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Kentucky Supreme Court elections, 2016
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| 2016 State Judicial Elections |
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| Part 1: Overview |
| Part 2: Supreme Courts |
| Part 3: Partisanship |
| Part 4: Changes in 2016 |
One seat on the Kentucky Supreme Court was on the general election ballot on November 8, 2016, with a primary held on May 17. This seat was held by Justice Mary Noble heading into the election. Each justice elected to the court serves an eight-year term.
Candidates
- Deputy Chief Justice Mary Noble did not stand for re-election in 2016.[1]
■ Glenn Acree
■ Laurance VanMeter 
Election results
November 8 general election results
Laurance VanMeter defeated Glenn Acree in the general election for Mary Noble's seat on the Kentucky Supreme Court.
| Kentucky Supreme Court 2016 General Election, Mary Noble's Seat, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Laurance VanMeter |
74.05% | 178,720 |
| Glenn Acree | 25.95% | 62,624 |
| Total Votes (100% reporting) | 241,344 | |
| Source: Kentucky Secretary of State Official Results | ||
May 17 primary results
Because there were only two candidates, both advanced to the general election on November 8, 2016.
| Kentucky Supreme Court, 2016 Primary, Mary Noble's Seat, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | ||
| Glenn Acree | ||
| Laurance VanMeter | ||
Political composition
Kentucky's supreme court justices are elected in nonpartisan elections. Justice Lisabeth Tabor Hughes and Chief Justice John D. Minton, Jr. were appointed by Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) to fill vacancies. Gov. Steve Beshear (D) appointed Justice Daniel Venters, Justice Michelle Keller and Justice David Allen Barber to the court. Justice Bill Cunningham and Justice Mary Noble were elected to the court.
Chief Justice John D. Minton, Jr.
Justice Bill Cunningham
Justice Lisabeth Tabor Hughes
Justice Mary Noble
Justice Daniel Venters
Justice Michelle Keller
Justice David Allen Barber
Campaign finance
Glenn Acree
According to his campaign filing statement on April 14, 2016, covering the period Jan. 1-April 14, Acree had $6,056.01 on hand, received $6,575.00 in contributions, and made $2,370.46 in disbursements, leaving $10,260.55 on hand as of April 14.[2]
Laurance VanMeter
According to his campaign filing statement on May 2, 2016, covering the period April 16-May 2, VanMeter had $134,783.30 on hand, received $2,150.00 in contributions, and made $2,154.60 in disbursements, leaving $134,778.70 on hand as of May 2.[2]
Selection
- See also: Judicial selection in Kentucky
Justices are elected for eight-year terms in nonpartisan elections.
Qualifications
For the position of supreme court justice, which is an eight-year staggered term, the candidate must be a citizen of the United States and a resident of both the Commonwealth and of the district from which he is elected for at least two years immediately prior to taking office. He or she must be licensed to practice law in the courts of the Commonwealth for at least eight years before becoming eligible to serve on the court.[3] The candidate must file with the Kentucky Secretary of State's Office and the filing fee is $200.0
State profile
| Demographic data for Kentucky | ||
|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 4,424,611 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 39,486 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 87.6% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 7.9% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 1.3% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.2% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.1% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 3.3% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 84.2% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 22.3% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $43,740 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 22.7% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Kentucky. **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. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
- See also: Presidential voting trends in Kentucky
Kentucky voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, one is located in Kentucky, accounting for 0.5 percent of the total pivot counties.[4]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Kentucky had one Retained Pivot County, 0.55 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.
More Kentucky coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Kentucky
- United States congressional delegations from Kentucky
- Public policy in Kentucky
- Endorsers in Kentucky
- Kentucky fact checks
- More...
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Kentucky court elections' OR 'Kentucky Supreme Court' OR 'Kentucky judicial election 2016'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, "Candidate Filings with the Office of the Secretary of State: Election: 2016 Primary Election," accessed January 26, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, "Acree, Glenn," accessed May 9, 2016 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "Kref" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Kentucky Secretary of State, "Candidate qualifications," accessed June 2, 2014
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
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Federal courts:
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Kentucky, Western District of Kentucky • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Kentucky, Western District of Kentucky
State courts:
Kentucky Supreme Court • Kentucky Court of Appeals • Kentucky Circuit Courts • Kentucky District Courts • Kentucky Family Court
State resources:
Courts in Kentucky • Kentucky judicial elections • Judicial selection in Kentucky
