Kentucky
AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Kentucky's primaries
WASHINGTON – All of Donald Trump’s top opponents for the Republican nomination for president dropped out of the race weeks ago, but the whole gang will be back together on Kentucky’s primary ballot on Tuesday.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie all suspended their campaigns after Kentucky finalized its ballot in January, as did pastor Ryan Binkley.
Trump has easily won nearly every Republican contest so far, but Haley has won a significant number of votes in several recent primaries, including Maryland (20%) and Nebraska (18%) this week.
President Joe Biden’s opponents in Kentucky are author Marianne Williamson and U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips. Democrats can also vote for “Uncommitted,” which has attracted protest votes in other states.
Kentucky Voters will also decide six primaries for the U.S. House. One race to watch is the 4th Congressional District Republican primary. Rep. Thomas Massie, who backed DeSantis’ presidential bid and co-sponsored a motion to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson, is facing a challenge from Eric Deters, a staunch Trump supporter. However, Deters hadn’t reported raising any money as of the latest filing deadline and placed fourth in the 2023 gubernatorial primary.
Here’s a look at what to expect on Tuesday.
PRIMARY DAY
Kentucky holds its presidential and state primaries on Tuesday. Most of Kentucky falls in the Eastern time zone, where the polls close at 6 p.m. ET, while 41 counties are in the Central time zone, where the last polls close at 7 p.m. ET.
WHAT’S ON THE BALLOT
Besides the presidential primaries, voters will choose nominees for the U.S. House, the state legislature and the state Senate. Kentucky held elections for governor and other statewide offices in 2023.
WHO GETS TO VOTE
Kentucky has a closed primary system, which means that only voters registered with a political party may participate in that party’s primary. Democrats may not vote in the Republican primary or vice versa. Independent or unaffiliated voters may not participate in either primary.
DELEGATE ALLOCATION RULES
Kentucky Republicans allocate their 46 delegates proportionally to any candidate who receives more than 15% of the vote, meaning any of Trump’s opponents could qualify for delegates. They could also splinter the anti-Trump vote, increasing Trump’s chances of being the only candidate to receive 15% of the vote and therefore the only candidate to receive any delegates.
Kentucky’s 53 pledged Democratic delegates are allocated according to the national party’s standard rules. Twelve at-large delegates are allocated in proportion to the statewide vote, as are six PLEO delegates, or “party leaders and elected officials.” The state’s six congressional districts have a combined 35 delegates at stake, which are allocated in proportion to the vote results in each district. Candidates must receive at least 15% of the statewide vote to qualify for any statewide delegates, and 15% of the vote in a congressional district to qualify for delegates in that district.
DECISION NOTES
While Republican state parties that hold primaries this late in the cycle tend to embrace a winner-takes-all system for delegate allocation, Kentucky Republicans are dividing their delegates proportionally among candidates who receive at least 15% of the vote. For signs that a candidate not named Trump could reach that 15% threshold, look to suburban areas like Louisville and Lexington. Those areas — Jefferson and Fayette counties — are also the biggest source of GOP votes in the state.
In the 2020 presidential primary, “uncommitted” and Trump were the only two options on the Republican ballot. Statewide, “uncommitted” received 13% of the vote in the GOP primary. In Jefferson County, however, “uncommitted” received 23%.
The 4th Congressional District runs along the Ohio River, sharing its northern boundary with Indiana and Ohio. It stretches from Louisville suburbs in the western part of the district, toward the Cincinnati suburbs in Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties. Outside of those two major suburban areas, however, much of the district is rural.
In the 4th Congressional District, the United Democracy Project, a group that has criticized Massie for his record on Israel, has spent $328,672 on the race as of Tuesday. However, those ads do not support an alternative candidate.
The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.
Kentucky mandates a recount if the top candidate wins by less than 0.5 percentage points. However, that recount rule does not apply to the presidential race. Candidates can ask for a recanvass of the vote, which entails retabulating the vote totals, if the margin is less than 1 percentage point. However, to request a recount, in which each ballot is individually hand-counted, a court must approve and prescribe the procedure.
WHAT DO TURNOUT AND ADVANCE VOTE LOOK LIKE?
As of March 31, there were 3,487,292 registered voters in Kentucky. Of those voters, 43% were Democrats and 46% were Republicans.
In the 2023 race for governor, turnout was 6% of registered voters in the Democratic primary and 9% in the Republican primary. In the 2022 Senate race, turnout was 8% of registered voters in the Democratic primary and 11% in the Republican primary. In the 4th District, turnout among registered voters for the Republican primary was also 11%.
