- Despite voting for President Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton's 62.5% to 32.7%, incumbent Republican Gov. Matt Bevin appears to have lost his re-election bid to Attorney General Andy Beshear, according to the Associated Press.
- Bevin had low popularity in the state, but the administration made efforts to campaign on the governor's behalf.
- Andy Beshear, the son of the previous Democratic governor, over-performed in Jefferson County, the location of Louisville.
- The results of this race will update live as they continue to come in.
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In a surprising upset, underdog Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear appears to have won his gubernatorial bid over incumbent GOP Governor Matt Bevin, a staunch Trump ally, according to DDHQ and the Associated Press.
Results will continue to populate on this page as they come in.
The race is seen as having national implications given the president's thunderous victory in 2016 over Democratic rival former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — where he won by a thirty percentage point margin. With the president's own re-election bid just around the corner in 2020 — and with Bevin's campaign bolstered by in-person appearances from the commander-in-chief himself — the governor's loss could spell problems for the president.
It would be premature to draw conclusions about Kentucky's competitiveness in 2020, but Bevin's weakness in the suburbs could underscore a broader issue for a Republican party that suffered among suburbanites in the 2018 midterm elections. Combined with an unexpectedly close governor race in Mississippi the results may give the GOP pause.
Candidate quality was considered to be a strong factor in the race: A poll conducted in mid-October by Mason-Dixon has the rivals tied at 46% each, and Bevin entered the election comparatively unpopular. According to Morning Consult, 34% of registered Kentucky voters approved of him, while 53% disapproved.
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