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Live: Follow WKU Public Radio's Election Coverage

Lisa Autry
Credit Lisa Autry

Welcome to our live election blog, where we'll be covering races from across our listening area all day long.

Our news team will begin sharing election results as soon as they become official when all polls in Kentucky have closed at 6 p.m. central/7 eastern time.

NPR’s live national coverage starts an hour later, at 7p.m. central.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

A Look at The Big Picture of Kentucky House Bluegrass Politics, a blog from the Lexington Herald-Leader, has the makeup of the Kentucky House as:

*63 Republicans

*35 Democrats

*2 races outstanding

Democrats came into the night with a 53-47 advantage.

Bowling Green City Commission Results 

Three incumbents and one former member won seats on the Bowling Green City Commission Tuesday night.

Brian “Slim” Nash served four previous terms on the commission from 2004 through 2012. Although Nash is a previous commissioner, he said he expects to be a “change agent” and push for discussion of more issues and increased transparency.

Incumbent commissioners Joe Denning, Sue Parrigin and Rick Williams each won another term.

Twelve candidates competed for the four open seats.

Bowling Green Mayor Bruce Wilkerson was re-elected without formal opposition. His only opponent was Don Langley, who ran as a write-in candidate

Republican Walker Thomas has beat Democrat Jeffery Taylor for the 8th district House seat.

Thomas won with 52 percent of the vote.

 

Republican Robert Mills won 11th District House seat with 52 percent of the vote.

Mills defeated Democrat David Watkins.

Republican Don Johnson won the 49th District House seat.

Johnson defeated Democrat Linda Belcher.

The Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer reports Tom Watson has won Owensboro Mayor

Democrat Jody Richards has been Re-Elected to Kentucky State House of Representatives

Richards defeated Republican Melinda Hill for the20thHouse District.

 

Republican Eric Holcomb Elected Indiana Governor

Holcomb defeated Democrat John Gregg.

GOP Wins Majority in Kentucky House Republicans have won a majority in the Kentucky House of Representatives, the last legislative chamber in the South that was still controlled by Democrats.

Democrats held a 53-47 majority heading into Election Day, but Republicans picked up enough seats to give them their first majority since 1920. -Associated Press

It's shaping up to be a huge night for Kentucky House Republicans.*Democratic Rep. Tommy Thompson of Owensboro has lost to Republican challenger Matt Castlen

*Democratic Rep. Jim Glenn of Owensboro appears to have lost by 156 votes to Republican D.J. Johnson

*With 95 percent of the vote counted, Democratic Rep. Rita Smart of Richmond trailed Republican Wesley Morgan by 2 percentage points

*With 78 percent of the vote counted, Democratic Rep. Brent Yonts of Muhlenberg County is losing to his Republican challenger, Melinda Prunty, by 14 percentage points.

Indiana Republican Todd Young Elected to U.S. Senate

Young defeated Democrat and former Senator Evan Bayh.Kentucky House Speaker Greg Stumbo Concedes to Republican Larry Brown

 

One of Kentucky's most powerful Democrats has lost his bid for re-election.

Greg Stumbo, the speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives, lost to Republican Larry Brown in eastern Kentucky. The defeat came as Democrats were fighting to maintain their majority in the state House, the only legislative chamber in the South that Republicans do not control. -Associated press

 

Republican James Comer has won a seat in Congress one year after narrowly losing a chance to become Kentucky's governor.

 

The former state agriculture commissioner defeated Democrat Samuel Gaskins in Kentucky's 1st Congressional District on Tuesday. He will replace former U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield, who resigned in September after a 22-year career in Washington. -Associated PressRepublicans Flip Barren County House Seat

Republican Steve Riley has defeated Democrat Danny Basil in Kentucky’s23rdDistrict House seat. Basil has conceded the race to Riley.

The seat was previously held by Democrat and Glasgow attorney Johnny Bell, who decided against seeking re-election.

The win bolsters Republican efforts to win control of the House, which has been led by Democrats for nearly a century.

