University of Kentucky UKnowledge American Politics Political Science 1990 Political Parties and Primaries in Kentucky Penny M. Miller Temple University Malcolm E. Jewell University of Kentucky Click here to let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Thanks to the University of Kentucky Libraries and the University Press of Kentucky, this book is freely available to current faculty, students, and staff at the University of Kentucky. Find other University of Kentucky Books at uknowledge.uky.edu/upk. For more information, please contact UKnowledge at [email protected]. Recommended Citation Miller, Penny M. and Jewell, Malcolm E., "Political Parties and Primaries in Kentucky" (1990). American Politics. 22. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_political_science_american_politics/22 POLITICAL PARTIES AND PRIMARIES IN KENTUCKY This page intentionally left blank POLITICAL PARTIES AND PRIMARIES KENTUCKY Penny M. Miller Malcolm E. Jewel1 THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY Copyright O 1990 by The University Press of Kentucky Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth, sewing Bellarmine College, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Club, Georgetown College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Transylvania University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western Kentucky University. EditodandSales Ofices: Lexington, Kentucky 40506-0336 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Miller, Penny M., 1943- Political parties and primaries in Kentucky I Penny M. Miller, Malcom E. Jewell. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ISBN 978-0-8 13 1-5371 - 1 1. Political parties-Kentucky. 2. Primaries-Kentucky. I. Jewell, Malcolm Edwin, 1928- . 11. Title. JK2295. K43M55 1990 89-70690 324.S14'O9769-dc20 This book is printed on acid-free CONTENTS List of Tables vi List of Figures viii Acknowledgments ix 1. Kentucky in a National Perspective 1 2. Democratic Party Organization 8 3. Democratic Gubernatorial Primaries, Past and Present 40 4. The 1987 Democratic Gubernatorial Primary 67 5. The 1987 Democratic Primary for Statewide Offices 96 6. Party Activists 125 7. Candidate Choice among Gubernatorial Primary Activists 152 8. Funding Political Campaigns 194 9. Republican Organization and Fragmentation 225 10. Nominating and Electing Republicans 245 11. Patterns of Voter Turnout 273 12. Partisanship and Voting Patterns in General Elections 284 Appendix. Description of Independent Variables 315 References 316 Index 322 TABLES 1. Outcome of Democratic Gubernatorial Primaries 41 2. The Pattern of Factionalism in Democratic Gubernatorial Primaries 42 3. Democratic Patterns of Registration and Turnout in 1987 Gubernatorial Primary 50 4. Democratic Patterns of Registration and Primary Turnout in Local Races, 1985 52 5. Results of Democratic Gubernatorial Primaries, 1971-87 53 6. Polling Results in 1987 Gubernatorial Primary (in Percentages) 91 7. Polling Results in 1987 Lieutenant Gubernatorial Primary (in Percen- tages) 114 8. Demographic and Political Characteristics of Activists in Kentucky and in Other States 128 9. Activists' Motivations for Involvement, 1979, 1983, 1987 140 10. Motivations for Involvement in 1979, 1983, 1987 Primaries: Oblique Rotated Factor Matrices 142 11. Activists' Willingness to Remain Active in Politics in the Future 149 12. What Activists Would Miss Most about Political Involvement 150 13. Continuity of Activists' Support, 1979 and 1983 159 14. Continuity of Activists' Support, 1983 and 1987 (1979183 Panel Mem- bers) 160 15. Continuity ofActivists' Support, 1983 and 1987 (New Participants in 1987 Study) 161 16. Political Activity of Activists by 1979, 1983, and 1987 Candidate Groups (in Percentages) 163 17. Summary of Factors Distinguishing Candidates' Groups 179 18. Discriminating among Supporters of Collins, Sloane, and Stumbo 180 19. Discriminant Analysis Summary, 1979 and 1983 Activists' Response to Primary Defeat 191 20. Spending by Statewide Candidates in Democratic Primaries, 1975- 87 195 21. Total Spending in Statewide General Election Races, 1975-87 199 22. Spending by Candidates in Legislative Races, 1975-86 201 23. Contributions by Categories of Interest Groups to Gubernatorial Candi- dates in Primary and General Elections, 1983 and 1987 206 Tabes and Figures vii 24. Comparison of Contributions to Beshear, Brown, and Wilkinson in 1987 Gubernatorial Primary 215 25. Individual Contributions by Occupational Group to Wilkinson Primary Campaign 217 26. Republican Patterns of Registration and Turnout in 1987 Gubernatorial Primary 246 27. Republican Patterns of Registration and Primary Turnout in Local Races, 1985 247 28. Republican Statewide Primaries for Major Offices, 1978-88 248 29. Voting Turnout in Kentucky General Elections, 1978-88 