Alison Lundergan Grimes
Alison Lundergan Grimes is the former Democratic secretary of state of Kentucky. She first won election in 2011, and was re-elected in 2015.[1][2][3][4] Grimes was not able to file for re-election in 2019 due to term limits.
Biography
Prior to her election, Grimes worked in the business litigation group of the law firm Stoll Keenon Ogden PLLC. She also served for two years as president of the Women Lawyers' Association of the Fayette County Bar. Grimes volunteers on the board of directors of God's Pantry Food Bank, which works to eliminate hunger in Kentucky; she also serves as director of the Historic Woodward Heights Neighborhood Association. She earned a B.A. in political science from Rhodes College and her J.D. from the Washington College of Law at American University.[5]
Grimes won election as Kentucky Secretary of State on November 8, 2011. She assumed office on January 5, 2012.[6] She was re-elected on November 3, 2015.[4]
Grimes announced her 2014 candidacy for U.S. Senate on July 1, 2013.[7] She was defeated by incumbent Mitch McConnell (R) in the general election on November 4, 2014.[8]
Education
- B.A., in political science, Rhodes College
- J.D., Washington College of Law, American University[5]
Elections
2019
Alison Lundergan Grimes was not able to file for re-election due to term limits.
2015
General election
Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes defeated her Republican rival, Stephen L. Knipper. Grimes was one of only two Democratic candidates to win in the 2015 Kentucky state executive official elections.[9]
Secretary of State, 2015 | ||||
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Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
Democrat | ![]() |
51.2% | 493,598 | |
Republican | Stephen L. Knipper | 48.8% | 471,209 | |
Total Votes | 964,807 | |||
Election results via Kentucky Secretary of State |
Primary election
Grimes defeated Charles Lovett in the Democratic primary held on May 19, 2015.[2]
Kentucky Secretary of State Democratic Primary, 2015 | ||||
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Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
![]() |
73.2% | 131,640 | ||
Charles Lovett | 26.8% | 48,083 | ||
Total Votes | 179,723 | |||
Election results via Kentucky State Board of Elections. |
Campaign finance
First quarter report (2015)
Comprehensive donor information for this election was collected from the state's campaign finance authority. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $235,692.32 and spent a total of $68,682.25 during this reporting period. This information was last updated on May 4, 2015.[10]
Campaign Contributions and Expenditures | |||||
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Candidate | Office | Beginning balance | Contributions | Expenditures | Ending balance |
Alison Lundergan Grimes ![]() |
Kentucky Secretary of State | $0 | $227,122.62 | $63,864.91 | $163,257.71 |
Stephen L. Knipper ![]() |
Kentucky Secretary of State | $610.11 | $8,369.70 | $4,617.34 | $4,362.47 |
Michael Pitzer ![]() |
Kentucky Secretary of State | $0 | $200 | $200 | $0 |
Charles Lovett ![]() |
Kentucky Secretary of State | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Grand Total Raised | $235,692.32 | ||||
Grand Total Spent | $68,682.25 |
Fourth quarter report (2014)
Comprehensive donor information for this election was collected from the state's campaign finance authority. Based on available campaign finance records, the candidates raised a total of $2,597.78 and spent a total of $2,159.95 during this reporting period. This information was last updated on February 3, 2015.[11]
Campaign Contributions and Expenditures | |||||
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Candidate | Office | Beginning balance | Contributions | Expenditures | Ending balance |
Stephen L. Knipper ![]() |
Kentucky Secretary of State | $172.28 | $2,597.78 | $2,159.95 | $610.11 |
Alison Lundergan Grimes ![]() |
Kentucky Secretary of State | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Charles Lovett ![]() |
Kentucky Secretary of State | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Michael Pitzer ![]() |
Kentucky Secretary of State | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Grand Total Raised | $2,597.78 | ||||
Grand Total Spent | $2,159.95 |
Polls
General election
Kentucky Secretary of State | |||||||||||||||||||
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Poll | Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) | Stephen Knipper (R) | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
Mason-Dixon Polling & Research October 6-8, 2015 | 47% | 45% | 8% | +/-4 | 625 | ||||||||||||||
SurveyUSA/Bluegrass Poll July 22-28, 2015 | 46% | 40% | 14% | +/-3.8 | 685 | ||||||||||||||
Public Policy Polling June 18-21, 2015 | 42% | 47% | 12% | +/-2.9 | 1,108 | ||||||||||||||
AVERAGES | 45% | 44% | 11.33% | +/-3.57 | 806 | ||||||||||||||
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. |
Hypothetical match-ups
Kentucky Scretary of State, Grimes v. Knipper | |||||||||||||||||||
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Poll | Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) | Stephen L. Knipper (R) | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
Gravis Marketing January 5-6, 2015 | 47% | 46% | 7% | +/-4 | 608 | ||||||||||||||
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. |
2014
Grimes was a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in the 2014 elections. She lost to veteran officeholder Mitch McConnell (R), who ran for re-election.[12] Grimes announced her candidacy on July 1, 2013, and won the nomination in the Democratic primary on May 20, 2014.[7][13] The general election took place on November 4, 2014.
