Alison Lundergan Grimes

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Alison Lundergan Grimes
Image of Alison Lundergan Grimes
Prior offices
Kentucky Secretary of State
Successor: Michael Adams

Education

Bachelor's

Rhodes College

Law

American University, Washington College of Law

Personal
Profession
Attorney

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

See also: Kentucky Secretary of State election, 2019

Alison Lundergan Grimes was not able to file for re-election due to term limits.

2015

See also: Kentucky Secretary of State election, 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
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democrat Green check mark transparent.pngAlison Lundergan Grimes Incumbent 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
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngAlison Lundergan Grimes 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]

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]

Polls

General election

Kentucky Secretary of State
Poll Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) Stephen Knipper (R)UndecidedMargin of errorSample size
Mason-Dixon Polling & Research
October 6-8, 2015
47%45%8%+/-4625
SurveyUSA/Bluegrass Poll
July 22-28, 2015
46%40%14%+/-3.8685
Public Policy Polling
June 18-21, 2015
42%47%12%+/-2.91,108
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
Poll Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) Stephen L. Knipper (R)UndecidedMargin of errorSample size
Gravis Marketing
January 5-6, 2015
47%46%7%+/-4608
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

See also: United States Senate elections in Kentucky, 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]


U.S. Senate, Kentucky General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngMitch McConnell Incumbent 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
U.S. Senate, Kentucky Democratic Primary, 2014
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngAlison Lundergan Grimes 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

Media


2011

See also: Kentucky secretary of state election, 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
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngAlison Lundergan Grimes 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 Approveda Alison Lundergan Grimes 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:


2011


Noteworthy events

Allegations of professional misconduct

See also: Noteworthy professional misconduct in American politics (2017-2018)

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

See also: State government responses to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity

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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External links

Footnotes

  1. WPSD, "Alison Grimes to seek re-election as secretary of state," January 26, 2015
  2. 2.0 2.1 Kentucky State Board of Election, "Statewide results," accessed May 20, 2015
  3. Kentucky Secretary of State, accessed November 4, 2015
  4. 4.0 4.1 Kentucky Secretary of State, accessed November 4, 2015
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Kentucky Secretary of State, "Biography - Alison Lundergan Grimes," accessed March 29, 2013
  6. Project Vote Smart, "Secretary Alison Lundergan Grimes' Biography," accessed March 29, 2013
  7. 7.0 7.1 WHAS, "Underdog Grimes accepts challenge, will face McConnell in 2014," accessed July 1, 2013
  8. Politico, "Senate Election Results," accessed November 12, 2014
  9. Kentucky Secretary of State, "Secretary of State," accessed November 4, 2015
  10. Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, "Candidate Search Results," accessed May 4, 2015
  11. Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, "Candidate Search Results," accessed February 3, 2015
  12. Public Policy Polling, "McConnell remains extremely unpopular," April 9, 2013
  13. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named prim
  14. The Washington Post, "The Fix’s top 10 Senate races of 2014," accessed December 10, 2013
  15. 15.0 15.1 Courier Journal, "Alison Lundergan Grimes tells Mitch McConnell 'I don't scare easy' in video," accessed July 26, 2013
  16. Politico, "Alison Lundergan Grimes to Mitch McConnell: ‘I don’t scare easy,’" accessed July 26, 2013
  17. Policy Mic.com, "Alison Lundergan Grimes: McConnell's new attack ad is straight out of bizarro world," accessed July 26, 2013
  18. 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
  19. WUKY, "Alison Lundergan Grimes calls Mitch McConnell's leadership spiteful, petty in kick-off ad," accessed July 26, 2013
  20. The Washington Post, "Mitch McConnell, political arsonist?" October 28, 2013
  21. Bowling Green Daily News, "Lexington attorney to face Walker in race," January 21, 2011
  22. Louisville Courier-Journal, "2011 Voter Guide -- Secretary of State," accessed July 15, 2011
  23. Cincinnati.com, "Grimes’ campaign says homeless have a right to vote," July 6, 2011
  24. WDRB.com, "Personnel Board votes to investigate Grimes," September 14, 2018
  25. Lexington Herald-Leader, "Kentucky Personnel Board opens investigation of Alison Lundergan Grimes. Here’s why." September 14, 2018
  26. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  27. Twitter, "Alison L. Grimes," June 29, 2017
Political offices
Preceded by
Elaine Walker (D)
Kentucky Secretary of State
2012-2020
Succeeded by
Michael Adams (R)