United States Senate election in Kentucky, 2008

Infobox Election
election_name = United States Senate election in Kentucky, 2008
country = Kentucky
type = presidential
ongoing = Yes
previous_election = United States Senate election in Kentucky, 2004
previous_year = 2004
next_election = United States Senate election in Kentucky, 2012
next_year = 2010
election_date = November 4 2008


nominee1 = Bruce Lunsford
party1 = Democratic Party (United States)
popular_vote1 =
percentage1 =


nominee2 = Mitch McConnell
party2 = Republican Party (United States)
popular_vote2 =
percentage2 =
map_

map_size =
map_caption =
title = Senator
before_election =
before_party =
after_election =
after_party = The U.S. Senate Election for Kentucky of 2008 will be held on November 4, 2008. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will seek re-election against Democrat Bruce Lunsford. "CQ Politics" rated this race as 'Republican Favored', [ [http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=ratings-senate Race Ratings Chart: Senate] "CQ Politics"] but now calls it 'Leans Republican'. [ [http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=ratings-senate Race Ratings Chart: Senate] "CQ Politics"] "The Cook Political Report" considers it 'Lean Republican'. [ [http://www.cookpolitical.com/charts/senate/raceratings_2008-10-09_12-20-35.php 2008 Senate Race Ratings] "The Cook Political Report", October 9, 2008] "The Rothenberg Political Report" once considered it a 'Clear Advantage for Incumbent Party' [ [http://rothenbergpoliticalreport.blogspot.com/2008/09/2008-senate-ratings.html 2008 Senate Ratings] "The Rothenberg Political Report", July 19, 2008] but now calls the race 'Narrow Advantage for Incumbent Party'. [ [http://rothenbergpoliticalreport.blogspot.com/2008/09/2008-senate-ratings_29.html 2008 Senate Ratings] "The Rothenberg Political Report", September 29, 2008]

Political background

In 2007 Kentucky's unpopular Republican Governor, Ernie Fletcher, lost his re-election bid. Unpopular Republican Junior Senator Jim Bunning may affect the election as well. The Democrats took control of both Houses of Congress in the 2006 mid-term elections and in October Chuck Schumer acknowledged they are aiming for McConnell's seat. [cite news | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/10/31/schumer-takes-aim-at-sena_n_70622.html | title=Schumer Takes Aim At Senate's Top Republican | publisher=Huffington Post |date=October 31, 2007 | first= | last= | accessdate =2007-10-31]

Lunsford was asked to run by Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear. [cite news|publisher="Courier-Journal"|date=2008-01-30|title=Lunsford to challenge McConnell; Lewis is out|url=http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080130/NEWS0106/801300833|author=Gerth, Joseph] Seven candidates competed for the Democratic Primary nomination. The primaries for both parties took place on May 20, 2008 in which Lunsford took more than 50%.

Issues

In October Lunsford and McConnell were statistically tied in the polls. Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, said "If Lunsford is actually doing this well, its got to be because the public is so upset by the economic meltdown and may be blaming the legislative leaders." [cite news | url=http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080927/NEWS0106/809270303&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL | title=McConnell, Lunsford race a dead heat | publisher=The Courier-Journal |date= September 27, 2008 | first= | last= | accessdate =2008-09-27]

A debate scheduled for October 7th hosted by the League of Women Voters was cancelled when incumbent McConnell decided not to particpate even though Lunsford announced he wanted to debate. [cite news | url=http://www.kypost.com/content/wcposhared/story.aspx?content_id=f07be9b6-9dd1-4672-93fa-4de5e6f93a5a | title=Lunsford-McConnell Debate Now Off | publisher=Kentucky Post |date= September 30, 2008 | first= | last= | accessdate =2008-10-17]

Candidates

Unofficial Election Results as of Wednesday May 21, 2008 at 07:22:28 AM EDT [cite news | url=http://electionresults.ky.gov/KyElectWeb/kes?AC=3&RF=0&AR=0&R=A03000000&L=1999&N=U.S.+SENATE&RV=1040438&DV=1629845&TP=3545&TC=120 | title=Election Results | publisher=Kentucky State Board of Elections | date=May 21, 2008 | first= | last= | accessdate=2008-05-21]

Democratic

McConnell Approval Rating

Election Results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (United States)
candidate = Mitch McConnell
votes =
percentage =
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (United States)
candidate = Bruce Lunsford
votes =
percentage =
change = Election box turnout
votes =
percentage =
change =

References

External links

* [http://elect.ky.gov/ Kentucky State Board of Elections]
* [http://www.votesmart.org/election_congress_state.php?state_id=KY&go33.x=9&go33.y=11 U.S. Congress candidates for Kentucky] at Project Vote Smart
* [http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=senate-KY Kentucky, U.S. Senate] CQ Politics
* [http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=294960 Kentucky U.S. Senate] from "OurCampaigns.com"
* [http://www.2008racetracker.com/page/KY-Sen Kentucky U.S. Senate race] from "2008 Race Tracker"
* [http://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary.php?id=KYS1&cycle=2008 Campaign contributions] from OpenSecrets.org
* [http://www.pollster.com/08-KY-Sen-GE-MvL.php McConnell (R-i) vs Lunsford (D)] graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
*Official campaign websites
** [http://www.bruce2008.com/ Bruce Lunsford for U.S. Senate] , Democratic nominee
** [http://www.teammitch.com/ Mitch McConnell for Senate] , Republican nominee