Kentucky Governor Election 2019 Results: Beshear Named Winner

KENTUCKY—Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear won a razor-thin election over incumbent Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, according to the Kentucky secretary of state, who announced the winner in a closely watched race for its implications in the 2020 presidential race.

The Kentucky election, along with those in Mississippi and Virginia, was seen somewhat of a test about how the country feels about President Donald Trump and the impeachment inquiry.

With 100 percent of the Kentucky vote in, Beshear had 709,763 votes (49.2 percent), Bevin had 704,523 votes (48.8 percent) and Libertarian John Hicks had 28,426 votes (2 percent).

Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes announced Beshear the winner in a phone call to CNN. She said Kentucky has no provision for an automatic recount but that an appeal could be filed.

The election centered on local issues and personalities but Trump and the national GOP stepped up their efforts about a month ago, fearing Democratic candidates could win in Kentucky and the other states.

Trump hosted a rally on Monday in Lexington with the hope that his appearance would inspire added support for Bevin in the 11th hour. Trump carried Kentucky in the 2016 election by 30 points.

See Full Kentucky governor election 2019 results here.

Kentucky voters maintained a national trend of suburban GOP voters who went for Trump in 2016 moving to the Democrats. Beshear carried the major urban cities and the suburbs of Louisville, Lexington and Cincinnati, Ohio. In the last governor election, Bevin won the state by about 10 points.

But if it's true that all politics is local, the Kentucky race has also made its mark for other reasons. The campaign was intensely personal.

Bevin made consistent remarks about Beshear's backing of abortion rights, which is a rare stance for any Southern governor candidate to take, according to Politico.

A recent Bevin campaign ad called Beshear "pro-death," but the Democratic challenger has made it clear that he supports certain limits on abortion and used a playbook that helped Democrats secure wins across the country in 2018, according to Politico.

Bevin took heat for calling for additional conditions on Medicaid and battling with teachers and union workers.