Boone County early voting hit a midterm record in the Nov. 3 election, Boone County Clerk Justin Crigler said.
"Early voting certainly set the record for a midterm, and overall, it was either first or second; it's close," Crigler told LINK nky on Wednesday, Nov. 4, the morning after the election.
Crigler pointed to local contests as a major factor. "The judge/executive race was a big one in Boone County," he said. The Florence and Union city races, both for mayor and the city legislative seats, "drew out a lot," Crigler added.
The ballot included several contested local races. Florence voters chose between Julie Metzger Aubuchon and David Rose for mayor, with 12 candidates competing for six city council seats, according to the Boone County Clerk's Office sample ballot. Union's mayor race pitted Chris Courtney against John J. Mefford, and five candidates ran for four city commissioner seats. The county judge/executive race featured Republican Chet Hand and independent Timothy Dean Johnson.
LINK nky’s report did not include a specific Boone County early-vote total. He did note a wrinkle in the turnout data: Boone County posted a higher turnout percentage than in the 2022 midterm, but fewer voters were registered and fewer total votes were cast, according to LINK nky's reporting.
The early-voting surge stretched across Northern Kentucky. Campbell County Clerk Jim Luersen said early in-person voting in his county rose by about 2,400 people compared to 2022. Kenton County Clerk Gabrielle Summe said early voting numbers were "pretty high" compared to 2022.
Statewide, more than 438,000 Kentuckians cast ballots before Election Day through mail-in and in-person early voting, according to Kentucky State Board of Elections data reported by the Louisville Courier Journal. That marked an approximately 30% increase from the 2022 midterm, when 337,975 votes were cast ahead of Election Day. Kentucky's three-day no-excuse early voting period ran Oct. 29 through Oct. 31.
Turnout was generally higher than the 2022 midterm throughout Northern Kentucky and the state, according to election night reporting from the Kentucky Secretary of State's Office.
Beyond local races, Crigler said national sentiment played a role. "Sometimes the mood and the climate across the United States drove out some people," he said.
The turnout paradox in Boone County leaves an open question: a higher share of registered voters showed up, but the registration rolls themselves shrank, and fewer ballots were cast overall than in 2022.
