2016 Kentucky General Election Story

A head to head comparison of the Kentucky 2016 General Election gives an idea of the breakdown of the voters.

Donald Trump received 1,202,971 (63%) votes beating Hillary Clinton who gained 628,854 (33%) by 574,117 votes in Kentucky.

Donald Trump won 118 counties whereas Hillary Clinton won 2 counties in the total of the 120 counties in the State of Kentucky.

2016 Kentucky (KY) Primary vs. General Elections Counties Won

In the Primary, Sanders won 70 counties in the 3-way match up. Clinton trailed behind Trump winning 22 counties. Majority of Sanders’ won counties were transferred to Clinton. Trump won over 28 counties out of the State of Kentucky.

2016 Kentucky (KY) Primary vs. General Elections with regards to Percentage (%) votes and Total Votes Won

On a head to head count with the total votes between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in the Primary and General Elections, percentage (%) vote shift difference is a 38% increment for Donald Trump in the Presidential Elections as opposed to a 38% decrease for Hillary Clinton. These margins are represented as 1,120,478 vote increment for Donald Trump and 413,304 vote increment for Hillary Clinton at the General Elections.                                                                                                                                  

2016 General Election Hillary Clinton Popular Vote Count Contributed by Kentucky

During the 2016 General elections, over 146,434,269 total number of votes were cast.  Hillary Clinton got 65,849,971 (65.8 Million) over Donald Trump's 62,984,405 (62.9 Million). She won the popular vote by 2,865,566 (2.8 Million). Even though she lost to Trump at the Kentucky, her votes represents 1% of her popular vote victory. The remaining 49 states contributed to her the remaining 99% popular votes victory.                                                                                                                                

Top 15 Counties in Primary vs. General

These 15 counties play an important role in these Primary elections. If a candidate, can get a sizable majority in the larger counties (Jefferson, Fayette, Kenton), it becomes very difficult to win majorities in the smaller counties without voter outreach and increased voter participation in them.

Top 15 Counties Comparison in Primary Elections vs General Elections

Jefferson, Fayette, two of the larger counties voted in favor of Clinton, giving her over 260k vote advantage. Kenton, another larger countye voted in favor of Trump giving him a 19k voter advantage in that county. However, Trump's steady win in the more dense counties contributed to the 574K marginal vote advantage that helped him gain an upper hand in the State of Kentucky.

Related References: 2016 Kentucky Primary Election Story, 2020 Kentucky Primary Election Story