273 30. Voting Turnout in Kentucky Primary Elections, 1978-88 274 31. Kentucky and U.S. Voters in Presidential Elections as Percentage of Persons Eligible to Vote, 1892-1988 276 32. Voting Frequency of Registered Voters in General Elections and Primaries (in Percentages) 277 33. Reasons Given for Not Voting by Those Voting Frequently and Those Very Interested in Politics 282 34. Partisan Percentages and Votes Cast in Statewide Elections, 1966- 88 285 35. Voting in Urban Counties in Gubernatorial and Presidential Elections, 1976-88 298 36. Comparison of Party Identification and Party Registration, 1982, 1983, 1987 303 37. Comparison of Party Identification and Party Registration in Various Types of Counties, 1983 305 38. Demographic Characteristics Related to Party Identification, 1982-86 306 39. Comparison of Party Identification and Ideology, 1981-87 (in Percent- ages) 307 40. Partisan Differences in Viewpoints on Policy Issues 308 41. National and State Party Identification: 1987 Kentucky Survey 309 42. National and State Party Identification: Fayette, Jessamine, and Wood- ford Counties in Kentucky, 1986 310 43. Party Identification and Vote, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1987 312 44. Estimate of Voting by Party Identification in 1980 Presidential Elec- tion 312 FIGURES 1. Placements of Candidates and Activists on Liberalism/Conservatism Scale in 1979 174 2. Placements of Candidates and Activists on Liberalism/Conservatism Scale in 1983 175 3. Placements of Candidates and Activists on Liberalism/Conservatism Scale in 1987 176 4. Partisan Voting of Counties in Statewide Elections, 1920-66 288 5. Partisan Voting of Counties in Statewide Elections, 1967-88 290 6. Partisan Voting of Counties in 1979 and 1983 Gubernatorial Elections 292 7. Partisan Voting of Counties in 1976 Presidential Election 294 8. Partisan Voting of Counties in 1984 Presidential Election 295 9. Partisan Voting of Counties in 1980 Presidential Election 296 10. Trends in Party Identification in Kentucky, 1979-88 302 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A LARGE number of persons were helpful in our research and should be acknowledged collectively or individually. First are nearly a thousand persons active in Democratic gubernatorial primary campaigns (1979 to 1987) who filled out lengthy questionnaires, some of them on two occa- sions. We interviewed a number of candidates and campaign leaders in the 1987 Democratic primaries, as well as party leaders in both parties. We assume that they prefer their assistance to be acknowledged anonymously. We gained valuable insights into the Kentucky politics and particularly the 1987 primaries from reporters who had covered politics and primaries firsthand: Bob Johnson, Ferrell Wellman, Al Cross, Tom Loftus, Cindy Rugeley, John Winn Miller, Jack Brammer, Jacqueline Duke, Mary Ann Roser, and Carol Marie Cropper. For coverage of the 1987 primaries and general elections we relied heavily on the excellent coverage by these and other reporters in the Courier-Journaland the Lexington Herald-kaa'ez Our chapter on campaign finance makes extensive use of the excellent series of articles written by Richard Whitt and R.G. Dunlop in October 1987 in the Courie~Journal. We have made use of research that one or both of us carried out with other political scientists at the University of Kentucky. Phillip Roeder collaborated on a study of party alignments in Kentucky. Lee Sigelman, Michael Baer, and Phillip Roeder collaborated on a study of voting and nonvoing in the state. Lee Sigelman collaborated on previous publications of political activists. We very much appreciate their contributions. We also benefited from the excellent data collections of the Kentucky Survey Research Center. Some of the material in chapters 3 and 5 has been published (with Lee Sigelman) in two earlier articles: "Reconsidering a Typology of Incentives among Campaign Activists: A Research Note," Western Political Quarterly 40 (1987): 519-26, reprinted by permission of the University of Utah, copyright holder; and "Divisive Primaries and Party Activists: Kentucky, 1979 and 1983," Journal of Politics 50 (1988): 459-70, also reprinted by permission. This page intentionally left blank KENTUCKY IN A NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE THE AMERICAN political and electoral system is characterized by diversity and change. Every state is different, with its own unique political history, traditions, leaders, and partisan loyalties. Political scientists often use the termpoliticalculture to define the dominant beliefs and attitudes in a state that are shaped by its political history (Patterson, 1968; Rosenthal and Moakley, 1984). Kentucky has its own style of politics, its own history and political culture. State political systems, however, are not immune