2016 Kentucky Democratic presidential primary
← 2012 May 17, 2016 (2016-05-17) 2020 →
 
Candidate Hillary Clinton Bernie Sanders Uncommitted
Home state New York Vermont N/A
Delegate count 28 27 3
Popular vote 212,534[1] 210,623 24,104
Percentage 46.76% 46.33% 5.30%
Election results by county.
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The 2016 Kentucky Democratic presidential primary was held on May 17 in the U.S. state of Kentucky as one of the Democratic Party's primaries ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

On the same day, the Democratic Party held their Oregon primary. The Republican Party held their Kentucky caucuses in early March.

Opinion polling

See also: Statewide opinion polling for the Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016
List of polls
Main article: Kentucky Democratic primary, 2016

Delegate count: 55 Pledged, 5 Unpledged

Winner
Hillary Clinton
Primary date
May 17, 2016
Poll source Date 1st 2nd 3rd Other
Official Primary results May 17, 2016 Hillary Clinton
46.8% 		Bernie Sanders
46.3% 		Others / Uncommitted
6.9%
Public Policy Polling[2]

Margin of error: ± 4.4%
Sample size: 501

March 1–2, 2016 Hillary Clinton
43% 		Bernie Sanders
38% 		Others / Undecided
19%
Public Policy Polling[3]

Margin of error: ± 4%
Sample size: 610

June 18–21, 2015 Hillary Clinton
56% 		Bernie Sanders
12% 		Jim Webb
7% 		Lincoln Chafee 5%, Martin O'Malley 3%, Not sure 18%

Results

See also: Results of the Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016
Kentucky Democratic primary, May 17, 2016
Candidate Popular vote Estimated delegates
Count Percentage Pledged Unpledged Total
Hillary Clinton 212,534 46.76% 28 2 30
Bernie Sanders 210,623 46.33% 27 0 27
Martin O'Malley (withdrawn) 5,713 1.26%
Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente 1,594 0.35%
Uncommitted 24,104 5.30% 0 3 3
Total 454,568 100% 55 5 60
Source: The Green Papers, Kentucky Secretary of State

