KY Senate, 2008 vs. 2010

[Shilly]

I made this map out of sheer curiosity. It shows the relative performances of Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, in '08 and '10 respectively. Paul outpaced McConnell in the blue counties and vice versa in the red ones.



Analysis is very welcome.

[Niemeyerite]

I thought Conway would be a better candidate than mongiardo. I was wrong, mongiardo could have picked some votes in the most rural areas (conservadems finally voted for paul over conway =[ )

[rbt48]

I'm kind of surprised that Paul did better than McConnell in Mitch's home of Jefferson County (Louisville).  Probably it has been so long since he was the County Judge (executive) there that new, younger voters don't recall him at all.

[JohnnyLongtorso]

I'm kind of surprised that Paul did better than McConnell in Mitch's home of Jefferson County (Louisville).  Probably it has been so long since he was the County Judge (executive) there that new, younger voters don't recall him at all.

Well, it's only about a 0.2% difference, and Paul's margin of victory statewide was about twice that of McConnell.

[rbt48]

I thought Conway would be a better candidate than mongiardo. I was wrong, mongiardo could have picked some votes in the most rural areas (conservadems finally voted for paul over conway =[ )

Perhaps he could have done better in the rural east.  The Pike County difference is quite emphatic.

[nclib]

It is surprising that Elliott County did considerably better for Paul than McConnell. I would have thought that Paul's libertarianism wouldn't play well there, though I guess it had more room to swing, and was still Paul's worst county.

[Hash]

It is surprising that Elliott County did considerably better for Paul than McConnell. I would have thought that Paul's libertarianism wouldn't play well there, though I guess it had more room to swing, and was still Paul's worst county.

How many voters there actually knew Paul was a "libertarian" icon?

[Torie]

It looks like the biggest swing to Paul was in Appalachia, with the swing larger in the coal mining portion thereof. The non coal mining balance of Appalachia in Kentucky is that time warp zone, that was pro Union, and has been hyper GOP every since, including right through the Depression, because at that time, that area was hardly part of the market economy at all.