Republican Donald Trump won Kentucky's 8 electoral votesTrump easily defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in a state that has voted for the Republican nominee every year since 2000. While Bill Clinton won Kentucky twice in the 1990s, Hillary Clinton was hurt by her comments earlier this year that she was going to "put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business." Kentucky is the nation's third largest coal producer. -Associated Press

 

Republican Senator Rand Paul has been re-elected

Republican Senator Rand Paul will return to the U.S. Senate following a failed presidential campaign that changed the way Kentuckians vote for the country's highest office.Paul defeated Lexington Mayor Jim Gray to win a second six-year term on Tuesday. The Republican from Bowling Green was known nationally for his once-favored presidential bid, but could not muster enough support to challenge eventual nominee Donald Trump.-Associated Press

 

Kentucky Republican Politicians Gather and Await ResultsOur Capitol reporter Ryland Barton is at the Galt House in Louisville, where many of Kentucky's Republican politicians are gathering.

Party leaders have begun to gather in a ballroom, awaiting returns from FOX News projected on giant screens. Republicans are optimistic about official results from polling places across the state.

Freshman Senator Rand Paul is hoping to be reelected to his seat for a second term and candidates for 65 state House seats are trying to help the party take control of the House for the first time in nearly a century.

And of course, the state GOP is cheering on Donald Trump. The New York businessman will likely win Kentucky’s 8 electoral votes in a landslide. Party leaders hope his popularity in the state will trickle down the ballot.

AG's Office Updates Number of Fraud Complaints

The Kentucky attorney general's office says its election fraud hotline has received 155 calls from 46 counties at last count.

The total was as of 3:30 p.m. EST Tuesday, some 3 ½ hours before polls were to close in the western half of the state. Voters are choosing a U.S. senator, congressmen, president and state legislative races.

The attorney general's office said issues reported to the hotline include poll disruption, general election fraud, electioneering, residency, procedural and legal questions, voter assistance, voting machine, voter identification and election officials.

For Some, Health Care is the Defining Issue of the Election 

Election Day got off to a busy start this morning at Immanuel Church of Christ in the Highlands. We spoke with 50-year-old Sarah Ferguson, who came out to vote for Hillary Clinton based on her stance on the Affordable Care Act.

Ferguson’s 20-year-old daughter has Type 1 diabetes. It’s a condition that can send a patient into diabetic shock and kidney failure if insulin levels aren’t monitored closely. Ferguson is voting for Clinton this election because of the Democrat’s plans to keep the ACA going. Republican nominee Donald Trump has said he would work to dismantle the law, including the part that lets children up to age 26 stay on their parents health insurance.

Ferguson said that would be life-threatening for her daughter.

“One thing that’s huge is that every doc you see is a specialist and you have to see them regularly; you go to the endrochinoloist every three months,” said Ferguson. “And you’re more susceptible to catching a cold or the flu. Their immune system is a little bit compromised. It’s an auto immune disease.”

Ferguson worries her daughter won’t get a job immediately out of college, and without employer-sponsored health care, she needs an option to keep insurance for doctors. –Lisa Gillespie, WFPL

Warren County Poll Worker Predicts Huge Turnout

Lines of up to an hour or more have been reported at some polling places in Warren County.

Rex Henry is a poll worker in the town of Alvaton. He says he’s impressed with the number of voters who are turning out at his precinct.

“At the rate we’re going, we may 75 to 80 percent turnout. Now, I’ve worked elections where we only had 12 percent turnout, so this is very exciting to see this, Henry told WKU Public Radio.

Ballot ‘Selfies’ Drawing Controversy in Kentucky

Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes said some precincts around the state have been improperly banning voters from using their cell phones in the ballot booth. Grimes said voters in Scott County were instructed to not take selfies in the ballot booth, despite a recent attorney general’s opinion permitting people to do so.

“At the end of the day, we want to make sure that the experience, especially as we move towards the 6 p.m. hour, does not continue but rather folks are having an engaging, positive, enthusiastic experience free of harm, fear or intimidation,” said Grimes.

There have been several complaints across the state of precinct officers posting flyers saying that cell phone use is forbidden, when it is not.

“There are a number of precincts that have signs that are not issued by the state board of elections that are up in the precincts; they say ‘no cell phones allowed per Kentucky revised statute,’” she said. “They obviously cite a very outdated statute.”

