley	Unopposed
Total votes			26,304	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 6

Incumbent senator Jerry Rhoads won reelection, defeating Republican Jack Whitfield.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Jerry Rhoads, incumbent senator

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Jack Whitfield

General election

Results

2010 Kentucky Senate 6th district election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jerry Rhoads	17,473	52.6
	Republican	Jack Whitfield	15,750	47.4
Total votes			33,223	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 8

Incumbent senator David Boswell was defeated for reelection by Republican Joseph R. Bowen.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

David Boswell, incumbent senator

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Joseph R. Bowen

General election

Results

2010 Kentucky Senate 8th district election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joseph R. Bowen	18,073	51.7
	Democratic	David Boswell	16,904	48.3
Total votes			34,977	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 10

Incumbent senator Elizabeth Tori was defeated for reelection by Democrat Dennis Parrett.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Dennis Parrett

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Elizabeth Tori, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2010 Kentucky Senate 10th district election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dennis Parrett	16,291	51.7
	Republican	Elizabeth Tori	15,250	48.3
Total votes			31,541	100.0
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 12

Incumbent senator Alice Forgy Kerr won reelection, defeating primary and general election challengers.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Don Blevins, County Clerk of Fayette County (1982–2008)

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Alice Forgy Kerr, incumbent senator

Eliminated in primary

Andrew Roberts

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Alice Forgy Kerr	6,805	71.3
	Republican	Andrew Roberts	2,738	28.7
Total votes			9,543	100.0

General election

Endorsements

Don Blevins (D)

Newspapers

The Lexington Herald-Leader^[4]

Results

2010 Kentucky Senate 12th district election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Alice Forgy Kerr	20,341	51.2
	Democratic	Don Blevins	19,397	48.8
Total votes			39,738	100.0
	Republican hold

District 14

Incumbent senator Jimmy Higdon won reelection unopposed.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Jimmy Higdon, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2010 Kentucky Senate 14th district election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jimmy Higdon	Unopposed
Total votes			30,360	100.0
	Republican hold

District 16

Incumbent senator David Williams won reelection, defeating primary election challenger Denver Capps.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

David Williams, incumbent senator

Eliminated in primary

Denver Capps

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David Williams	18,407	81.6
	Republican	Denver Capps	4,143	18.4
Total votes			22,550	100.0

General election

Results

2010 Kentucky Senate 16th district election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David Williams	Unopposed
Total votes			24,484	100.0
	Republican hold

District 18

Incumbent senator Robin L. Webb won reelection, defeating Republican Jack Ditty.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Robin L. Webb, incumbent senator

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Jack Ditty, Republican candidate for this district in August 2009

General election

Results

2010 Kentucky Senate 18th district election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Robin L. Webb	17,617	53.3
	Republican	Jack Ditty	15,428	46.7
Total votes			33,045	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 20

Incumbent senator Gary Tapp did not seek reelection. He was succeeded by Republican Paul Hornback.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

David Eaton, candidate for the 58th house district in 2002 and 2004

Eliminated in primary

John Spainhour

Results

Democratic primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	David Eaton	8,281	55.6
	Democratic	John Spainhour	6,618	44.4
Total votes			14,899	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Paul Hornback

Eliminated in primary

David Glauber

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Paul Hornback	5,328	62.9
	Republican	David Glauber	3,148	37.1
Total votes			8,476	100.0

General election

Results

2010 Kentucky Senate 20th district election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Paul Hornback	26,883	60.5
	Democratic	David Eaton	17,588	39.5
Total votes			44,471	100.0
	Republican hold

District 22

Incumbent senator Tom Buford won reelection, defeating primary election challenger Chad Crouch.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Tom Buford, incumbent senator

Eliminated in primary

Chad Crouch

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tom Buford	6,236	52.9
	Republican	Chad Crouch	5,542	47.1
Total votes			11,778	100.0

General election

Results

2010 Kentucky Senate 22nd district election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tom Buford	Unopposed
Total votes			32,080	100.0
	Republican hold

District 24

Incumbent senator Katie Kratz Stine won reelection, defeating Democrat Julie Smith-Morrow.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Julie Smith-Morrow

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Katie Kratz Stine, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2010 Kentucky Senate 24th district election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Katie Kratz Stine	22,398	69.2
	Democratic	Julie Smith-Morrow	9,978	30.8
Total votes			32,376	100.0
	Republican hold

District 26

Incumbent senator Ernie Harris won reelection, defeating primary and general election challengers.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

John Black

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Ernie Harris, incumbent senator

