KENTUCKY
Population (1994): 3,627,000 (up 3.8% from 1990), 1.5% of U.S. total
Voting-age population: 2,857,000; 1994 turnout, 27%
Median age: 33.0 years
Median household Income: $26,595 ($5,669 below the U.S. median)
Unemployment: 5.1% (0.5% below U.S. average, March 1996)
Last presidential election: Clinton (D): 45% Bush (R): 41% Perot (I): 14%
Congressional delegation: Three Democrats, five Republicans The Bluegrass State still tends to vote geographically, as it has for more than a century. Western Kentucky is Democratic, but the eastern mountains, which were pro-Union during the Civil War, vote Republican, as does Louisville, which was an antislavery town. The population has grown only 30% in the past 50 years, and many residents are descendants of settlers and still make their living in the tobacco, coal, whiskey and auto industries. But Kentucky is best known for its Derby, and this year the hottest political horse race is the one for Mitch McConnell's Senate seat. His past two victories were both close.
STEVEN BESHEAR (D) SENATE CHALLENGER
BORN: Sept. 21, 1944, Dawson Springs EDUCATION: U of Kentucky, B.A., 1966, J.D.,1968 FAMILY: Wife, Jane; two children RELIGION: Christian MILITARY: Army Reserve, 1969-75 OCCUPATION: Lawyer POLITICAL CAREER: Kentucky House, 1973-79; state Attorney General, 1979-83, Lieutenant Governor, 1983-87 ADDRESS: 1833 Alexandria Drive, Lexington 40504. Tel.: 502-695-5696
Beshear's campaign focuses a great deal of attention on "A Commitment to Women and Families," and he calls for a national notification system to alert victims when their abusers are released from jail. The former state Attorney General also wants more police on the streets and pledges to assist women who own small businesses and to save funding for college loans.
THE ISSUES
Budget NR Medicare NR Defense NR Abortion NR Guns NR Gays NR Bosnia NR NAFTA NR Welfare NR National Service NR (For an explanation of these issues, see the front of this guide.)
QUOTE OF NOTE: "Crippling the nation with exploding deficits isn't the way to create opportunity and jobs, no matter what Bob Dole, Newt Gingrich or Mitch McConnell promises in the guise of a tax cut."
MITCH MCCONNELL (R) JUNIOR SENATOR
BORN: Feb. 20, 1942, Sheffield, Ala. EDUCATION: U of Louisville, B.A., 1964; U of Kentucky, J.D., 1967 FAMILY: Wife, Elaine; three children RELIGION: Baptist MILITARY: None OCCUPATION: Lawyer POLITICAL CAREER: Jefferson County judge/executive, 1978-84; U.S. Senate, 1984- ADDRESS: Watterson Towers East, 1930 Bishop Lane, Suite 1018, Louisville 40218. Tel.: 502-473-1888
McConnell, who overcame polio as a child, is a self-disciplined, serious defender of the G.O.P. The only Republican to win a statewide race in Kentucky since 1968, he says balancing the budget is the most important issue facing the U.S. He also supports capital-gains-tax cuts, opposes congressional term limits and denies opponent Steven Beshear's assertion that Republicans would cut programs like Medicare, Medicaid and college loans.
THE ISSUES
Budget YES Medicare NO Defense YES Abortion NO Guns NO Gays NO Bosnia NO NAFTA YES Welfare NO National Service NO (For an explanation of these issues, see the front of this guide.)