The 2015 Kentucky Attorney General election was held on November 3, 2015, as part of the 2015 Kentucky elections to elect the Attorney General of Kentucky. Incumbent attorney general Jack Conway was term-limited, and instead ran for governor of Kentucky. He was succeeded by Democratic candidate Andy Beshear.
Democratic primary Candidates Nominee Andy Beshear, attorney and son of Steve Beshear
Declined Alison Lundergan Grimes, Secretary of State of Kentucky (2012–2020) and candidate for the United States Senate in 2014 (ran for reelection)
Republican primary Candidates Nominee Whitney Westerfield, state senator from the 3rd district (2013–2025)
Eliminated in primary Michael T. Hogan, County Attorney of Lawrence County (2003–2022)
Results
General election Predictions Source Ranking Governing
Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror AndyBeshear (D) WhitneyWesterfield (R) Other UndecidedSurveyUSASurveyUSA October 23–26, 2015 798 ± 3.5% 47% 35% — 17%WKUWKU October 19–25, 2015 770 ± 3.5% 42% 36% — 22%SurveyUSASurveyUSA September 22–27, 2015 701 ± 3.8% 38% 38% — 22%SurveyUSASurveyUSA July 22–28, 2015 685 ± 3.8% 40% 33% — 24%Public Policy PollingPublic Policy Polling June 18–21, 2015 1,108 ± 2.9% 36% 41% — 23%
Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Margin oferror AndyBeshear (D) LukeMorgan (R) Other UndecidedGravis MarketingGravis Marketing January 5–6, 2015 608 ± 4% 42% 37% — 22%
Results
By congressional district Beshear won two of six congressional districts, including one that elected a Republican.https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MfOj9a768FaazEZZooYcY48DzGEfzOm99vxiBOUdiSo/edit?gid=1981434678#gid=1981434678
District Beshear Westerfield Representative 45% 55%Ed Whitfield 47% 53%Brett Guthrie 64% 36%John Yarmuth 45% 55%Thomas Massie 41% 59%Hal Rogers 54% 46%Andy Barr
Aftermath In 2016, Steve Beshear's former personal cabinet secretary, Tim Longmeyer, was mired in controversy when he was exposed on bribery charges, including redirecting $6,000 of kickbacks into Andy Beshear's Attorney General campaign. Andy Beshear had recently hired Longmeyer as a deputy. However, the prosecutors in Longmeyer's case indicated that there is no evidence to support that Andy Beshear knew what Longmeyer was doing.
Over the next three years, Republican Governor Matt Bevin spearheaded an investigation into former governor Steve Beshear's administration as well as Andy Beshear's Attorney General campaign. Spending approximately $550,000 leading up to the 2019 Kentucky gubernatorial election, the investigation led to no conclusive results regarding the culpability of Steve or Andy Beshear.
References