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Kentucky judicial elections, 2015
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| Judicial elections, 2015 |
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The state of Kentucky held special judicial elections on November 3, 2015. 47th Circuit Court Chief Judge Samuel T. Wright III defeated Kentucky Court of Appeals Judge Janet Stumbo for an open seat on the Kentucky Supreme Court. Wright fills the seat of Will T. Scott, who resigned from the court in order to run for governor.
Three candidates filed for a race to replace retired Judge Dennis R. Foust on the 42nd Circuit Court. Jamie Jameson won the spot with 43 percent of the vote. There was also an election for a vacancy on the 30th District Court, due to the retirement of Judge Michele B. Stengel. Todd Hollenbach defeated 20 other candidates to win the election.[1] Although midterm vacancies are typically filled though gubernatorial appointment, the state's chief justice, John D. Minton, Jr., decided the positions would be filled by an election instead. The deadline for candidates to file for this race was August 11, 2015.[2]
Candidates: Contested
Kentucky Supreme Court - District 7
- See also: Kentucky Supreme Court elections, 2015
42nd Circuit Court - Seat 1
30th District Court - Seat 1
- ☐ Daniel Alvarez
- ☐ Andre L. Bergeron
- ☐ Sandy Berman
- ☐ Josephine Layne Buckner
- ☐ Dennis C. Burke
- ☐ Dawn Elliott
- ☐ Chuck Rogers
- ☐ Ellie Garcia Kerstetter
- ☐ Ruth Lerner
- ☐ J.P. Ward
- ☐ Erin White
- ☐ Benjamin Wyman
- ☐ Judith Bartholomew
- ☐ R. A. Florio
- ☐ James Michael Green
- ☐ Bob Heleringer
- ☑ L.J. Hollenbach
- ☐ Danny T. Karem
- ☐ Michael J. Leibson
- ☐ C. Fred Partin
- ☐ Ron Schwoeppe
Election results
Janet Stumbo faced Samuel T. Wright III in the general election.
| Kentucky Supreme Court, Seat 1, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Samuel T. Wright III |
51.9% | 40,676 |
| Janet Stumbo | 48.1% | 37,772 |
| Total Votes | 78,448 | |
| Source: Kentucky Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed December 4, 2015 | ||
Jamie Jameson defeated Randall A. Hutchens and Jeff Edwards in the general election.
| 42nd Circuit Court, Seat 1, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Jamie Jameson |
43.1% | 7,984 |
| Jeff Edwards | 30.3% | 5,614 |
| Randall A. Hutchens | 26.7% | 4,947 |
| Total Votes | 18,545 | |
| Source: Kentucky Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed December 4, 2015 | ||
The following candidates ran in the general election.
| 30th District Court, Seat 1, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| L.J. Hollenbach |
19.2% | 32,340 |
| Bob Heleringer | 11.6% | 19,432 |
| Dawn Elliott | 10.9% | 18,378 |
| Daniel Alvarez | 9.9% | 16,596 |
| Judith Bartholomew | 5.8% | 9,707 |
| Danny T. Karem | 5.7% | 9,608 |
| Sandy Berman | 5.7% | 9,496 |
| Andre L. Bergeron | 4.5% | 7,518 |
| Erin White | 4.3% | 7,176 |
| James Michael Green | 3.7% | 6,295 |
| Josephine Layne Buckner | 3.7% | 6,195 |
| J.P. Ward | 3.4% | 5,719 |
| Dennis C. Burke | 2.5% | 4,191 |
| Ellie Garcia Kerstetter | 1.8% | 2,982 |
| Chuck Rogers | 1.6% | 2,640 |
| Michael J. Leibson | 1.5% | 2,554 |
| Ruth Lerner | 1.3% | 2,196 |
| R. A. Florio | 0.9% | 1,520 |
| Benjamin Wyman | 0.9% | 1,481 |
| Ron Schwoeppe | 0.6% | 1,039 |
| C. Fred Partin | 0.5% | 950 |
| Total Votes | 168,013 | |
| Source: Kentucky Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed December 4, 2015 | ||
Process
Judges in Kentucky participate in nonpartisan elections.
All candidates participate in the primaries. If more than two candidates compete in a race, the two with the highest number of votes advance to the general election.
Qualifications
Candidates seeking election to a judicial office in Kentucky must:
- Be a United States citizen, a Kentucky resident, and a resident of the district to which they are seeking election for at least 2 years;
- Be licensed to practice law in the state of Kentucky; and
- Be a licensed attorney for at least 8 years if seeking election to the Kentucky Supreme Court, the Kentucky Court of Appeals, or the Kentucky Circuit Courts); 4 years if seeking election to the Kentucky District Courts [3]
All judicial candidates must pay a filing fee of $200.[3]
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 judge elections 2015. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Kentucky Board of Elections, "Unofficial general election results," accessed November 3, 2015
- ↑ The Courier Journal, "7 file to fill vacated district court seat," June 25, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Kentucky State Board of Elections, "Candidate Qualifications and Filing Fees," accessed May 4, 2014
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
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