In terms of explaining the discrepancy, I would put forward this theory. As Kentucky has slowly transitioned to being a Republican state, it has done so from the Federal level in a trickle down fashion to the state and county level. For instance, it is hard to get a Democrat to win a Presidential or Senate election (or US House) in Kentucky, but it is still infrequent to get a Republican governor or state cabinet member elected. I'm guessing that at county level, there are still a higher proportion of Democratic County Judges (Executives) than you would expect if you looked at the county-by-county vote totals for Federal positions. If true, I would infer that this would lead to somewhat of a dearth of natural Republican candidates for the State House of Reps and hence some Democrats face re-election unopposed or against an opponent with no name recognition. Also, there are no term limits for Kentucky legislators, so there are fewer open seats. Thoughts?
Many more Republicans than Democrats were unopposed.
I wonder what percentage of Kentuckians live under a Republican county executive. I'm pretty sure Louisville and Lexington have Democratic mayors (which is really the top executive for those counties). The 3 heavily populated counties in northern Kentucky have Republican judge-executives, but 2 of these counties are urban enough that the Democrats will probably take the lead soon. I know 3 other big counties have a Republican, but I'm pretty sure at least one other big county has a Democrat. Mason County has an independent.