According to an analysis by The Washington Post, the U.S. Senate election in Kentucky was considered one of the top 10 Senate races of 2014. [14]
Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | ![]() |
56.2% | 806,787 | |
Democratic | Alison Lundergan Grimes | 40.7% | 584,698 | |
Libertarian | David Patterson | 3.1% | 44,240 | |
Total Votes | 1,435,725 | |||
Source: Kentucky Secretary of State |
Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
76.5% | 307,821 | ||
Gregory Leichty | 8.1% | 32,602 | ||
Burrel Farnsley | 8% | 32,310 | ||
Tom Recktenwald | 7.4% | 29,791 | ||
Total Votes | 402,524 | |||
Source: Kentucky State Board of Elections |
Polls
Information about polls can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media
Information about media can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | |||
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Secretary of State Grimes signaled the beginning of her campaign on July 25, 2013, releasing a video that invited voters to a rally in Lexington and warning Sen. Mitch McConnell that “I don’t scare easy.”[15][16][17][18] After her July 1 announcement, McConnell’s campaign and the Kentucky GOP accused her of going into hiding and repeatedly asked, “Where’s Alison?”[15] Grimes responds in the ad saying, "Your campaign wants to play silly games about where I am and where I stand. Well I'm right here in Kentucky senator, where I'll be holding you accountable."[19]
In October 2013, Grimes released an ad accusing McConnell of "light[ing] the house on fire and then claim[ing] credit for putting it out."[20] |
2011
Grimes announced her candidacy for Kentucky secretary of state in the 2011 election on January 21, 2011.[21] She defeated incumbent Elaine Walker in the May 17 Democratic primary and Republican businessman Bill Johnson in the November 8 general election.
Kentucky Secretary of State, 2011 | ||||
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Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
Democratic | ![]() |
60.6% | 494,368 | |
Republican | Bill Johnson | 39.4% | 321,065 | |
Total Votes | 815,433 | |||
Election results via Kentucky Secretary of State |
Secretary of State -- Democratic primary results | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
Democratic Party | ![]() |
55.25% | |
Democratic Party | Elaine Walker | 44.75% | |
Total Votes | 154,610 |
Campaign themes
2015
Grimes was running on the following themes in the 2015 election:
To view the full campaign themes history for the Secretary of State election, click [show] to expand the full section. | |||
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2011
To view the full campaign themes history for the Secretary of State election, click [show] to expand the full section. | |||
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Noteworthy events
Allegations of professional misconduct
On September 14, 2018, the Kentucky Personnel Board voted to investigate Grimes for improper use of the state's voter registration database. The investigation was opened after Kentucky State Board of Elections Executive Director Jared Dearing accused Grimes of using the database to find out the political affiliation of employees.[24] Bradford Queen, a spokesperson for Grimes, denied the allegations.[25]
June 2017 request for voter rolls
On June 29, 2017, the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, which had been created by President Donald Trump on May 11, requested information on registered voters from all 50 states dating back to 2006. The states were given until July 14 to respond. On June 29, Secretary Grimes announced that the state would refuse to provide the requested information to the commission.
