Republican Wins Kentucky Governor Race
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 4, 2003
Filed at 8:49 p.m. ET
Rep. Ernie Fletcher easily won the Kentucky governor's race Tuesday, becoming the first Republican to lead the state in 32 years, while the GOP hoped to take another Democratic governor's seat in Mississippi.
With 92 percent of precincts reporting, Fletcher -- who got a big campaign assist from President Bush in the campaign's final days -- led with 55 percent, or 551,287 votes, to Democratic Attorney General Ben Chandler's 45 percent, or 453,302 votes.
Advertisement document.writeIn both states, candidates tried out slogans and strategies that could well be used in the 2004 presidential race.
In Kentucky, party activists argued that a vote for Chandler would tell the White House its economic policy is a failure. Mississippi Democrats criticized Republican Haley Barbour as a ``Washington insider'' as Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other top GOP officials came to campaign for him.
State Republican Chairwoman Ellen Williams said Bush helped swing the race in western Kentucky, a conservative Democratic area which both campaigns said was crucial. Bush ``lit that district on fire,'' she said. ``The people in that part of the state are in line with Bush's conservative values.''
Democrats in Mississippi complained Tuesday of intimidation at black voting precincts, echoing an earlier clash over race in Kentucky's final days. In both states, Democrats alleged that GOP poll observers sought to suppress the black vote, though Kentucky activists said they saw few problems on Election Day.
Spending records fell in Mississippi's race, where Democratic Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, seeking a second term, was outspent by Barbour, a top Washington lobbyist and former head of the Republican National Committee.
Elsewhere, three big cities -- Houston, Philadelphia and San Francisco -- chose mayors.
In New Jersey, legislative elections could break the Senate's 20-20 tie. The Democrats narrowly hold control of the Assembly. Voters also chose legislatures in Mississippi and Virginia.
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