PolitiFinder

1971 Kentucky Gubernatorial Election

Kentucky · 2 candidates · See every 1971 Governor race

Who won the 1971 Kentucky Gubernatorial Election?

Wendell H. Ford won the 1971 Kentucky Gubernatorial Election. Wendell H. Ford received 470,420 popular votes (50.56%). The main challenger was Thomas Emberton (44.35%).

See the full head-to-head between Ford and Emberton

Ford +6.2 pts · won by 57,767 votes
Wendell H. FordDemocraticWINNER50.56%
470,420 votes
Thomas EmbertonRepublican44.35%
412,653 votes
Other candidates received the remaining 5.1% of the popular vote; only the leading candidates are individually recorded for this election.
Popular-vote totals for governor elections are compiled from official state results (via Wikipedia); Louisiana shows the decisive round of its jungle primary.

Data last verified July 28, 2026.