United States Senate election in Kentucky, 1998

United States Senate election in Kentucky, 1998

November 3, 1998

Nominee Jim Bunning Scotty Baesler Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 569,817 563,051 Percentage 49.8% 49.2%

U.S. senator before election Wendell Ford Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Jim Bunning Republican

The 1998 United States Senate election in Kentucky took place on November 3, 1998. It was concurrent with elections to the United States House of Representatives. Incumbent Democratic U.S Senator Wendell Ford decided to retire, instead of seeking a fifth term. Republican Representative Jim Bunning won the open seat.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Scotty Baesler, U.S. Representative
• Jim Brown
• Steve Henry, Lieutenant Governor
• Charlie Owen, businessman
• Ken Buchanan Thompson
• David L. Williams, perennial candidate

Results

Democratic Primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Scotty Baesler	194,125	34.16
	Democratic	Charlie Owen	166,472	29.29
	Democratic	Steve Henry	156,576	27.55
	Democratic	Jim Brown	19,975	3.51
	Democratic	David L. Williams	16,366	2.88
	Democratic	Ken Buchanan Thompson	14,778	2.60
Total votes			568,292	100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

• Jim Bunning, U.S. Representative
• Barry Metcalf, State Senator

Results

Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Bunning	152,493	74.28
	Republican	Barry Metcalf	52,798	25.72
Total votes			205,291	100.00

General election

Candidates

• Scotty Baesler (D), U.S. Representative
• Jim Bunning (R), U.S. Representative

Results

General election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jim Bunning	569,817	49.75%	+13.94%
	Democratic	Scotty Baesler	563,051	49.16%	-13.73%
	Reform	Charles R. Arbegust	12,546	1.10%
Majority			6,766	0.59%	-26.48%
Total votes			1,145,414	100
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing