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Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District election, 2020

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2022
2018
Kentucky's 3rd 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:
John Yarmuth (Democrat)
How to vote
Poll times: 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Voting in Kentucky
Race ratings
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, 2020
See also
Kentucky's 3rd 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 3rd Congressional District of Kentucky, held elections in 2020.

Incumbent John A. Yarmuth won election in the general election for U.S. House Kentucky District 3.

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


Heading into the election the incumbent was Democrat John Yarmuth, who was first elected in 2006.

Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District contains most of Jefferson County. The city of Louisville is the county seat. [1]

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 3rd Congressional District, 2020
Race Presidential U.S. House
Democratic candidate Democratic Party 60 62.7
Republican candidate Republican Party 38.1 37.3
Difference 21.9 25.4

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 3

Incumbent John A. Yarmuth defeated Rhonda Palazzo in the general election for U.S. House Kentucky District 3 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of John A. Yarmuth
John A. Yarmuth (D)
 
62.7
 
230,672
Image of Rhonda Palazzo
Rhonda Palazzo (R)
 
37.3
 
137,425

Total votes: 368,097
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent John A. Yarmuth advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 3.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 3

Rhonda Palazzo defeated Mike Craven and Waymen Eddings in the Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 3 on June 23, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Rhonda Palazzo
Rhonda Palazzo
 
42.4
 
19,806
Image of Mike Craven
Mike Craven
 
42.1
 
19,676
Waymen Eddings
 
15.6
 
7,275

Total votes: 46,757
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 D+6, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 6 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District the 163rd most Democratic 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 0.89. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.89 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 3rd Congressional District election, 2020
Race trackerRace ratings
November 3, 2020October 27, 2020October 20, 2020October 13, 2020
The Cook Political ReportSolid 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 updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season.

Candidate ballot access

The table below details filing requirements for 3rd 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 3rd Congressional District All parties 2 Fixed number $500.00 Fixed number 1/28/2020 Source
Kentucky 3rd Congressional District Unaffiliated 400 Fixed number $500.00 Fixed number 6/2/2020 Source

District election history

2018

See also: Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District election, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. House Kentucky District 3

Incumbent John A. Yarmuth defeated Vickie Yates Glisson and Gregory Boles in the general election for U.S. House Kentucky District 3 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of John A. Yarmuth
John A. Yarmuth (D)
 
62.1
 
173,002
Image of Vickie Yates Glisson
Vickie Yates Glisson (R)
 
36.6
 
101,930
Gregory Boles (L)
 
1.4
 
3,788

Total votes: 278,720
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 3

Incumbent John A. Yarmuth advanced from the Democratic primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 3 on May 22, 2018.

Candidate
Image of John A. Yarmuth
John A. Yarmuth

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 3

Vickie Yates Glisson defeated Mike Craven and Rhonda Palazzo in the Republican primary for U.S. House Kentucky District 3 on May 22, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Vickie Yates Glisson
Vickie Yates Glisson
 
49.1
 
11,240
Image of Mike Craven
Mike Craven
 
26.9
 
6,163
Image of Rhonda Palazzo
Rhonda Palazzo
 
24.0
 
5,510

Total votes: 22,913
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

2016

See also: Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District election, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. Incumbent John Yarmuth (D), the only Democratic candidate to file in the race, won re-election to his sixth term in 2016. He faced Harold Bratcher (R) and Everett Corley (Forefathers Party) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Yarmuth was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Bratcher defeated Everett Corley and Robert DeVore Jr. to win the Republican nomination. The primary elections took place on May 17, 2016.[11][12][13]

U.S. House, Kentucky District 3 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngJohn Yarmuth Incumbent 63.5% 212,401
     Republican Harold Bratcher 36.5% 122,093
Total Votes 334,494
Source: Kentucky Secretary of State


U.S. House, Kentucky District 3 Republican Primary, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngHarold Bratcher 44.5% 9,578
Everett Corley 36.5% 7,857
Robert DeVore 18.9% 4,075
Total Votes 21,510
Source: Kentucky State Board of Elections

2014

See also: Kentucky's 3rd Congressional District elections, 2014

The 3rd Congressional District of Kentucky held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. John Yarmuth (D) defeated Michael Macfarlane (R) and Greg Puccetti (I) in the general election.

U.S. House, Kentucky District 3 General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngJohn Yarmuth Incumbent 63.5% 157,056
     Republican Michael Macfarlane 35.6% 87,981
     Independent Gregory Peter Puccetti 0.9% 2,318
Total Votes 247,355
Source: Kentucky Secretary of State

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)