Live blog: MKYGuide covers Kentucky races

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Throughout the night, the student staff of the MKYGuide, a project of Murray State University’s JMC 597 Collaborative Journalism capstone, will report updates from the Kentucky election. Tonight’s main focus will be the Kentucky’s governor’s race that pits incumbent Republican Matt Bevin against Democratic challenger Andy Beshear, the current state attorney general.

Polls closed at 6 p.m. in far western Kentucky. We are watching results come in from the eastern and central part of the state. We plan to have coverage throughout the night and will focus on Murray and Calloway County.

6:42 p.m. – Absentee ballots have been counted.

Governor’s race

Bevin: 352

Beshear: 354

Hicks: 10

6:50 p.m. – Fourteen of the 23 precincts in Calloway County have reported. We will bring the latest totals as they are announced.

7 p.m. – Diana Wilkerson, a precinct worker at Westside Baptist Church, said the precinct had a 50% turnout, or more than 600 voters. She attributed the turnout to the interest in the governor’s race.

Precinct workers continue to bring their results into the courthouse.

7:15 p.m. – Fred Richter brought the ballots from Kirskey Baptist Church to the courthouse. He said almost 50% of registered voters turned out. He added the older population was dedicated to voting.

7:23 p.m. – Democratic candidate Andy Beshear has taken the lead in Kentucky. Approximately 84% of precincts in the state have reported.

7:27 p.m. – All precincts are in, and incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin has won Calloway County. The final results are:

Incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin: 6,3444

Attorney General Andy Beshear: 5,160

Independent John Hicks: 251

8:15 p.m.: MKYGuide is breaking down the election results by precinct. Although incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin won Calloway County, Attorney General Andy Beshear won seven precincts. These precincts include: the Courthouse, CSFB Center, First Baptist Church, Murray Elementary, University Church of Christ, Murray High School, and North Elementary.

8:45 p.m.: Ed Davis, former chairperson of the Republican Party in Calloway County, said they are sad that Bevin lost the election, but they are happy that other Republicans have been elected.

“I think we will handle the loss as Republicans better than other people if they had lost,” Davis said.

He said he has met many of the candidates that were elected.

“They are good people. They are God-fearing people,” Davis said. “That’s the kind of people we need.”

9:01 p.m.: Incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin just announced he will not be conceding the election to opponent Andy Beshear. “We are not conceding this race by any stretch.”

9:03 p.m.: In his speech, Gov. Elect Andy Beshear said he hasn’t spoken to Bevin, but he hoped Bevin would honor the election process.

Beshear thanked the people who helped him get elected, including his wife and his children. He also thanked educators for their hard work.

“To our educators, this is your victory,” Beshear said. “From now on, the doors of your state capitol will always be open.”

9:16 p.m.: KET commentators are discussing the possibility of a recount. Scott Jennings pointed out that there is no automatic recount in Kentucky based on law.

9:21 p.m.: KET is reporting that the race must be called by Dec. 10.