Election night was Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. Across the nation, people went to the polls to vote for president, in addition to state and local issues. Kentuckians voted on proposed constitutional amendments, as well as races for the U.S. House of Representatives and the Kentucky state legislature.
When polls started to close, members of the Jefferson County Republican and the Louisville Democrat parties gathered to celebrate victories and watch the votes roll in.
Presidential results
Donald Trump (R) defeated Vice President Kamala Harris (D) to win the 2024 presidential election. Trump’s victory in Wisconsin pushed him over the necessary 270 electoral college votes at approximately 5:30 Wednesday morning. President-elect Trump won all seven swing states, six of which he lost in the 2020 election.
Amendments
Kentucky Amendment 1 passed with 62.4% of Kentuckians voting yes and 37.6% voting no. The amendment prohibits those who are not U.S. citizens from voting. Despite this amendment’s passing, the current Constitution of the Commonwealth of Kentucky already restricts noncitizens from voting. Following the passing of the amendment, the legislature and city governments can no longer enfranchise non-citizens.
Early into the night, Kentucky Amendment 2 failed, with 64.8% of Kentuckians voting no and 35.2% voting yes. The proposed amendment would have allowed the legislature to allot state funding for private or charter education.
U.S. Congress
The Republican party now has majority control of both the U.S. Senate, holding 53 seats to the Democratic party’s 47.
Neither party has gained control of the U.S. House of Representatives yet. There are still 16 districts with outstanding votes. Currently, the Republicans have 214 seats, while Democrats have 205. In order to gain control, a party needs 218 seats.
Kentucky holds six seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Incumbents James Comer (R), Brett Guthrie (R), Morgan McGarvey (D), Thomas Massie (R), Hal Rogers (R) and Andy Barr (R) all won reelection.
Kentucky Congress
The Republican party retained control of both the state House of Representatives and the state Senate. Kentuckians elected five Democrats, 13 Republicans and one independent to the state Senate, as well as 20 Democrats and 80 Republicans to the state House of Representatives.
Metro Council
The even-numbered seats in the Louisville Metro Council were open this election cycle. Louisvillians elected six Democrats and seven Republicans. Notably, Jonathan Joseph (R) defeated incumbent Rick Blackwell (D) in District 12 and Crystal Bast (R) defeated incumbent Cindi Fowler (D) in District 14.
JCPS School Board
The JCPS Board of Education seats for Districts 1, 2, 4 and 7 were open this election cycle. Gail Logan Strange and Tricia Lister retain their seats. They will be joined by newcomers Trevin Bass and Taylor Everett, replacing Joseph Marshall and Sarah McIntosh, respectively.
Louisville Democrats
The Louisville Democrats gathered inside Mile Wide Beer Co. on election night to watch results pour in from polls, celebrate victories and express hope for the future and democracy. Attendees filled the bar, from retired politicians, to labor union leaders, to parents with toddlers, to high school and college students. The environment and people turned the party from a formal political event to a night of celebration.
Despite numerous but expected losses, with each victory, the attendees’ energy increased. Several guests expressed their dislike of proposed Amendment 2, like University of Louisville student Emmy Slayton.
Slayton expressed her disgust in “seeing tax money being distributed to non-public or to private schools that already have high funding when their needs are met, and my [Lyon County] school’s students’ needs aren’t met.”
Each time Allison Wiseman, Kentucky Young Democrats President, clad in her camouflage patterned Harris/Walz baseball cap, announced the growing margins by which Amendment 2 was being defeated, the applause and cheers grew louder.
Despite the widespread enthusiasm, Glinda Reed, a special education teacher at Academy of Shawnee, shared her strong support for the proposed Amendment 2, while passing out buttons with images of Kamala Harris.
“I’m speaking for the underdog, which is my Black kids that can’t read. We don’t need to go to the private schools.We need black charter schools,” Reed said.
In addition to the invested public, several elected officials made appearances and delivered speeches throughout the night. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, whose seat was not open this election cycle, appeared to address both the crowd and the media.
Shortly before the event wrapped up for the night, but well before the presidential race was announced or the western-most polls closed, some of the Democratic victors addressed the crowd.
Morgan McGarvey (D) addressed an enthusiastic crowd with his wife and children., after winning re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives for Ky. District 3 to serve his second term.
“It is the absolute honor of a lifetime to represent my hometown in Congress,” McGarvey said.
Following McGarvey’s address, Kenturah Herron, David Yates and Joshua Wilson, all of whom were elected to the Kentucky state legislature in this election cycle, delivered victory speeches.
Throughout the night, guests and attendees alike emphasized the importance of democracy and their hope for the future.
“Most important, I would probably say, is that we protect and preserve the democracy of America,” said Michael Bowman, two-time Democratic nominee for Kentucky state treasurer.
The excitement for the future was contrasted by fear of Donald Trump winning the presidency.
“I think Donald Trump is a direct threat to democracy in this country. I don’t think there’s a question about it. I regard him as one of the scariest political figures to come down the road in quite a while,” said retired state worker Bobby McDowell.
Jefferson County Republicans
A snapshot from the Jefferson County Republican Party’s election night would seem to show a need for nothing. There were “Make America Great Again” hats, breaded hors d’oeuvres, liquor-lubricated conversation, and expensive light fixtures. It lacked only enthusiasm.
It had the stilted atmosphere of a black tie event, absent the dress code. Partygoers talked in circular, eight-seater tables over dim chandelier light, but as results poured in that increasingly favored Republican candidates—the defeat of Amendment 2 notwithstanding—the mood remained relatively static. When Andy Barr’s (R-6) reelection was announced, one person clapped for a few seconds while the rest of the crowd went on unaffected.
People wore shirts with Donald Trump’s mugshot emblazoned on the front, reading “NEVER SURRENDER.” There were buttoned-down Metro Council members and state officials like Daniel Cameron chatting with red-clad, casually dressed members of the public.
Three men, uniformly dressed in navy blue suits with red ties, had come to celebrate election night from the United Kingdom. They asked Manual RedEye reporters if they were “friendly press,” before calling the UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, “strongly socialist” and saying that “the world got brighter” the day Britain voted to leave the European Union.
One of these men, James Cook, Head of Deal Advisory and Private Equity at SJC Partners (a consulting firm in Manchester), offered to buy RedEye’s visibly underage reporters an alcoholic beverage—“in England,” he said, “we drink a lot.” He would later unapologetically spill a drink on the floor, with some of it hitting a reporter.
Cook called himself “a massive ambassador for a movement around the world which Trump has encapsulated,” a movement with three tenets: nationalism, respect for your “own people” and isolationism.
“Americans tend to get involved in big wars,” Cook said. “[Trump] has not gotten involved in any major military conflict.”
Several Republican city officials attended, including Metro Council District 20’s Stuart Benson. Benson told stories of his time as a teacher and talked about the importance of civic engagement.
The other partygoers had no shortage of advice for RedEye’s reporters, including former Kentucky state senator Julie Denton, who encouraged them to avoid working for “libtard scrap” news outlets like ABC, the Courier Journal and CNN.
“It’s a good night to be a Republican,” Denton said. “I think America is tired of the craziness.”
“We picked up three Metro Council seats tonight, and that is a record,” she continued. “That makes a very significant difference in what happens at the local level.”
