FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The winning candidates for Kentucky governor drew just a fraction of the state’s voters in party primaries this week, a signal that both have lots of work to do in what will likely be a brutal general election campaign.
Barely half of Republicans casting votes Tuesday chose to support Gov. Matt Bevin’s reelection effort; Attorney General Andy Beshear drew even less of a percentage of his party faithful.
Perhaps more significantly, about eight in 10 registered voters in Kentucky didn’t bother to vote in the primaries at all.
Democrats are looking to win back the governorship in November as the GOP tries to sustain its dominance in Kentucky in a race that will be watched closely heading into the 2020 presidential election year.