UPDATE, 7:45 p.m.: The congressional races have now been called, with no surprises in the outcomes.
That means U.S. Sen. Rand Paul will square off against Democratic challenger Charles Booker this November. With about a quarter of the vote counted, Paul has pulled in nearly 87 percent of the Republican vote. Meanwhile, Booker clinched the Democratic nomination with 71 percent.
In the Fifth District Congressional race, U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers secured an easy win with about 82 percent. He will now face Democratic challenger Conor Halbleib in the fall.
FRANKFORT, Ky. — It is still very early in the count, and voting only just wrapped up in the Central time zone, but early returns suggest the U.S. Senate and Fifth District House races could shape up exactly as anticipated.
In the Senate race, the top two names on the ballot began the night with commanding leads. Those include incumbent Sen. Rand Paul on the Republican side, and challenger Charles Booker on the Democratic side.
In the Fifth District congressional race, longtime U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers is showing no signs of weakness in fending off a field of Republican challengers.
All three men are cruising in the early returns, with each tallying more than 80 percent of the votes counted so far. Those numbers are even more impressive considering the number of challengers each candidate drew — three for Booker, four for Rogers and five for Paul.
Only about 5 percent of the votes have been counted in the Senate race so far, and 10 percent in the House race, so it is still far too early to call any of the races.