Grimes said that clerks were notified last week that cell phone use and ballot selfies were permitted, as long as other voters or ballots weren’t included in the photos. –Ryland Barton

Clinton, Trump Supporters in Lexington Weigh In

Kentucky voters are having their say in a presidential race that has mostly bypassed the state. Democrat Hillary Clinton seeks to run up big margins in Louisville and Lexington and hopes the state’s majority of registered Democrats will blunt Republican Donald Trump’s support in rural areas.

University of Kentucky student Dean Crockett has been a Bernie Sanders supporter, and cast his vote for Clinton this morning in Lexington.

“I think she aligns more with my views than Donald Trump, even though they’re both way off the mark,” he said.

Trump is banking on Kentucky’s recent history of voting for Republican presidential nominees and will try to capitalize on the lingering resentment against Clinton for her comments about coal miners.

Turnout is reported to be heavy across the state and voters head to the polls to elect a new president and other federal, state and local officials.

Mike Gallucci said he reluctantly cast his ballot for Trump, calling him the lesser of two evils.

“You know I’ve been voting for 40 some-odd years, never missed an election, either primary or general,” he said. “I’ve held my nose and voted for a few people. This time I held my nose and put both of my fingers in my ears.” —Ryland Barton

Smooth Voting, But Long Lines, Reported in Warren County

The Warren County Clerk’s Office says voting is going smoothly across all precincts with no unusual issues.

There have been long lines at some precincts, with some voters waiting 45 to 60 minutes to cast their ballots.

A spokesperson for the clerk’s offices says they’ve encountered a number of voters who moved and failed to change the address on their voter registration.

Those voters are being sent to their new polling place.

No Major Problems Being Reported at Polling Places in Kentucky.

The Kentucky Attorney General's Office says its election fraud hotline has gotten 64 calls from 26 counties. A statement from the agency says calls varied from procedural questions to complaints of electioneering within 100 feet of the polls. The number of calls is comparable to those in 2012, when 60 calls had been received in the same amount of time.

Kentucky voters will decide on a number of federal offices when they cast their ballots Tuesday including president, U.S. senator, and U.S. representative. They will also decide several legislative races at the state level.

Support for Hillary Clinton at a Downtown Bowling Green Polling Location

Voters at the 13th Street clubhouse in Bowling Green sprinkled in Tuesday morning and were greeted by excited volunteers who checked IDs and handed out ballots.  

Voter Kennedy Higdon was disappointed she couldn’t cast a ballot for Bernie Sanders, but feels comfortable voting for Hillary Clinton. She says a lot of Clinton’s ideals line up with hers, such as feminism and women’s rights.

“I just think Hillary is the smart choice for right now,” Higdon said.

But Higdon also believes the presidential election isn’t where she feels she’ll be making the biggest impact

“I think local elections are where we can make a difference just by getting out here and making our voices heard and so that is I think is really important,” Higdon said.

Volunteers hold campaign signs at Broadway and US Highway 31 Bypass in Bowling Green.
Credit Emil Moffat
Volunteers hold campaign signs at Broadway and US Highway 31 Bypass in Bowling Green.

Voter and local television news producer Berry Stockton also gave her support to Clinton.

“I’m 100 percent confident. Not confident in the results because who knows but like I’m confident in her as if she were to become president. I’m confident in her ability to lead the country,” Stockton said.

Retired teacher Joanne Powell doesn’t like how long or how negative the campaign has been,but thinks the country can come back together after this election.

“You know we have come back from so many things that people have thought we’d never be able to recover. I’m an optimist. I think that yeah, we have a great country, yes there are things wrong with it but there’s so much more that’s right,” Powell said.

She says she’s never missed an election and thinks that  if people want to keep U.S. democracy strong they need to get out and vote Tuesday.

Fraud Hotline Gets 64 Calls

In the first four-and-a-half hours of voting in Kentucky today, Attorney General Andy Beshear’s office received 64 calls to the election fraud hotline. They came from 26 counties.

Many of the questions have concerned voting procedure, legal assistance, electioneering and poll disruption, according to Beshear’s office.

Twenty-three of the calls came from Jefferson County, where there were concerns about problematic voting machines and various procedural questions. A spokesman for the Jefferson County Clerk says voting machine problems have been fixed.

