Republicans Gain Vacant State Senate Seat in Kentucky

[rbt48]

Republicans expanded their majority in the Kentucky State Senate to 27 - 11 with a victory in District 27 (Rowan County and surrounding area).  The district appears to be pretty evenly divided with Rowan (Morehead) leaning D and the other portions more Republican.

The seat was vacant following Walter Blevins' (D) resignation on January 4, 2015, to become judge-executive of Rowan County.

You can read a brief story with the result at:  http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/Republican-Steve-West-wins-27th-Senate-District-seat-294942141.html

So now, the Kentucky House is 54% D while the Senate is 29% D.  This is an even greater discrepancy between chambers than in New York where the Assembly is 71% D and the Senate is 49% D.  

I can't find a state with a larger discrepancy with party membership between the two legislative changers.

[ElectionsGuy]

In before Bandit says that the GOP is dying in Kentucky.

[Senate Minority Leader Lord Voldemort]

So now, the Kentucky House is 54% D while the Senate is 29% D.  This is an even greater discrepancy between chambers than in New York where the Assembly is 71% D and the Senate is 49% D.  

I can't find a state with a larger discrepancy with party membership between the two legislative changers.

It's almost like the Oklahoma legislature in the 1920's.

Senate 27-17 D advantage (61%)
House 73-36 R advantage (67%)

On the other hand, can someone with knowledge of Kentucky politics enlighten me how the current chambers now have such a large discrepancy?

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

So now, the Kentucky House is 54% D while the Senate is 29% D.  This is an even greater discrepancy between chambers than in New York where the Assembly is 71% D and the Senate is 49% D. 

I can't find a state with a larger discrepancy with party membership between the two legislative changers.

It's almost like the Oklahoma legislature in the 1920's.

Senate 27-17 D advantage (61%)
House 73-36 R advantage (67%)

On the other hand, can someone with knowledge of Kentucky politics enlighten me how the current chambers now have such a large discrepancy?

It's simply a protection to keep Rand Paul from running for president.

[Associate Justice PiT]

So now, the Kentucky House is 54% D while the Senate is 29% D.  This is an even greater discrepancy between chambers than in New York where the Assembly is 71% D and the Senate is 49% D. 

I can't find a state with a larger discrepancy with party membership between the two legislative changers.

It's almost like the Oklahoma legislature in the 1920's.

Senate 27-17 D advantage (61%)
House 73-36 R advantage (67%)

On the other hand, can someone with knowledge of Kentucky politics enlighten me how the current chambers now have such a large discrepancy?

It's simply a protection to keep Rand Paul from running for president.

     Kentucky likes him that much, eh?

[Bandit3 the Worker]

On the other hand, can someone with knowledge of Kentucky politics enlighten me how the current chambers now have such a large discrepancy?

The House map was drawn by Democrats who wanted to appease Republicans.

But the Senate map was drawn by actual Republicans.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

That said, the Democrats actually got more votes in Kentucky Senate elections statewide, but still have far fewer seats.

[Panda Express]

Bandit, why does Kentucky love Republicans so much?

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Bandit, why does Kentucky love Republicans so much?

Most statewide offices are Democratic.

[Senate Minority Leader Lord Voldemort]

That said, the Democrats actually got more votes in Kentucky Senate elections statewide, but still have far fewer seats.

Is there anywhere that I can find actual numbers? I'm searching for total votes cast for the two parties in the Kentucky House and Senate elections and can't seem to find anything except the individual districts.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

That said, the Democrats actually got more votes in Kentucky Senate elections statewide, but still have far fewer seats.

Is there anywhere that I can find actual numbers? I'm searching for total votes cast for the two parties in the Kentucky House and Senate elections and can't seem to find anything except the individual districts.

Someone told me this right after the election.

[ElectionsGuy]

That said, the Democrats actually got more votes in Kentucky Senate elections statewide, but still have far fewer seats.

Is there anywhere that I can find actual numbers? I'm searching for total votes cast for the two parties in the Kentucky House and Senate elections and can't seem to find anything except the individual districts.

Someone told me this right after the election.

Therefore it must be true.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

It's also worth noting that this district had changed boundaries significantly since the last election there. The last election was in 2012 - before Kentucky redistricted its state legislature.

[Joe Republic]

So now, the Kentucky House is 54% D while the Senate is 29% D.  This is an even greater discrepancy between chambers than in New York where the Assembly is 71% D and the Senate is 49% D. 

I can't find a state with a larger discrepancy with party membership between the two legislative changers.

I can; your own state of Nebraska.  One chamber is 100% non-partisan, while the other is 100% non-existent.

[rbt48]

I can; your own state of Nebraska.  One chamber is 100% non-partisan, while the other is 100% non-existent.

True.  I intended to make note of the Unicameral but decided to avoid stating the non-applicable case.

I think D vs R vote totals of all State Senate and State House elections would be misleading because so many seats are uncontested.  Also, only half the senate seats are up in any election as the senators serve 4 year terms.

In terms of explaining the discrepancy, I would put forward this theory.  As Kentucky has slowly transitioned to being a Republican state, it has done so from the Federal level in a trickle down fashion to the state and county level.  For instance, it is hard to get a Democrat to win a Presidential or Senate election (or US House) in Kentucky, but it is still infrequent to get a Republican governor or state cabinet member elected.  I'm guessing that at county level, there are still a higher proportion of Democratic County Judges (Executives) than you would expect if you looked at the county-by-county vote totals for Federal positions.  If true, I would infer that this would lead to somewhat of a dearth of natural Republican candidates for the State House of Reps and hence some Democrats face re-election unopposed or against an opponent with no name recognition.  Also, there are no term limits for Kentucky legislators, so there are fewer open seats.  Thoughts?

[Bandit3 the Worker]

In terms of explaining the discrepancy, I would put forward this theory.  As Kentucky has slowly transitioned to being a Republican state, it has done so from the Federal level in a trickle down fashion to the state and county level.  For instance, it is hard to get a Democrat to win a Presidential or Senate election (or US House) in Kentucky, but it is still infrequent to get a Republican governor or state cabinet member elected.  I'm guessing that at county level, there are still a higher proportion of Democratic County Judges (Executives) than you would expect if you looked at the county-by-county vote totals for Federal positions.  If true, I would infer that this would lead to somewhat of a dearth of natural Republican candidates for the State House of Reps and hence some Democrats face re-election unopposed or against an opponent with no name recognition.  Also, there are no term limits for Kentucky legislators, so there are fewer open seats.  Thoughts?

Many more Republicans than Democrats were unopposed.

I wonder what percentage of Kentuckians live under a Republican county executive. I'm pretty sure Louisville and Lexington have Democratic mayors (which is really the top executive for those counties). The 3 heavily populated counties in northern Kentucky have Republican judge-executives, but 2 of these counties are urban enough that the Democrats will probably take the lead soon. I know 3 other big counties have a Republican, but I'm pretty sure at least one other big county has a Democrat. Mason County has an independent.