Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Kentucky

Who Runs the States

Main Report Pages

Main Page • Part 1 • Partisanship Infographic • Part 2 • Part 3

Partisanship Results Report (Part 1)

Executive Summary • State Partisanship Analysis • Partisan Control of Governorships • Partisan Control of State Legislatures • Partisan Control of State Senates • Partisan Control of State Houses • State Government Trifectas • Overall Partisan Control: Bright, Medium and Soft States • Changes of Partisan Domination over 22 years • Year-to-Year Changes in State Partisan Control • Trifectas and Presidential Election Patterns • Conclusion • Methodology • Appendix A • Appendix B

State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Report (Part 2)

Executive Summary • State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) • About the Index • Overall Rankings • Dramatic Changes from 1st Half to 2nd Half • Individual Indicators • Methodology • Appendices

Partisanship and (SQLI) Overlay Report (Part 3)

Introduction • Comparing Partisanship and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Rankings • Description of the data • Trends and correlations • Methodology • Key Values for Fifty-State Regressions • Appendices

Praise or blame is extended to political parties for the economic, educational, health and other quality of life outcomes that result from the policies those parties enact into law. To better understand which political party enjoys power in each of the states, Ballotpedia has analyzed state government control from 1992-2013 using the concept of a "partisan trifecta." A partisan trifecta is defined as when a state's governorship and legislative chambers are controlled by the same political party.

The two major political parties claim that their policies will lead to better outcomes. What does the data show?

At Ballotpedia, we explored these issues in a three-part study, Who Runs the States.

This page takes a specific look at how Kentucky performed in the study.

Background about the study

See also: Ballotpedia: Who Runs the States

Part One examines the partisanship of state government from 1992 to 2013. Part Two establishes a State Quality of Life Index (SQLI), aggregating a variety of existing state indices into one measurement. Part Three will overlay the two reports, looking for trends and correlations.

Part 1: Partisanship analysis

Kentucky Governor

From 1992 to 2013, there were Democratic governors in office for 18 years, including the last six, while there were Republican governors in office for four years. Kentucky is one of seven states that were run by a Democratic governor for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992 and 2013.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992-2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

Kentucky Senate

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Kentucky State Senate for the first nine years while the Republicans were the majority for last 13 years.

Across the country, there were 541 Democratic and 517 Republican state senates from 1992 to 2013.

Kentucky House of Representatives

During every year from 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Kentucky House of Representatives, one of 16 state houses under Democratic control for more than 80 percent of that period.

Across the country, there were 579 Democratic and 482 Republican State Houses of Representatives from 1992 to 2013.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Kentucky, the Kentucky State Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1992-2013.

Partisan control changes

There were three partisan control changes in Kentucky during the study period. The average number of changes in the 50 states was four, putting Kentucky slightly lower than the average.

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

Kentucky’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 46.43, which puts it at 47 in the overall SQLI ranking.

• The years that Kentucky had the highest ranking were 1998 and 1999, in which it ranked 43rd.
• The years that Kentucky had the lowest ranking were 2002-2011, in which it ranked 48th.
• The index type that Kentucky had the highest ranking in was Tax Freedom Day, in which it ranked 13th.
• The index type that Kentucky had the lowest ranking in was the Well-being Index, in which it ranked 49th.

Kentucky SQLI 1992-2012
Index	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
24/7 Wall St Best/Worst Governed States	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	50	44	37
America's Health Rankings	45	46	46	44	43	46	45	43	41	43	42	42	43	44	42	44	39	41	44	44	44
CAFR Debt/GDP	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	29	26	32	35	35	38	37	N/A
Chief Executive Magazine Best and Worst States for Business Survey	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	19	33	19	26	23	23	17	25
CNBC Top States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	34	35	34	40	35	36
Forbes Best States for Business	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	33	41	44	43	31	25	28
Govt. Employment Share Population	18	19	20	20	19	18	18	19	21	22	23	23	21	22	22	23	22	21	25	25	31
Graduation Rate	36	36	37	33	24	31	33	32	36	36	34	37	36	38	38	34	29	24	27	32	22
Personal Income Per Capita	41	45	44	43	43	41	40	41	40	43	42	45	45	47	47	48	48	45	44	44	44
Poverty Rate	46	47	45	35	43	40	33	31	38	33	40	41	49	40	46	46	46	44	44	37	N/A
Real GDP per capita	39	39	39	38	41	35	36	38	44	44	44	44	44	44	43	44	44	43	44	44	N/A
S&P Credit Rating	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	22	36	36	36	40	41	43	46	45	45	45	45
State Govt. Spending/GDP	37	34	29	31	34	33	33	35	37	39	39	39	41	38	42	42	43	43	44	43	N/A
State & local tax burden	33	34	33	39	39	37	36	37	35	37	37	36	31	34	31	31	34	23	25	N/A	N/A
Tax Freedom Day	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	13
Unemployment Rate	27	26	25	35	35	40	32	36	33	38	30	39	37	44	46	47	44	40	38	39	33
Unfunded Pension Liabilities per capita	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	45	45	47	N/A
Voter Turnout	42	49	49	38	38	28	28	35	35	38	38	34	34	30	30	41	41	27	27	39	39
Well-Being Index	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	48	49	49	49	49

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Kentucky state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. Kentucky has been in the bottom-10 of the SQLI ranking regardless of its Democratic trifecta or years under divided government. The state’s highest ranking came in 1998 and 1999 (43rd) under a Democratic trifecta, while the state’s lowest ranking came in between the years 2003 and 2011 (48th) under divided government. As a result of the 2016 elections, Kentucky became a Republican trifecta for the first time in 96 years.

• SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 45.00
• SQLI average with Republican trifecta: N/A
• SQLI average with divided government: 47.31

Chart displaying the partisanship of Kentucky government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

See also

• Ballotpedia:Who runs the states
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part One: State Partisanship
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part Two: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)
• Governor of Kentucky
• Kentucky State Senate
• Kentucky House of Representatives

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs