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Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District election, 2022 (May 17 Democratic primary)

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2024
2020
Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District
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Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: January 25, 2022
Primary: May 17, 2022
General: November 8, 2022
How to vote
Poll times: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Voting in Kentucky
Race ratings
Cook Partisan Voter Index (2022): D+9
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic
Inside Elections: Solid Democratic
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2022
See also
Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District
U.S. Senate1st2nd3rd4th5th6th
Kentucky elections, 2022
U.S. Congress elections, 2022
U.S. Senate elections, 2022
U.S. House elections, 2022

Morgan McGarvey defeated Attica Scott in the Democratic primary for Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District on May 17, 2022. The general election was scheduled to take place on November 8, 2022. Incumbent Rep. John Yarmuth (D) announced on October 12, 2021, that he was not running for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022.

McGarvey was a member of the Kentucky State Senate, having first been elected to the legislature in 2012. He announced he was running for this seat on October 12, 2021, the same day that Yarmuth stated he would not run for re-election.[1] He had served as the Democrats' minority leader in the Senate since 2019. McGarvey described himself as a champion of progressive values and said on his website, "As the Democratic Minority Leader in the Kentucky State Senate, I’ve spent my career standing up to the Trump-Bevin Republicans in Frankfort. I’ve stood firm on our progressive values to protect health care and teachers’ pensions, promote clean energy and defend choice so that Kentucky doesn’t look like Texas."[2]

Scott served on the Louisville City Council from 2011 to 2014 and as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives since 2016. At the time of her election to the legislature, she was the first Black woman to win such an office in 20 years.[3] Scott announced her candidacy in July 2021 before Yarmuth announced he was not running. After announcing her campaign, she said during an interview with Spectrum News 1, "I want people to know that I stand for economic justice, environmental justice, health justice, racial justice. Over and over again, Black people, Latinx people, Asian people, Indigenous people, our issues get overlooked because we’re not in office to bring them up."[4]

Yarmuth endorsed McGarvey on February 7, 2022, describing him as a champion of progressive values and an effective legislator and leader. In endorsing McGarvey, Yarmuth said, "he has shown an ability to build and work in diverse coalitions necessary to create meaningful change and get the job done for our community."[5] Scott was endorsed by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, the Higher Heights for America PAC, and the Future Generations PAC.[6][7][8]

The Louisville-area district hasn't had an open-seat race since 1994. Morgan Watkins of the Louisville Courier Journal wrote, "political experts say the pursuit of Yarmuth's job is poised to be the least predictable race, and certainly the most interesting primary contest" in the state, with "experts say[ing] the big clash for Yarmuth's seat will happen in the Democratic primary rather than the general election."[9]

University of Kentucky political science professor Steve Voss told the Louisville Courier Journal, "Democrats have close to a 2-1 advantage over the GOP in terms of voters' party registration in this congressional district."[9] As of May 2022, three independent outlets rated the general election as Solid Democratic. Yarmuth was first elected to represent the district in 2006. In the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden (D) defeated Donald Trump (R) in Kentucky's 3rd, 60% to 38%.[10]

This page focused on Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:


HOTP-Dem-Ad-1-small.png

Candidates and election results

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 3

Morgan McGarvey defeated Attica Scott in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 3 on May 17, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Morgan McGarvey
Morgan McGarvey
 
63.3
 
52,157
Image of Attica Scott
Attica Scott
 
36.7
 
30,183

Total votes: 82,340
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Candidate comparison

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff compiled a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy.[11]

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Image of Morgan McGarvey

WebsiteFacebookTwitter

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: 

Kentucky State Senate (Assumed office: 2012)

Biography:  McGarvey received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in 2002 and a law degree from the University of Kentucky in 2007. He worked in the Kentucky attorney general's office and as an attorney for Frost Brown Todd and Morgan Pottinger McGarvey.



Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.


McGarvey said on his website that more members of Congress should have the same experiences as working families: "I’m a dad of three young kids and I know how hectic and challenging it is for families to find affordable childcare and balance shifting schedules, especially navigating through this pandemic."


McGarvey stressed the importance of collaboration in the state legislature, saying, "The only way to get things done in Frankfort is by building coalitions, standing firm on principle and then figuring out how to get good policy through the legislative process."


McGarvey said on his website that he initially ran for the state legislature to advocate for LGBTQ rights, address climate change, and make healthcare more affordable.


Show sources

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Kentucky District 3 in 2022.

Image of Attica Scott

WebsiteFacebookTwitter

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office: 

Kentucky House of Representatives (Assumed office: 2016)

Louisville City Council (2011-2014)

Biography:  Scott received a B.A. in political science from Knoxville College and a graduate degree in communications from the University of Tennessee. She worked as a community activist and a coordinator at Kentucky Jobs for Justice.



Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.


Scott said she is a liberal and supports, among other things, the Green New Deal, marijuana legalization, police reform, and an outright ban on no-knock warrants.


Scott said she wanted to make equality a focus of her campaign: "We need to have a representative that has a broad vision, that will address many issues. Yes, we know the budget is important, but we also know that people are trying to fight racism, fight police violence, we have to end qualified immunity.”


After announcing her campaign, Scott told Spectrum News 1, "I want people to know that I stand for economic justice, environmental justice, health justice, [and] racial justice.


Show sources

This information was current as of the candidate's run for U.S. House Kentucky District 3 in 2022.

Campaign advertisements

Democratic Party Morgan McGarvey

If you're aware of any ads McGarvey has released for this race, email us.

Democratic Party Attica Scott

If you're aware of any ads Scott has released for this race, email us.

Satellite ads

This section includes a selection of campaign advertisements released by satellite groups. If you are aware of other satellite ads that should be included, please email us.

Protect Our Future PAC

On April 27, 2022, Protect Our Future PAC announced it was endorsing 11 Democratic candidates and was spending $10 million in Democratic congressional primaries.[12] A selection of those ads in this race are included below:

April 21, 2022
April 21, 2022

Debates and forums

This section includes links to debates, forums, and other similar events where multiple candidates in this race participated. If you are aware of any debates or forums that should be included, please email us.

May 9 forum

On May 9, 2022, Kentucky Educational Television premiered the broadcast of a virtual candidate forum with McGarvey and Scott.[13]

News and conflicts in this primary

This race was featured in The Heart of the Primaries, a newsletter capturing stories related to conflicts within each major party. Click here to read more about conflict in this and other 2022 Democratic U.S. House primaries. Click here to subscribe to the newsletter.

Election competitiveness

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls

We provide results for polls that are included in polling aggregation from FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, when available. No polls were available for this election. To notify us of polls published in this election, please email us.

General election race ratings

See also: Race rating definitions and methods

Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:

  • Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
  • Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
  • Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[14]
  • Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.

Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[15][16][17]

Race ratings: Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District election, 2022
Race trackerRace ratings
November 8, 2022November 1, 2022October 25, 2022October 18, 2022
The Cook Political Report with Amy WalterSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid Democratic
Inside Elections with Nathan L. GonzalesSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid DemocraticSolid Democratic
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal BallSafe DemocraticSafe DemocraticSafe DemocraticSafe Democratic
Note: Ballotpedia reviews external race ratings every week throughout the election season and posts weekly updates even if the media outlets have not revised their ratings during that week.

Election spending

Campaign finance

This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.[18] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.[19] Click here to view the reporting schedule for candidates for U.S. Congress in 2022.

U.S. Congress campaign reporting schedule, 2022
Report Close of books Filing deadline
Year-end 2021 12/31/2021 1/31/2022
April quarterly 3/31/2022 4/15/2022
July quarterly 6/30/2022 7/15/2022
October quarterly 9/30/2022 10/15/2022
Pre-general 10/19/2022 10/27/2022
Post-general 11/28/2022 12/08/2022
Year-end 2022 12/31/2022 1/31/2023


Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Morgan McGarvey Democratic Party $3,088,931 $2,867,875 $221,057 As of December 31, 2022
Attica Scott Democratic Party $240,509 $240,509 $0 As of September 30, 2022

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2022. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.


Ballot access requirements

The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Kentucky in the 2022 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Kentucky, click here.

Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2022
State Office Party Signatures required Filing fee Filing deadline Source
Kentucky U.S. House Ballot-qualified party 2 $500.00 1/25/2022 Source
Kentucky U.S. House Unaffiliated 400 $500.00 6/7/2022 Source

District analysis

Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.

  • District map - A map of the district before and after redistricting.
  • Effect of redistricting - How districts in the state changed as a result of redistricting following the 2020 census.
  • Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2022 U.S. House elections in the state.
  • Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
  • Demographics - Information about the state's demographics and how they compare to the country as a whole.
  • State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.

District map

Below was the map in use at the time of the election, enacted as part of the 2020 redistricting cycle, compared to the map in place before the election.

Kentucky District 3
until January 2, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Kentucky District 3
starting January 3, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.


Effect of redistricting

See also: Redistricting in Kentucky after the 2020 census

The table below details the results of the 2020 presidential election in each district at the time of the 2022 election and its political predecessor district.[20] This data was compiled by Daily Kos Elections.[21]

2020 presidential results by Congressional district, Kentucky
District 2022 district Political predecessor district
Joe Biden Democratic Party Donald Trump Republican Party Joe Biden Democratic Party Donald Trump Republican Party
Kentucky's 1st 27.9% 70.6% 25.5% 73.1%
Kentucky's 2nd 30.8% 67.5% 30.6% 67.6%
Kentucky's 3rd 60.2% 37.9% 60.0% 38.1%
Kentucky's 4th 32.8% 65.4% 33.4% 64.7%
Kentucky's 5th 19.7% 79.1% 18.6% 80.1%
Kentucky's 6th 43.5% 54.5% 44.5% 53.6%

Competitiveness

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2022

This section contains data on U.S. House primary election competitiveness in Kentucky.

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all U.S. House districts up for election in Kentucky in 2022. Information below was calculated on Feb. 22, 2022, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

Thirty-one candidates filed to run for Kentucky's six U.S. House districts in 2022, including nine Democrats and 22 Republicans. This equals 5.2 candidates per district, the most candidates per district since 2014.

This was the first candidate filing deadline under new district lines adopted during the state's decennial redistricting process. Kentucky was apportioned six districts, the same number it received after the 2010 census.

One district—Kentucky's 3rd—was left open with Rep. John Yarmuth (D) retiring from politics. Yarmuth first won election in 2006 after defeating Rep. Anne Northup (R). The 2022 filing deadline marked the first time since 1994 that the district had been left open. The 3rd District drew the largest number of major party candidate filings overall: two Democrats and seven Republicans.

The remaining five incumbents—all Republicans—filed for re-election. Of those five, four drew primary challengers, the same number as 2020.

Eight of the 12 possible major party primaries (67%) drew more than one candidate leaving them contested. This represents more contested primaries than in 2020 and the same number as 2018.

Presidential elections

Partisan Voter Index

See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

Heading into the 2022 elections, based on results from the 2020 and 2016 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+9. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 9 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Kentucky's 3rd the 136th most Democratic district nationally.[22]

2020 presidential election results

The table below shows what the vote in the 2020 presidential election would have been in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

2020 presidential results in Kentucky's 3rd based on 2022 district lines
Joe Biden Democratic Party Donald Trump Republican Party
60.2% 37.9%

Presidential voting history

See also: Presidential election in Kentucky, 2020

Kentucky presidential election results (1900-2020)

  • 16 Democratic wins
  • 15 Republican wins
Year 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020
Winning Party D D D D D D R R D D D D D D R R D R R D R R R D D R R R R R R


Demographics

The table below details demographic data in Kentucky and compares it to the broader United States as of 2019.

Demographic Data for Kentucky
Kentucky United States
Population 4,505,836 331,449,281
Land area (sq mi) 39,491 3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White 86.2% 70.4%
Black/African American 8.1% 12.6%
Asian 1.5% 5.6%
Native American 0.2% 0.8%
Pacific Islander 0.1% 0.2%
Other (single race) 1.1% 5.1%
Multiple 2.8% 5.2%
Hispanic/Latino 3.8% 18.2%
Education
High school graduation rate 87.2% 88.5%
College graduation rate 25% 32.9%
Income
Median household income $52,238 $64,994
Persons below poverty level 16.6% 12.8%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.


State party control

Congressional delegation

The table below displays the partisan composition of Kentucky's congressional delegation as of November 2022.

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Kentucky, November 2022
Party U.S. Senate U.S. House Total
Democratic 0 1 1
Republican 2 5 7
Independent 0 0 0
Vacancies 0 0 0
Total 2 6 8

State executive

The table below displays the officeholders in Kentucky's top four state executive offices as of November 2022.

State executive officials in Kentucky, November 2022
Office Officeholder
Governor Democratic Party Andy Beshear
Lieutenant Governor Democratic Party Jacqueline Coleman
Secretary of State Republican Party Michael Adams
Attorney General Republican Party Daniel Cameron

State legislature

The tables below highlight the partisan composition of the Kentucky General Assembly as of November 2022.

Kentucky State Senate

Party As of November 2022
     Democratic Party 8
     Republican Party 29
     Vacancies 1
Total 38

Kentucky House of Representatives

Party As of November 2022
     Democratic Party 25
     Republican Party 75
     Vacancies 0
Total 100

Trifecta control

As of November 2022, Kentucky was a divided government, with Democrats controlling the governorship and Republican majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. The table below displays the historical trifecta status of the state.

Kentucky Party Control: 1992-2022
Eight years of Democratic trifectas  •  Three years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
Governor D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R D D D D D D D D R R R R D D D
Senate D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
House D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R

2022 battleground elections

See also: Battlegrounds

This election was a battleground race. Other 2022 battleground elections included:

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. WLKY, "Minutes after Rep. Yarmuth announcement, Sen. Morgan McGarvey says he'll run to fill the seat," October 12, 2021
  2. Morgan McGarvey for Congress, "Why I'm running," accessed February 22, 2022
  3. NBC News, "Kentucky Elects First African American Woman to State Legislature in 20 Years," May 18, 2016
  4. Spectrum News 1, "Rep. Attica Scott announces a run for Congress," July 8, 2021
  5. Louisville Courier Journal, "Kentucky Rep. John Yarmuth makes his pick on who should succeed him in Congress," February 7, 2022
  6. Twitter, "BoldProgressives.org," November 22, 2021
  7. Higher Heights for America PAC, "Attica Scott for Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District," accessed March 4, 2022
  8. Facebook, "Future Generations," November 10, 2021
  9. 9.0 9.1 Louisville Courier Journal, "McGarvey vs. Scott and more: What to expect from Kentucky's 2022 congressional elections," February 3, 2022
  10. Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' presidential results by congressional district for 2020, 2016, and 2012," November 19, 2020
  11. In battleground primaries, Ballotpedia based its selection of noteworthy candidates on polling, fundraising, and noteworthy endorsements. In battleground general elections, all major party candidates and any other candidates with the potential to impact the outcome of the race were included.
  12. Politico, "A new Democratic super PAC is endorsing 11 more candidates and spending $10 million in primary contests." April 27, 2022
  13. Kentucky Educational Television, "Third Congressional District Democratic Primary," accessed May 9, 2022
  14. Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
  15. Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
  16. Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
  17. Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
  18. Fundraising by primary candidates can be found on the race's respective primary election page. Fundraising by general election candidates can be found on the race's general election page.
  19. Federal Election Commission, "2022 Quarterly Reports," accessed March 2, 2022
  20. Political predecessor districts are determined primarily based on incumbents and where each chose to seek re-election.
  21. Daily Kos Elections, "Daily Kos Elections 2020 presidential results by congressional district (old CDs vs. new CDs)," accessed May 17, 2022
  22. Cook Political Report, "The 2022 Cook Partisan Voting Index (Cook PVI℠)," accessed February 6, 2023


Senators
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
Andy Barr (R)
Republican Party (7)
Democratic Party (1)