Eliminated in primary

Don Godfrey

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ernie Harris	9,109	71.5
	Republican	Don Godfrey	3,626	28.5
Total votes			12,735	100.0

General election

Results

2010 Kentucky Senate 26th district election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ernie Harris	30,305	58.3
	Democratic	John Black	21,656	41.7
Total votes			51,961	100.0
	Republican hold

District 28

Incumbent senator R. J. Palmer won reelection, defeating primary and general election challengers.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

R. J. Palmer, incumbent senator

Eliminated in primary

Bryan Lutz

Results

Democratic primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	R. J. Palmer	14,575	68.5
	Democratic	Bryan Lutz	6,705	31.5
Total votes			21,280	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Ralph Alvarado, candidate for the 73rd house district in 2004 and 2006

Eliminated in primary

Ryan Dotson

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ralph Alvarado	3,386	65.5
	Republican	Ryan Dotson	1,780	34.5
Total votes			5,166	100.0

General election

Results

2010 Kentucky Senate 28th district election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	R. J. Palmer	18,876	52.7
	Republican	Ralph Alvarado	16,940	47.3
Total votes			35,816	100.0
	Democratic hold

District 30

Incumbent senator Brandon Smith won reelection, defeating Democrat Johnnie L. Turner.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Johnnie L. Turner, representative from the 88th district (1999–2003)

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Brandon Smith, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2010 Kentucky Senate 30th district election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Brandon Smith	20,870	67.2
	Democratic	Johnnie L. Turner	10,180	32.8
Total votes			31,050	100.0
	Republican hold

District 32

Incumbent senator Mike Reynolds was defeated for reelection by Republican Mike Wilson.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Mike Reynolds, incumbent senator

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Mike Wilson

Eliminated in primary

Ed Mills
Regina Webb

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Wilson	5,025	51.5
	Republican	Regina Webb	3,077	31.5
	Republican	Ed Mills	1,656	17.0
Total votes			9,758	100.0

General election

Results

2010 Kentucky Senate 32nd district election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Wilson	18,935	55.0
	Democratic	Mike Reynolds	15,490	45.0
Total votes			34,425	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 34

Incumbent senator Ed Worley did not seek reelection. He was succeeded by Republican Jared Carpenter.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Lee Murphy

Eliminated in primary

Michael Cope
Landra Lewis

Results

Democratic primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Lee Murphy	4,452	35.5
	Democratic	Landra Lewis	4,106	32.8
	Democratic	Michael Cope	3,966	31.7
Total votes			12,524	100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Jared Carpenter

Eliminated in primary

Kent Kessler
Barry Metcalf, senator from the 34th district (1994–1999) and candidate in 2002 and 2006

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jared Carpenter	4,405	37.9
	Republican	Kent Kessler	4,264	36.7
	Republican	Barry Metcalf	2,955	25.4
Total votes			11,624	100.0

Third-party candidates

Evangelical Christian

Donald VanWinkle

General election

Results

2010 Kentucky Senate 34th district election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jared Carpenter	23,553	64.9
	Democratic	Lee Murphy	11,719	32.3
	Evangelical Christian	Donald VanWinkle	1,004	2.8
Total votes			36,276	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 36

Incumbent senator Julie Denton won reelection, defeating primary and general election challengers.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Rick Hiles

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Julie Denton, incumbent senator

Eliminated in primary

Shawn Slone

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Julie Denton	10,135	71.7
	Republican	Shawn Slone	4,000	28.3
Total votes			14,135	100.0

General election

Results

2010 Kentucky Senate 36th district election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Julie Denton	36,864	66.8
	Democratic	Rick Hiles	18,291	33.2
Total votes			55,155	100.0
	Republican hold

District 38

Incumbent senator Dan Seum won reelection, defeating Democrat Marty Meyer.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Marty Meyer

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Dan Seum, incumbent senator

General election

Results

2010 Kentucky Senate 38th district election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Seum	26,154	60.7
	Democratic	Marty Meyer	16,929	39.3
Total votes			43,083	100.0
	Republican hold

Notes

^ ^a ^b Independent senator Bob Leeper caucused with the Republicans.

References

^ "Kerr narrowly defeats Blevins". The Lexington Herald-Leader. November 3, 2010. p. A6.
^ "Legislative races draw 232 candidates - district Voters will get to decide 61 House, 19 Senate contests". The Lexington Herald-Leader. January 27, 2010. p. A1.
^ ^a ^b ^c "2009 Special Elections" (PDF). Kentucky State Board of Elections. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
^ "Blevins for Senate". The Lexington Herald-Leader. October 12, 2010. p. A10.

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