Mike Harmon (politician)

Mike Harmon (born October 16, 1966) is an American politician serving as the Kentucky auditor of public accounts. He was previously a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives for the 54th district.[1] He was a 2011 candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, but lost in the primary.

This article is about the Kentucky politician. For the race car driver, see Mike Harmon.
Mike Harmon
Auditor of Kentucky
Assumed office
January 4, 2016
GovernorMatt Bevin
Andy Beshear
Preceded byAdam Edelen
Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives
from the 54th district
In office
January 2003 – January 2016
Preceded byJohn Bowling
Succeeded byDaniel Elliott
Personal details
Born (1966-10-16) October 16, 1966
Harrodsburg, Kentucky, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationEastern Kentucky University (BS)
WebsiteOfficial website

In 2015, Harmon was elected state Auditor, after defeating Democratic incumbent Adam Edelen. He was the only Republican statewide candidate run unopposed in the primary.[2] He was elected to a second term as Auditor in 2019.[3] He ran in the primary for the 2023 gubernatorial election.[4]

Education and employment

Harmon earned a Bachelor of Science from Eastern Kentucky University.

Harmon was a mortgage originator from 2006 to 2011.[5] He became an associate insurance agent in 2010.[5]

Elections

Campaigns for District 54, lieutenant governor, and state auditor

Harmon did not face any opposition in the 1998 Republican primary for the District 54 seat (as continued to be the case through the 2012 primary).[6] But Harmon lost the 1998 General Election to the Democratic nominee, John Bowling. Two years later, Harmon again lost the 2000 General Election to Bowling.

When Bowling left the Legislature, Harmon won the 2002 General election with 7,035 votes (57.6%) against Democrat William Erwin.[7] Harmon won the General elections in 2004 with 9,459 votes (56.3%) against Democrat David Sparrow, in 2006 with 6,000 votes (50.3%) against Sparrow, and in 2008 with 9,375 votes (53.5%) against Sparrow, and was unopposed in 2010.[8][9][10][11]

Harmon joined gubernatorial candidate Phil Moffett as his running mate for the 2011 Republican Primary for governor, but they lost to President of the Kentucky Senate David L. Williams and Agricultural Commissioner Richie Farmer,[12] who in turn lost the 2011 General election to incumbent Governor Steve Beshear and Democratic Lieutenant Governor nominee Jerry Abramson. He won the 2012 General election for District 54 with 9,482 votes (54.8%) against Democrat Barry Harmon.[13]

Harmon was unopposed for the Republican nomination for the office of State Auditor against incumbent Democrat Adam Edelen, won with 51.9% of the vote (486,280 votes to 449,960), and was sworn in as Kentucky's 47th State Auditor in January 2016. He was again unopposed in the Republican primary election, and was re-elected to a second term in the general election. Harmon garnered 55.6% of the vote (779,327) against his opponents, Democrat Sheri Donahue and Libertarian Kyle Hugenberg.

2023 Kentucky gubernatorial Republican primary

He is running in the 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial Republican primary, against a number of Kentucky Republicans, including former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft, state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, and state Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles.[14]

As of the end of the third quarter of 2022, he had cash on hand amounting to $31,000 for his campaign, less than the amounts of cash on hand of each of his opponents.[15] In the fourth quarter of 2022 his campaign raised $3,800, ending with $26,000 on hand.[16] In a January 2023 poll he received support from 5% of respondents. He lost the Republican primary to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron.[17]

References
  1. "Mike Harmon's Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  2. "Republican Harmon to file for Kentucky Auditor". WHAS11. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  3. "Republican Auditor Mike Harmon easily wins second term". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  4. "Kentucky Auditor Mike Harmon is running for governor". Louisville Courier Journal. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  5. "Mike Harmon". Ballotpedia.
  6. "2002 Primary Election". Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  7. "2002 General Election". Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  8. "2004 General Election". Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on December 24, 2014. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  9. "2006 General Election". Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  10. "2008 General Election". Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky State Board of Elections. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  11. "Commonwealth of Kentucky November 2, 2010 Official 2010 General Election Results" (PDF). Frankfort, Kentucky: Secretary of State of Kentucky. p. 47. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  12. "May 17, 2011 Official Primary Results" (PDF). Frankfort, Kentucky: Secretary of State of Kentucky. p. 2. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  13. "Commonwealth of Kentucky November 6, 2012 Official 2012 General Election Results" (PDF). Frankfort, Kentucky: Secretary of State of Kentucky. p. 41. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2014. Retrieved April 30, 2014.
  14. Luke Pierce (November 11, 2022). "Filing for 2023 elections underway across Kentucky". WCLU Radio.
  15. "Millions of dollars have already been raised in Kentucky's 2023 governor's race". LEX 18 News - Lexington, KY (WLEX). October 5, 2022.
  16. Loftus, Tom (January 4, 2023). "Beshear maintains big fundraising lead over Republican rivals".
  17. Schreiner, Bruce (May 16, 2023). "Trump-backed Daniel Cameron to face Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear in November". Associated Press. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
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