Kentucky, U.S. House, District 2

All U.S. congressional districts, including the 2nd Congressional District of Kentucky, held elections in 2018.

Heading into the election the incumbent was Brett Guthrie (R), who was first elected in 2008.

Kentucky's 2nd Congressional District is located in west central Kentucky and includes Barren, Boyle, Breckinridge, Bullitt, Butler, Daviess, Edmonson, Garrard, Grayson, Green, Hancock, Hardin, Hart, Larue, Meade, Mercer, Nelson, and Warren counties. Portions of Jessamine, Spencer, and Washington counties also lie within the district.

Campaign finance

The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name	Party	Receipts*	Disbursements**	Cash on hand	Date
Brett Guthrie	Republican Party	$1,971,351	$1,742,416	$2,010,499	As of December 31, 2018
Hank Linderman	Democratic Party	$183,296	$174,080	$9,216	As of December 31, 2018
Thomas Loecken	Independent	$0	$0	$0	Data not available
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2018. * According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." ** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.

Demographics

Demographic data for Kentucky

	Kentucky	U.S.
Total population:	4,424,611	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	39,486	3,531,905
Gender
Female:	50.8%	50.8%
Race and ethnicity**
White:	87.6%	73.6%
Black/African American:	7.9%	12.6%
Asian:	1.3%	5.1%
Native American:	0.2%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.1%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	3.3%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	84.2%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	22.3%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$43,740	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	22.7%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Kentucky.

As of July 2016, Kentucky had a population of approximately 4,436,974 people, with its three largest cities being Louisville (pop. est. 616,261), Lexington (pop. est. 318,449), and Bowling Green (pop. est. 65,234). The chart on the right shows demographic information for Kentucky from 2010 to 2015. The graphs below show racial demographics and levels of educational attainment in Kentucky compared to the rest of the country.

State history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Kentucky from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Kentucky State Board of Elections.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Kentucky every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Kentucky 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Donald Trump	62.5%	Hillary Clinton	32.7%	29.8%
2012	Mitt Romney	60.5%	Barack Obama	37.8%	22.7%
2008	John McCain	57.4%	Barack Obama	41.2%	16.2%
2004	George W. Bush	59.6%	John Kerry	39.7%	19.9%
2000	George W. Bush	56.5%	Al Gore	41.2%	15.3%

U.S. Senate elections, 2002-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Kentucky from 2002 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Kentucky 2002-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Rand Paul	57.3%	Jim Gray	42.7%	14.6%
2014	Mitch McConnell	56.2%	Alison Lundergan Grimes	40.7%	15.5%
2010	Rand Paul	55.7%	Jack Conway	44.2%	11.5%
2008	Mitch McConnell	53.0%	Bruce Lunsford	47.0%	6.0%
2004	Jim Bunning	50.7%	Daniel Mongiardo	49.3%	1.4%
2002	Mitch McConnell	64.7%	Lois Combs Weinberg	35.3%	29.4%

Gubernatorial elections, 2003-2015

This chart shows the results of the gubernatorial elections held between 2003 and 2015. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Kentucky.

Election results (Governor), Kentucky 2003-2015

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2015	Matt Bevin	52.5%	Jack Conway	43.8%	8.7%
2011	Steve Beshear	55.7%	David Williams	35.3%	20.4%
2007	Steve Beshear	58.7%	Ernie Fletcher	41.3%	17.4%
2003	Ernie Fletcher	55.0%	Ben Chandler	45.0%	10.0%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Kentucky in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Kentucky 2000-2016

Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	5	83.3%	1	16.7%	R+4
2014	5	83.3%	1	16.7%	R+4
2012	5	83.3%	1	16.7%	R+4
2010	4	66.7%	2	33.3%	R+2
2008	4	66.7%	2	33.3%	R+2
2006	4	66.7%	2	33.3%	R+2
2004	5	83.3%	1	16.7%	R+4
2002	5	83.3%	1	16.7%	R+4
2000	5	83.3%	1	16.7%	R+4

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Kentucky Party Control: 1992-2020
Eight years of Democratic trifectas • Three years of Republican trifectas

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
Governor	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	D
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R