“ | Kentucky will not aid a commission that is at best a waste of taxpayer money and at worst an attempt to legitimize voter suppression efforts across the country.[26] | ” |
—Secretary Alison Lundergan Grimes[27] |
Campaign finance summary
Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please consider donating to Ballotpedia.
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Grimes and her husband, Andrew, reside in Lexington, Ky.[5]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Alison OR Allison Lundergan OR Lundergran Grimes Kentucky Secretary State. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
Kentucky | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
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- Open offices draw big names, new faces to Kentucky state executive elections in 2015
- Kentucky Secretary of State election, 2015
- Kentucky Secretary of State
- Secretary of State
- United States Senate elections in Kentucky, 2014
- Kentucky secretary of state election, 2011
External links
- Social media:
- Summary, biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Profile at Wikipedia
- Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
- Campaign contributions at Follow The Money
- Issue positions and quotes at On The Issues
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Collected news and commentary at The Hill
- Collected news and commentary at The Huffington Post
- Profile at Electful
Footnotes
- ↑ WPSD, "Alison Grimes to seek re-election as secretary of state," January 26, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Kentucky State Board of Election, "Statewide results," accessed May 20, 2015
- ↑ Kentucky Secretary of State, accessed November 4, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Kentucky Secretary of State, accessed November 4, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Kentucky Secretary of State, "Biography - Alison Lundergan Grimes," accessed March 29, 2013
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Secretary Alison Lundergan Grimes' Biography," accessed March 29, 2013
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 WHAS, "Underdog Grimes accepts challenge, will face McConnell in 2014," accessed July 1, 2013
- ↑ Politico, "Senate Election Results," accessed November 12, 2014
- ↑ Kentucky Secretary of State, "Secretary of State," accessed November 4, 2015
- ↑ Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, "Candidate Search Results," accessed May 4, 2015
- ↑ Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, "Candidate Search Results," accessed February 3, 2015
- ↑ Public Policy Polling, "McConnell remains extremely unpopular," April 9, 2013
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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- ↑ The Washington Post, "The Fix’s top 10 Senate races of 2014," accessed December 10, 2013
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Courier Journal, "Alison Lundergan Grimes tells Mitch McConnell 'I don't scare easy' in video," accessed July 26, 2013
- ↑ Politico, "Alison Lundergan Grimes to Mitch McConnell: ‘I don’t scare easy,’" accessed July 26, 2013
- ↑ Policy Mic.com, "Alison Lundergan Grimes: McConnell's new attack ad is straight out of bizarro world," accessed July 26, 2013
- ↑ NY Daily News, "VIDEO: ‘What rhymes with Mitch?’ Alison Lundergan Grimes gives McConnell a taste of his own medicine in as the Kentucky Senate race heats up with new ad," accessed July 26, 2013
- ↑ WUKY, "Alison Lundergan Grimes calls Mitch McConnell's leadership spiteful, petty in kick-off ad," accessed July 26, 2013
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Mitch McConnell, political arsonist?" October 28, 2013
- ↑ Bowling Green Daily News, "Lexington attorney to face Walker in race," January 21, 2011
- ↑ Louisville Courier-Journal, "2011 Voter Guide -- Secretary of State," accessed July 15, 2011
- ↑ Cincinnati.com, "Grimes’ campaign says homeless have a right to vote," July 6, 2011
- ↑ WDRB.com, "Personnel Board votes to investigate Grimes," September 14, 2018
- ↑ Lexington Herald-Leader, "Kentucky Personnel Board opens investigation of Alison Lundergan Grimes. Here’s why." September 14, 2018
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Twitter, "Alison L. Grimes," June 29, 2017
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by Elaine Walker (D) |
Kentucky Secretary of State 2012-2020 |
Succeeded by Michael Adams (R) |
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