# 1998 United States Senate election in Kentucky

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vte :
The 1998 United States Senate election in Kentucky was held 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 U.S. Representative Jim Bunning narrowly won the open seat, defeating Democratic U.S. Representative Scotty Baesler. By a margin of 0.59%, this election was the second-closest race of the 1998 Senate election cycle, behind only the election in Nevada. Bunning's swearing-in marked the first time since 1973 that Republicans held both United States Senate seats from Kentucky. This was the first open-seat United States Senate election in Kentucky since 1972 and the first open-seat election for this seat since 1968.

## Democratic primary
### Candidates

* Scotty Baesler, U.S. Representative
* Jim Brown
* Steve Henry, Lieutenant Governor
* Charlie Owen, businessman
* Ken Buchanan Thompson
* David L. Williams, member of the Kentucky Senate

### Results

Democratic Primary results :
| Party | 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 | Total votes | Total votes | 568,292 | 100.00% |

## Republican primary
### Candidates

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

### Results

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Jim Bunning | 152,493 | 74.28% |
| | Republican | Barry Metcalf | 52,798 | 25.72% |
| Total votes | Total votes | 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 | 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 | Majority | Majority | 6,766 | 0.59% | −26.48% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 1,145,414 | 100.00% | |
| | Republican gain from Democratic | Republican gain from Democratic | Swing | | |