AP Election Temporary | What to Anticipate in Kentucky as Republicans Select a Nominee for Governor

Kentucky Republicans will select a nominee Tuesday to problem incumbent Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in one of the crucial watched elections of the yr. State Lawyer Normal Daniel Cameron, former United Nations Ambassador Kelly Craft and state Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles are among the many 12 Republicans within the race.

Cameron is the best-known Republican and has the endorsement of former President Donald Trump. Nonetheless, Craft is well-funded — her husband is a billionaire coal magnate, and he or she has loaned her marketing campaign greater than $9 million. She additionally has the backing of highly effective U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Ky.

Beshear has nominal opposition within the Democratic major. He gained the 2019 common election by lower than 1 share level within the closely Republican state, organising what’s prone to be a extremely aggressive common election this yr.

Republicans are also selecting nominees for secretary of state, treasurer, auditor and agriculture commissioner. Democrats are selecting a nominee for agriculture commissioner.

Right here’s a have a look at what to anticipate on election evening:

Polls shut at 6 p.m. native time. Many of the state is within the Jap Time Zone. Nonetheless, 41 counties are in Central time, and polls in these counties will shut at 7 p.m. EDT.

Kentucky’s major elections are restricted to registered occasion members. Voters can solid ballots by mail or early in individual, though most select to vote in individual on election day.

Within the 2022 common election, the AP first reported outcomes at 6:16 p.m. ET. The election evening tabulation ended at 1:45 a.m. ET with 94% of votes counted.

The AP will declare winners in eight races, together with seven statewide races.

The AP doesn’t make projections and can solely declare a winner when it’s decided there is no such thing as a state of affairs that will enable the trailing candidates to shut the hole.

Ought to a candidate declare victory or provide a concession earlier than the AP calls a race, we’ll cowl newsworthy developments in our reporting. In doing so, we’ll clarify that the AP has not but declared a winner and clarify why.

Kentucky counts votes comparatively quick in contrast with different states. About half the counties launch all their leads to a single report, whereas others have updates all through the night.

Jefferson County (dwelling to Louisville) and Fayette County (Lexington) play an enormous function in Democratic primaries as a result of they’re the most important counties within the state and they’re each closely Democratic. Collectively, they accounted for 29% of the votes within the 2022 Democratic major for U.S. Senate.

They play a lesser function in Republican primaries. Collectively, Jefferson and Fayette counties generated simply 14% of the votes within the 2022 Republican Senate major. Kentucky’s deep purple rural counties play a bigger function in Republican primaries.

Craft, who has by no means run for workplace earlier than, has deep ties to the Lexington space. She should run up giant margins in Fayette and the encircling counties to be aggressive. Cameron and Quarles began the marketing campaign with higher identify recognition in Kentucky, as each have just lately gained statewide elections.

The AP might name a race wherein the margin between the highest two candidates is 0.5% or much less, if we decide the lead is simply too giant for a recount and authorized problem to vary the result. In Kentucky, there are not any computerized recounts in primaries. Trailing candidates must file a petition with the courts to request a recount.

Q: WHAT DO TURNOUT AND ADVANCE VOTE LOOK LIKE?

A: As of Feb. 1, there have been 3.5 million registered voters in Kentucky, together with 1.5 million Democrats and 1.6 million Republicans. AP’s preliminary statewide turnout projection is 290,000 Republicans and 260,000 Democrats.

As of Monday, 4,983 Democrats and 4,042 Republicans had solid advance votes, both in individual or by mail. Within the 2022 common election, 22% of voters solid their ballots earlier than election day. Mail ballots should be acquired by election day to be counted.

Q: HOW LONG DOES COUNTING USUALLY TAKE?

Traditionally, Kentucky counts virtually all votes on election evening. In 2022, the vote rely prolonged into the following day in a handful of counties, although virtually all votes had been counted by that afternoon.

READ UP ON THE RACES Right here’s extra on this yr’s Kentucky elections:

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