2004 Kentucky's 6th congressional district special election

2004 Kentucky's 6th congressional district special election
	County results; Chandler: 50–60% 60–70%; Kerr: 50–60%
U.S. Representative before election; Ernie Fletcher; Republican	Elected U.S. Representative ; Ben Chandler; Democratic

The 2004 United States House of Representatives special election in Kentucky's 6th congressional district was held on February 17, 2004, to select the successor to Ernie Fletcher (R) who resigned upon being elected Governor of Kentucky. Each party held a nominating convention to choose their nominee for the special election. Republicans selected state Senator Alice Kerr over state Representatives Stan Lee and Lonnie Napier and Lexington city councilman Charles Ellinger II as their nominee^[1] while Democrats chose former state Attorney General and 2003 Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ben Chandler.

Chandler won the election to fill out the rest of Fletcher's unexpired term. This was a symbolic victory for Democrats considering that the man Chandler succeeded was the same one he lost to in the Gubernatorial election months earlier. Though Kerr was able to out raise and out spend Chandler, it was not enough to overcome his popularity, who in addition to having served as state attorney general was also the grandson of Happy Chandler, a former governor, U.S. Senator, and Commissioner of Baseball, in this conservative, but generally ticket-splitting Lexington centered District, which supported Fletcher with 71% in 2002, and George W. Bush over Al Gore by a smaller but nonetheless substantial 55% to 42% margin in the Presidential election of 2000.^[2]

Election results

Kentucky's 6th congressional district special election, 2004^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ben Chandler	84,168	55.16
	Republican	Alice Kerr	65,474	42.91
	Libertarian	Mark Gailey	2,952	1.93
Total votes			152,594	100.00
	Democratic gain from Republican

References

^ "Our Campaigns - KY District 06 - R Special Convention Race - Dec 13, 2003". www.ourcampaigns.com.
^ Vlahos, Kelley Beaucar (June 7, 2004). "Chandler's Love of Competition Will Come in Handy". Fox News. Archived from the original on May 23, 2007.
^ "Official Elections Results for the Special Election Held on 2-17-04" (PDF). elect.ky.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 21, 2004.

[1] "Our Campaigns - KY District 06 - R Special Convention Race - Dec 13, 2003". www.ourcampaigns.com.

[2] Vlahos, Kelley Beaucar (June 7, 2004). "Chandler's Love of Competition Will Come in Handy". Fox News. Archived from the original on May 23, 2007.

[3] "Official Elections Results for the Special Election Held on 2-17-04" (PDF). elect.ky.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 21, 2004.

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