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Kentucky's 4th Congressional District election, 2020

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2022
2018
Kentucky's 4th Congressional District
Ballotpedia Election Coverage Badge.png
Democratic primary
Republican primary
General election
Election details
Filing deadline: January 10, 2020
Primary: June 23, 2020
General: November 3, 2020

Pre-election incumbent:
Thomas Massie (Republican)
How to vote
Poll times: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Voting in Kentucky
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Republican
Inside Elections: Solid Republican
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds
U.S. House battlegrounds
Federal and state primary competitiveness
Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
See also
Kentucky's 4th Congressional District
U.S. Senate1st2nd3rd4th5th6th
Kentucky elections, 2020
U.S. Congress elections, 2020
U.S. Senate elections, 2020
U.S. House elections, 2020

All U.S. congressional districts, including the 4th Congressional District of Kentucky, held elections in 2020.

Incumbent Thomas Massie won election in the general election for U.S. House Kentucky District 4.

Candidate filing deadline Primary election General election
January 10, 2020
June 23, 2020
November 3, 2020


Heading into the election the incumbent was Republican Thomas Massie, who was first elected in 2012.

Kentucky's 4th Congressional District is located in northern Kentucky. It is a long district that follows the Ohio River. Boone, Bracken, Campbell, Carroll, Gallatin, Grant, Greenup, Henry, Kenton, Lewis, Mason, Oldham, Owen, Pendleton, Shelby, and Trimble counties, as well as parts of Boyd, Harrison, Jefferson, and Spencer counties are included in the district.[1]

Democratic Party For more information about the Democratic primary, click here.
Republican Party For more information about the Republican primary, click here.


Post-election analysis

The table below compares the vote totals in the 2020 presidential election and 2020 U.S. House election for this district. The presidential election data was compiled by Daily Kos.

Presidential and congressional election results, Kentucky's 4th Congressional District, 2020
Race Presidential U.S. House
Democratic candidate Democratic Party 33.4 32.9
Republican candidate Republican Party 64.8 67.1
Difference 31.4 34.2

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

Kentucky modified its absentee/mail-in voting procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

  • Absentee/mail-in voting: Absentee/mail-in voting eligibility was extended to all voters "concerned with contracting or spreading COVID-19."

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

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Candidates and election results

General election

General election for U.S. House Kentucky District 4

Incumbent Thomas Massie defeated Alexandra Owensby in the general election for U.S. House Kentucky District 4 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Thomas Massie
Thomas Massie (R)
 
67.1
 
256,613
Image of Alexandra Owensby
Alexandra Owensby (D) Candidate Connection
 
32.9
 
125,896

Total votes: 382,509
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4

Alexandra Owensby defeated Shannon Fabert in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4 on June 23, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Alexandra Owensby
Alexandra Owensby Candidate Connection
 
58.4
 
41,531
Image of Shannon Fabert
Shannon Fabert Candidate Connection
 
41.6
 
29,557

Total votes: 71,088
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4

Incumbent Thomas Massie defeated Todd McMurtry in the Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4 on June 23, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Thomas Massie
Thomas Massie
 
81.0
 
68,591
Image of Todd McMurtry
Todd McMurtry
 
19.0
 
16,092

Total votes: 84,683
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

One of 120 Kentucky counties—0.83 percent—is a pivot county. Pivot counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 pivot counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County Trump margin of victory in 2016 Obama margin of victory in 2012 Obama margin of victory in 2008
Elliott County, Kentucky 44.13% 2.50% 25.17%

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Kentucky with 62.5 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 32.7 percent. In presidential elections between 1792 and 2016, Kentucky voted Democratic 45.6 percent of the time and Republican 26.3 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, Kentucky voted Republican all five times.[2]

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state House districts in Kentucky. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[3][4]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 18 out of 100 state House districts in Kentucky with an average margin of victory of 24.5 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 18 out of 100 state House districts in Kentucky with an average margin of victory of 25 points. Clinton won one district controlled by a Republican heading into the 2018 elections.
In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 82 out of 100 state House districts in Kentucky with an average margin of victory of 32.8 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 82 out of 100 state House districts in Kentucky with an average margin of victory of 42 points. Trump won 20 districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.

District analysis

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

The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was R+18, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 18 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Kentucky's 4th Congressional District the 51st most Republican nationally.[5]

FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 0.88. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.88 points toward that party.[6]

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.[7]
  • 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.[8][9][10]

Race ratings: Kentucky's 4th Congressional District election, 2020
Race trackerRace ratings
November 3, 2020October 27, 2020October 20, 2020October 13, 2020
The Cook Political ReportSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid Republican
Inside Elections with Nathan L. GonzalesSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid RepublicanSolid Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal BallSafe RepublicanSafe RepublicanSafe RepublicanSafe Republican
Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

Candidate ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for 4th Congressional District candidates in Kentucky in the 2020 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Kentucky, click here.

Filing requirements, 2020
State Office Party Signatures required Signature formula Filing fee Filing fee formula Filing deadline Source
Kentucky 4th Congressional District All parties 2 Fixed number $500.00 Fixed number 1/28/2020 Source
Kentucky 4th Congressional District Unaffiliated 400 Fixed number $500.00 Fixed number 6/2/2020 Source

District election history

2018

See also: Kentucky's 4th Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Kentucky District 4

Incumbent Thomas Massie defeated Seth Hall and Mike Moffett in the general election for U.S. House Kentucky District 4 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Thomas Massie
Thomas Massie (R)
 
62.2
 
162,946
Image of Seth Hall
Seth Hall (D)
 
34.6
 
90,536
Image of Mike Moffett
Mike Moffett (Independent)
 
3.2
 
8,318
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.0
 
12

Total votes: 261,812
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4

Seth Hall defeated Patti Piatt and Christina Lord in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4 on May 22, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Seth Hall
Seth Hall
 
40.8
 
17,862
Image of Patti Piatt
Patti Piatt
 
37.5
 
16,442
Christina Lord
 
21.7
 
9,510

Total votes: 43,814
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4

Incumbent Thomas Massie advanced from the Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 4 on May 22, 2018.

Candidate
Image of Thomas Massie
Thomas Massie

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Independent primary election

No Independent candidates ran in the primary.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

2016

See also: Kentucky's 4th Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Thomas Massie (R), the only Republican to file in the race, won re-election to his third term in 2016. He faced Calvin Sidle, the only Democrat to file, in the general election. The primary elections took place on May 17, 2016. The general election took place on November 8, 2016.[11][12]

U.S. House, Kentucky District 4 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngThomas Massie Incumbent 71.3% 233,922
     Democratic Calvin Sidle 28.7% 94,065
Total Votes 327,987
Source: Kentucky Secretary of State

2014

See also: Kentucky's 4th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 4th Congressional District of Kentucky held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Thomas Massie (R) defeated Peter Newberry (D) in the general election.

U.S. House, Kentucky District 4 General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngThomas Massie Incumbent 67.7% 150,464
     Democratic Peter Newberry 32.3% 71,694
Total Votes 222,158
Source: Kentucky Board of Elections

See also

External links

Footnotes


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