1984 United States Senate election in Kentucky explained

The 1984 United States Senate election in Kentucky was held on November 5, 1984. Incumbent Democratic Senator Walter Dee Huddleston lost re-election to a third term to Mitch McConnell by less than 0.5%. This is the last time a Senator from Kentucky lost re-election.

Despite Ronald Reagan winning nationwide in a landslide in the concurrent presidential election (even carrying Kentucky by a 20% margin), this was the only Republican flip of the 1984 Senate elections.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Walter Dee Huddleston, incumbent U.S. Senator

Results

Huddleston was unopposed in the Democratic Party's primary. Governor John Y. Brown Jr. filed to run in March 1984, but withdrew for health reasons a few weeks later.^[1]

Republican primary

Candidates

• Mitch McConnell, Jefferson County Executive
• Roger Harker
• Tommy Klein, perennial candidate
• Thurman Jerome Hamlin, perennial candidate

Results

General election

Candidates

• Walter Dee Huddleston (D), incumbent U.S. Senator
• Mitch McConnell (R), Jefferson County Executive
• Dave Welters (SW)

Fundraising

Campaign finance reports as of December 31, 1984
Candidate	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
	Mitch McConnell (R)		$1,591,303		$1,776,128		$27,443
	Walter Huddleston (D)		$2,420,771		$2,444,091		$3,138
Source: Federal Election Commission[2]

Campaign

Huddleston led in polling up until 2 months to election day against McConnell by as much as 40 points. McConnell attacked Huddleston for missed votes to make paid speeches in Congress, using television advertisements of bloodhounds trying to track down the Democratic Senator.^[3] Huddleston's 94% voting record was largely ignored. McConnell hired Roger Ailes for his campaign, a move he later called "one of the smartest moves I've ever made."^[4] Kentucky was a Democratic-leaning state up until McConnell's victory in 1984, though Ronald Reagan also carried the state. McConnell would serve with Democrat Wendell Ford until 1999, and served with Republicans thereafter. He later would become Senate Majority Leader.

Results

See also

• 1984 United States Senate elections

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2015-05-24 . CAMPAIGN NOTES - Brown of Kentucky Quits Race for Senate - NYTimes.com . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150524160933/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/28/us/campaign-notes-brown-of-kentucky-quits-race-for-senate.html . 2015-05-24 . 2023-10-25 . New York Times . Associated Press.
2. Web site: Candidate financial totals . Federal Election Commission.
3. Web site: Mitch McConnell Bloodhound Ad.
4. Web site: How Roger Ailes helped launch Mitch McConnell's Senate Career.