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Preliminary Primary Results From The Associated Press

Michal Rasmussen

Full results won't be released until June 30th but here is the latest Kentucky primary news from the Associated Press.

Republican incumbents Mitch McConnell, Thomas Massie, Hal Rogers, Andy Barr and Brett Guthrie have won their party’s nominations in Kentucky. But many races were left in suspense Tuesday night and won’t be resolved for days after an unprecedented primary election in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Topping the list of undecided races was the contest for the Democratic nomination to challenge McConnell in the fall. Former Marine pilot Amy McGrath and freshman lawmaker Charles Booker were the leading vote-getters in the crowded Democratic primary, which was too early to call. Many outcomes might not be known for a week until counties submit vote totals.

10:10 p.m.

The Democratic Senate primary in Kentucky is too early to call.

As of 10 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Amy McGrath had roughly 45% of the counted vote. Charles Booker was in second with about 36% of the counted vote.

The Senate race is among the dozens of races in the state in which The Associated Press did not declare winners on Tuesday. They include all primary elections for state legislature, the Democratic primary elections for U.S. House in the state’s 4th and 6th Congressional Districts, and the Republican primary in the state’s 3rd Congressional District.

The coronavirus pandemic led to a huge increase in voters casting ballots by mail, and counties were unable to process and count those ballots on the night of the election. Many counties, including Jefferson, the state’s largest, didn’t report any results on Tuesday.

The state does not expect to release additional results until Tuesday, June 30, a week after the election. The AP does not expect to declare any additional winners until then.

8:05 p.m.

A group locked outside a voting site in Louisville, Kentucky, were seen on video banging on doors at the entrance of the city’s only polling location.

A judge ruled Tuesday that the site could remain open 30 minutes past the 6 p.m. poll close time after two U.S. Senate candidates petitioned the court.

Jefferson County Clerk spokesperson Nore Ghibaudy says about 175 more voters were let in after the court reopened the polling location.

Ghibaudy says poll workers urged all voters in the building’s lobby to get in a line before 6 p.m. He said the voters who were locked out were not in the building’s lobby just after 6 p.m. when the doors were shut and locked.

7:10 p.m.

Joe Biden has won the Democratic presidential primary in Kentucky.

Tuesday’s results came as no surprise since the former vice president has accumulated the requisite number of delegates to clinch the presidential primary.

The Democratic presidential convention is set for late August.

President Donald Trump was earlier declared the winner of Kentucky's Republican presidential primary, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell won the Republican Senate primary in the state.

Kentucky's Democratic Senate primary is one of the most interesting races on Tuesday. Amy McGrath and Charles Booker are competing to take on McConnell in November. The race was too early to call at poll close.

7 p.m.

President Donald Trump has won the Republican presidential primary in Kentucky, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has won the Republican Senate primary in the state.

Tuesday’s results came as no surprise since Trump has consolidated support around his reelection bid. McConnell is the nation's most powerful senator.

Trump has already accumulated the requisite number of delegates to clinch the Republican presidential nomination.

The Democratic Senate primary is one of the most interesting races on Tuesday. Amy McGrath and Charles Booker are competing to take on McConnell in November. The race was too early to call at poll close.

6:50 p.m.

Advocacy groups are calling for extended voting time in Kentucky, citing long lines in one of the state’s largest cities.

The ACLU of Kentucky, the state’s NAACP chapter and other groups sent a letter to the state’s board of elections on Tuesday requesting a one-hour extension in counties that have had long lines. Polls in the state’s Eastern time zone close at 6 p.m.

Lexington’s lone polling sites had long lines at some points, but voting in Louisville’s only polling site had not seen similar delays.

“These long wait times have the potential to discourage voters from exercising their right to vote,” said the letter addressed to state board of elections executive director Jared Dearing and general counsel Taylor Brown.

Kentucky’s Secretary of State, Michael Adams, said despite some delays, Kentucky has been “a national success story.” He says, “Turnout is through the roof.”

5 p.m.

A Kentucky woman was allowed to vote after convincing the board of elections that her dogs ate her and her husband's absentee ballots.

Christine Stanley, a 34-year-old Lexington health care attorney, voted in the Democratic primary at Kroger Field but only after getting out of line and going before the board of elections.

After showing the board evidence, including “lots of bite marks, drool and dirt,” she and her husband were allowed to vote, and Stanley said she voted for herself for the Urban County Council seat she is seeking, for Charles Booker in the Democratic primary to challenge Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell and for Democrat Josh Hicks to run against Republican Rep. Andy Barr.

“I haven’t seen Amy say anything that was really inspiring,” Stanley said by telephone after voting Tuesday. “Charles Booker, when he speaks, he talks about all these issues that are happening in Kentucky.”

Stanley, who is Black, said race didn’t really play a part in her choice of Booker.

“Charles Booker has legislative experience, and I think that he has seen firsthand what Kentucky needs,” she said. She believes McGrath should start at the state legislative level and try again in a few years.

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