Steven L Beshear

Undefeated governor candidate from Kentucky with a perfect 4-0 record

Democratic

GovernorState House

Electoral Grade

—

Requires 3+ graded races

Races

4-0

W-L (100%)

+36.8

Avg Margin

1973–2011

Career Span

Best: +85.2 (1977 State House)Worst: 17.4 (2007 Governor)

100%

Win Rate

+21.8

Avg Overperformance

Win Streak

38 yrs

Career Span

1.1M

Career Votes

Evidence & provenance

Source owners

Certified contest returns, candidate career records, and Akashic Edge deterministic grading inputs.

Freshness

Rendered Apr 14, 2026 from the latest candidate, contest, and forecast tables loaded in Akashic Edge.

Boundary scope

Candidate-level profile spanning every contest recorded for this person in Akashic Edge.

Claim type

Deterministic summaries, calculated grades, and certified election history. No freeform AI prose.

Source chain

MethodologyCertified contest returnsCandidate grade inputs

Open methodology

Career Margin Trend4 races

State House

Governor

Career Timeline

2011 Governor Kentucky

464,245

Candidate Votes

55.7%

Vote %

833,139

Total Votes

+20.4%

Margin

Electoral Performance

+21.1

Race Score

+24.1

vs. State Pres.

D-3.6

State Pres.

Incumbent (−3pt bar)

Top opponent: David Lynn WilliamsREP

Key Insights

🏆

Perfect 4-0 career record

Never lost an election across 4 races spanning 38 years.

🏊

Won against the partisan tide in 2 of 2 races

100% of races were won in territory that favored the opposite party at the presidential level.

📉

Margins declined by -35.7 pts in later career

Average margin dropped from +54.6 in early races to +18.9 in later races.

🌊

3 races won or lost by 20+ points

3 of these were dominant victories — typical of safe-seat incumbents or popular figures.

Key Insights

4 insights generated

Deterministic highlights from career record, margins, and standout performances.

Unlock with Pro$33/mo

Geographic Performance

4 races with county data

County-level results, strongest and weakest counties, and performance by county type.

Unlock with Pro$33/mo

County Results Table

Sortable, searchable table of every county result for each race.

Unlock with Pro$33/mo

Demographic Coalition Analysis

4 races available

Scatter plots correlating county performance with demographics: race, education, income, foreign-born.

Unlock with Insider$99/mo

Opponents Faced4 opponents

David Lynn WilliamsREP

1-02011 Governor(+20.4)

Ernest L FletcherREP

1-02007 Governor(+17.4)

Darrell K JacksonOTH

1-01977 State House(+85.2)

Robert FlynnREP

1-01973 State House(+24.0)

Historian Query

Ask the Historian

Curious about Steven L Beshear's performance?

“How did Steven L Beshear compare to other DEM Governor candidates in Kentucky?”

Ask the Historian

Ask any question about Steven L Beshear's career, opponents, or performance.

Ask anything about 165 years of elections.

Plain English. Evidence-backed answers. Every state, county, and district since 1868.

Example questions

Pro workflow

Upgrade to run live queries, follow-ups, and saved workspaces.

The free view previews the research surface. Pro unlocks the actual investigative loop.

Upgrade to Pro

Ask the Historian

Interactive AI-powered chat about Steven L Beshear's career, opponents, and performance.

Unlock with Insider$99/mo

Export & ShareCSV (Insider)JSON (Insider)

Explore Related

Kentucky

Election history and demographics for Kentucky

2011 Elections

All results from 2011

Rankings

Who overperformed their state's partisan lean?

Historian

Ask any question about 165 years of elections

2026 Elections

Forecasts, polling, and battleground races in one place

← All candidates