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1983 Kentucky Gubernatorial Election

Kentucky · 2 candidates · See every 1983 Governor race

Who won the 1983 Kentucky Gubernatorial Election?

Martha Layne Collins won the 1983 Kentucky Gubernatorial Election. Martha Layne Collins received 561,674 popular votes (54.5%). The main challenger was Jim Bunning (44.11%).

See the full head-to-head between Collins and Bunning

Collins +10.4 pts · won by 107,024 votes
Martha Layne CollinsDemocraticWINNER54.5%
561,674 votes
Jim BunningRepublican44.11%
454,650 votes
Other candidates received the remaining 1.4% 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.