Results by county

County[4] Clinton Votes Sanders Votes
Adair 49.6% 466 43.7% 410
Allen 46.0% 427 47.4% 440
Anderson 36.0% 1,132 52.4% 1,649
Ballard 32.0% 405 52.0% 659
Barren 37.2% 1,979 49.9% 2,653
Bath 45.6% 628 46.6% 641
Bell 44.7% 567 45.6% 578
Boone 51.8% 2,932 44.1% 2,496
Bourbon 46.5% 1,109 45.6% 1,087
Boyd 44.7% 2,193 46.1% 2,262
Boyle 49.9% 1,648 43.9% 1,451
Bracken 32.5% 251 54.9% 424
Breathitt 33.9% 1,123 51.8% 1,716
Breckinridge 45.9% 877 45.8% 875
Bullitt 44.4% 2,907 49.1% 3,210
Butler 51.1% 238 42.1% 196
Caldwell 34.3% 570 52.1% 866
Calloway 35.8% 1,460 55.0% 2,239
Campbell 48.1% 3,169 47.5% 3,133
Carlisle 25.6% 206 57.5% 462
Carroll 41.5% 481 49.4% 573
Carter 39.1% 800 51.4% 1,051
Casey 50.7% 210 44.0% 182
Christian 50.2% 2,437 39.9% 1,936
Clark 45.5% 1,810 47.5% 1,888
Clay 48.4% 184 41.6% 158
Clinton 57.9% 151 35.6% 93
Crittenden 35.6% 240 51.0% 344
Cumberland 44.8% 78 50.0% 87
Daviess 45.5% 5,066 46.6% 5,188
Edmonson 49.5% 275 47.1% 262
Elliott 35.7% 301 52.6% 443
Estill 47.6% 446 47.0% 440
Fayette 52.8% 20,014 45.0% 17,048
Fleming 40.7% 627 52.3% 806
Floyd 31.4% 2,327 54.1% 4,010
Franklin 45.1% 5,218 46.6% 5,398
Fulton 46.6% 315 36.2% 245
Gallatin 39.5% 260 51.6% 340
Garrard 50.5% 434 45.0% 387
Grant 40.9% 594 49.2% 715
Graves 31.8% 1,631 51.3% 2,631
Grayson 49.9% 705 44.6% 630
Green 40.4% 284 51.2% 360
Greenup 43.8% 1,517 47.7% 1,655
Hancock 42.5% 491 49.7% 573
Hardin 47.8% 4,359 46.2% 4,208
Harlan 25.9% 451 62.8% 1,092
Harrison 41.4% 886 49.5% 1,059
Hart 39.7% 817 51.6% 1,062
Henderson 43.4% 2,887 42.9% 2,850
Henry 40.6% 781 49.8% 958
Hickman 32.5% 209 46.6% 300
Hopkins 32.7% 1,690 52.2% 2,696
Jackson 35.9% 78 59.0% 128
Jefferson 57.3% 64,090 40.3% 45,048
Jessamine 44.2% 1,875 49.8% 2,113
Johnson 32.9% 444 55.5% 749
Kenton 49.0% 5,146 46.5% 4,880
Knott 30.8% 583 58.8% 1,114
Knox 47.9% 520 46.4% 504
LaRue 34.7% 612 51.6% 910
Laurel 49.1% 845 45.9% 791
Lawrence 35.3% 444 52.4% 659
Lee 42.9% 199 48.3% 224
Leslie 43.8% 64 52.7% 77
Letcher 26.7% 838 56.9% 1,788
Lewis 51.7% 211 37.0% 151
Lincoln 47.7% 779 45.5% 742
Livingston 34.4% 400 52.4% 610
Logan 43.8% 1,077 46.0% 1,131
Lyon 40.5% 497 45.7% 561
Madison 41.6% 3,441 53.0% 4,385
Magoffin 42.7% 511 52.3% 626
Marion 50.3% 1,162 42.6% 983
Marshall 34.7% 1,577 50.8% 2,308
Martin 31.2% 104 57.4% 191
Mason 44.1% 727 47.0% 775
McCracken 43.8% 3,334 46.5% 3,541
McCreary 41.9% 169 50.4% 203
McLean 38.1% 477 50.1% 628
Meade 41.9% 1,312 49.2% 1,541
Menifee 44.8% 311 46.5% 323
Mercer 39.1% 988 52.6% 1,331
Metcalfe 41.7% 506 47.9% 582
Monroe 50.8% 126 44.0% 109
Montgomery 45.8% 1,289 47.0% 1,322
Morgan 31.6% 544 57.3% 988
Muhlenberg 43.3% 1,544 45.7% 1,632
Nelson 47.6% 2,395 46.6% 2,345
Nicholas 42.2% 353 50.2% 420
Ohio 41.3% 778 50.0% 943
Oldham 52.4% 2,730 44.4% 2,315
Owen 34.6% 453 55.0% 720
Owsley 43.3% 77 51.1% 91
Pendleton 36.6% 388 51.5% 546
Perry 30.0% 839 59.6% 1,666
Pike 26.1% 2,335 54.3% 4,848
Powell 42.4% 623 50.7% 744
Pulaski 47.4% 1,169 46.6% 1,148
Robertson 32.0% 95 59.6% 177
Rockcastle 45.7% 238 48.8% 254
Rowan 44.0% 1,170 51.2% 1,363
Russell 48.2% 343 46.7% 332
Scott 48.6% 2,505 46.4% 2,394
Shelby 47.8% 2,195 44.5% 2,044
Simpson 45.9% 708 45.1% 695
Spencer 42.7% 673 51.2% 806
Taylor 50.3% 949 44.8% 844
Todd 35.1% 333 53.5% 507
Trigg 40.8% 604 48.3% 715
Trimble 38.3% 415 50.0% 542
Union 29.9% 672 49.3% 1,106
Warren 44.9% 4,829 49.9% 5,365
Washington 47.0% 601 45.5% 582
Wayne 55.6% 502 39.4% 356
Webster 28.7% 693 48.5% 1,169
Whitley 52.5% 522 41.1% 409
Wolfe 42.1% 414 50.7% 499
Woodford 46.3% 1,862 47.7% 1,918
Total 46.8% 212,550 46.3% 210,626

Analysis

Clinton's strength with conservative white voters in the Appalachia region, including Coal Country, had clearly regressed since 2008; she had beaten Barack Obama 65–29 in Kentucky eight years earlier, and only beat rival Bernie Sanders 47–46 in 2016. She ran strongly in Louisville, where the African American population is highest, but lost many of the Eastern Kentucky Coalfield counties in the state to Bernie Sanders, who had won a large victory in neighboring West Virginia the week prior. Sanders also won many counties in the Jackson Purchase area. Notably, in 2012, almost all of the Sanders counties voted for the "Uncommited" ballot option in a protest vote against Obama.

References

  1. ^ Kentucky Secretary of State
  2. ^ "Kentucky Survey Results" (PDF). publicpolicypolling.com. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  3. ^ "PPP KY" (PDF). publicpolicypolling.com. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  4. ^ "2016 Election Center". CNN. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
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