In 2022, 17% of voters cast their ballot before election day.
HOW LONG DOES VOTE-COUNTING USUALLY TAKE?
In the 2023 primary election, the AP first reported results at 6:03 p.m. ET, or three minutes after the first polls closed. The election night tabulation ended at 9:56 p.m. ET with about 98% of total votes counted.
ARE WE THERE YET?
As of Tuesday, there will be 168 days until the November general election.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2024 election at https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Kentucky
Wind gusts, rain from Tropical Storm Helene could affect weekend events across Kentucky
Still-dangerous Helene downgraded to tropical storm in Georgia
At least four people have died from Helene, which made landfall as a Category 4 and was downgraded to a tropical storm Friday morning.
Remnants of Tropical Storm Helene rolling through Louisville and broader Kentucky regions could affect some weekend plans to jam out at Louder Than Life or partake in fall festivities.
We’re keeping an eye on events around Louisville happening this weekend that could be impacted by severe weather. Here’s what we know so far.
The status of Paristown Art Fest is unknown, but according to press release from the Fund for the Arts, their celebration of the arts scheduled for Saturday is being postponed.
“Celebration of the Arts will now be a part of Paristown’s Spring into Derby Art Fest, in Christy’s Garden from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. on April 19,” Fund for the Arts spokesperson Tory Parker stated. “Paristown will then welcome Juicebox Heroes, who perform that night at 7 p.m.”
Gate openings for Friday have currently been delayed. A specific time when festivalgoers will be allowed in has not yet been released. Check back for updates.
Yes. Several districts have shut down in anticipation of severe weather Friday.
All Jefferson County Public Schools high school games have been canceled for Friday, spokesperson Mark Hebert said. There has not yet been an announcement from the Archdiocese of Louisville on the state of games to be played Friday for schools under their purview.
Check your school’s website and communication channels to stay updated on whether events are happening.
Kentucky
Troy commit Jack James sets Kentucky high school football all-time touchdown record
Heading into Thursday night’s contest against Allen Count-Scottsville, Paducah Tilghman quarterback Jack James was on a mission.
The Troy commitment was focused on setting a new Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) all-time passing touchdown record and the senior just needed three scoring passes to make it happen.
According to Paducah Sun News’ sports editor Jared Jensen, James threw five touchdown passes and led the Blue Tornadoes to a 42-16 victory and passed Caldwell County’s Elijah Sindelar (2011-2014) to set a new KHSAA all-time touchdown passing record with now 147. Sindelar’s previous record was 144 passing touchdowns.
The Allen Count-Scottsville/Paducah Tilghman game was moved up to Thursday night because of the threat of torrential rain from Hurricane Helene impending for Friday night.
Last season, James led Paducah Tilghman to a 13-1 record and finished completing 255-of-375 passes for 4,019 yards, 56 touchdowns and just six interceptions. James also ran in six touchdowns.
Among the other offers James has on the table are from Charlotte, Eastern Kentucky, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Miami (OH), Old Dominion and Tulane.
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Kentucky
How utility companies in Kentucky are preparing for Helene
(WKYT) – Hurricane Helene will be making landfall in Florida on Thursday night. This storm will have impacts very far inland and effect a lot of people. This creates big plans in terms of response.
“We are following the track of Helene as it comes into Kentucky. Number one, our co-ops are paying attention for purposes of being able to restore power to co-ops back here at home and so those crews are having briefings, they always stayed geared up for any emergency,” said Joe Arnold of Kentucky Electric Cooperative.
While many co-ops are staying in Kentucky to monitor the situation, Arnold says seven different co-ops are heading south to assist elsewhere.
“Our co-ops in Kentucky have been paired up with co-ops in Georgia. So we have co-ops that are currently on the way or leaving soon to go to Georgia and there are other co-ops who are after the weather moves into here, and they are able to see and make sure they have enough crews to take care of things here, they will also probably send crews down,” Arnold said.
With wind gusts over 50 mph possible in our area, there needs to be enough people ready here for power outages. Kentucky Utilities, as of now, are staying local.
“We are keeping our folks here. We have to keep our customers here in Kentucky as a top priority,” said Daniel Lowry of Kentucky Utilities.
Lowry says there’s only so much that can be done to limit power outages here.
“Our system is designed to withstand extreme conditions, but trees often aren’t. So they will fly into our lines. We’ll get limbs in there that create problems,” said Lowry.
With the heavy rainfall that comes with Helene, saturated ground will make it easier for trees to come down and cause power outages.
Copyright 2024 WKYT. All rights reserved.
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