Voter Reaction from Trump Supporters in Glasgow

One of the Kentucky voters who went to the polls early Tuesday morning was Steven Strickland of Glasgow.

The retired Army veteran showed up to vote at the old Liberty Street School polling place around 6:30 a.m. He told WKU Public Radio that the future makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court is something that’s important to him.

“If it's Hillary, she's going to have a big effect, because like everybody says, there might be two, three, even four Supreme Court judges. And in the long run--being ancient like I am--in the long run, I can see that that matters almost as much or more than who's president.”

Strickland voted for Donald Trump, but says he thinks America’s election process is fair and not “rigged”, as Trump has repeatedly said.

Another Trump supporter who voted in Glasgow Tuesday morning was Felice Cook, a stay-at-home mother of five who homeschools her children. She says she’s backing candidates who have conservative positions on issues that are important to her.

“My 2nd Amendment rights is a big one,” Cook said. “My husband is a veteran, so the military is a big issue for us. My husband served overseas, so I want to make sure he’s taken care of.”

Cook says she doesn’t think the media has been honest about the amount of support the Republican presidential candidate has throughout the country.

Original post:

It’s a day that many people never thought would come.

After a seemingly endless campaign season, voters are heading to the polls Tuesday to decide the next president, and well as whether Democrats or Republicans will control the U.S. Senate and House next year.

Kentucky voters have once again been largely left behind by the presidential candidates. Republican Donald Trump is a heavy favorite to win the state’s eight electoral votes. Neither Trump or Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton paid much attention to the commonwealth following the state’s presidential caucus and primary earlier this year.

Kentuckians will also decide a U.S. Senate contest between Bowling Green Republican incumbent Rand Paul, and Democratic Lexington Mayor Jim Gray.

A host of competitive state House races in our region will help determine the chamber’s control when lawmaker convene for the 2017 General Assembly. Democrats have held the House for nearly a century, but their advantage has been narrowed dramatically in recent years, and the party currently holds a 53-47 advantage over Republicans.

Who Will Run the Kentucky House in ’17?

One of the state House races worth watching Tuesday night is the 23rd District seat, which covers Barren and a small part of Warren County. The seat is being left vacant by Glasgow Democrat Johnny Bell, who is not seeking another term.

Republican Steve Riley and Democrat Danny Basil are competing to fill the seat and the race has drawn a good deal of spending from outside groups, including so-called “social welfare” organizations that can try to sway voters’ opinions, without coordinating directly with campaigns.

Daviess County is home to several contested House races as well.

In the 7th District, Republican incumbent Suzanne Miles is facing a challenge from Democrat and former school teacher Joy Gray. Owensboro Democrat Jim Glenn, who has served in the Kentucky House since 2007, is trying to win another term against Republican D.J. Johnson.

In Warren County, former House Speaker Jody Richards is facing a challenge from Republican and Bowling Green City Commissioner Melinda Hill. Richards has touted his four decades of legislative experience as a plus for his district, but Hill says 40 years is too long for any lawmaker to be in Frankfort.

Twelve names are on the ballot to fill the four spots on the Bowling Green City Commission. Five candidates are looking to be the next mayor of Owensboro.

Drama in the Hoosier State

Indiana voters will help decide which party controls the U.S. Senate next year.

The seat left by retiring Republican Dan Coats is a toss-up. Recent polls show Democrat Evan Bayh, a former Indiana Governor and Senator, and Republican Todd Young, a U.S. House member, in a tie.

Indiana voters are also deciding their next Governor. It’s a three-way race between Libertarian Rex Bell; Republican Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb; and Democrat John Gregg.

Join WKU Public Radio Throughout the Day

We’ll bring you updates from across our region during our Kentucky Public Radio Network newscasts at the top of the hour, and our local All Things Considered host Barbara Deeb will have reaction from voters in our listening area during her local newscasts.

Our news team will begin sharing election results as soon as they become official when all polls in Kentucky have closed at 6 p.m. central/7 eastern time.

NPR’s live national coverage starts an hour later, at 7p.m. central.

Copyright 2016 WKU Public Radio

The award-winning news team at WKU Public Radio consists of Dan Modlin, Kevin Willis, Lisa Autry, and Joe Corcoran.