# Harland Sanders kentucky State Senate race **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2024, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harland-sanders-kentucky-state-senate-race/1001358 "2024-05-10T12:47:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harland-sanders-kentucky-state-senate-race/1001358/1 "2024-05-10T12:47:51Z")
Political, but has a factual answer. KFC has a posted saying if not for 187 (or some small number) of votes , he would be a Kentucky Senator. I’ve seen pics of a poster for him running as a kentucky STATE (not US) Senator in 1951, 1. Did he really run? 2. If so, what was the vote count? 1950s Kentucky State Senator races are hard to google. Thanks, Brian ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harland-sanders-kentucky-state-senate-race/1001358/2 "2024-05-10T13:00:38Z")
Well here is this campaign poster shown on X. I think if he had the beard he might not have chickened out. > ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harland-sanders-kentucky-state-senate-race/1001358/3 "2024-05-10T13:22:18Z")
Using [newspapers.com](http://newspapers.com) I could find interm results with 21 of 144 precincts reporting. At that point, the votes were: Caleb McFadden 1451 Eugene H Clark 941 Harland Sanders 463 I’ll see if I can dig up anything else. This was just a cursory search. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harland-sanders-kentucky-state-senate-race/1001358/4 "2024-05-10T13:41:32Z")
Losing the state senate race was a mere blip in Harland Sanders’ [political career](https://althistory.fandom.com/wiki/Colonel_H._Sanders_(FDR_Two_Term)), as he went on to become governor of Kentucky and to serve as vice president under Richard Nixon. “A fried chicken on every plate” was one of the most successful political slogans of all time. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harland-sanders-kentucky-state-senate-race/1001358/5 "2024-05-10T13:50:02Z")
It’s looks like McFadden did win. This was for the 19th district in Kentucky. I still can’t find any final totals, though. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harland-sanders-kentucky-state-senate-race/1001358/6 "2024-05-10T14:21:56Z")
I find it interesting that his state senate run is not mentioned on wikipedia nor in any obits I could find. Brian ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harland-sanders-kentucky-state-senate-race/1001358/7 "2024-05-10T14:31:05Z")
Hmm, this very large PDF > **[ib175b.pdf](https://legislature.ky.gov/LRC/Publications/Informational%20Bulletins/ib175b.pdf)** for 1952 I see | county | Senator | Party | district | |:—|:—|:—|:—| | Clay | Clark, Eugene H. | R-n | 19 | Brian (I tried to make a nice table – finally gave up) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harland-sanders-kentucky-state-senate-race/1001358/8 "2024-05-10T14:36:05Z")
Thanks. It’s weird, because looking through the papers, I see some having Clark as the winner in the August 1951 Republican primary, but others have Caleb McFadden, (when they list the ballots for the November general; the 19th district was unopposed by Democrats) and I can’t for the life of me figure out the discrepancy. (Looks like the Kentucky Post and Courier-Journal had McFadden, but The Lexington Herald had Clark – all reported on Aug 12. Looks like the election was on Saturday, Aug 4, 1951.) ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harland-sanders-kentucky-state-senate-race/1001358/9 "2024-05-10T17:56:33Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Losing the state senate race was a mere blip in Harland Sanders’ [political career](https://althistory.fandom.com/wiki/Colonel_H._Sanders_(FDR_Two_Term)), as he went on to become governor of Kentucky and to serve as vice president under Richard Nixon. > > “A fried chicken on every plate” was one of the most successful political slogans of all time. Also, when he died his restaurants had a “Kick the Bucket” sale. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2024, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harland-sanders-kentucky-state-senate-race/1001358/10 "2024-05-10T23:38:29Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > I think if he had the beard he might not have chickened out. He never really had a beard, he had a mustache and a [soul patch extending down his chin.](https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/colonel-harland-sanders-he-became-a-success-selling-his-chicken-with-11-herbs-and-spices-at-age-65-his-recipe-went-on--132574782755608602/) ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2024, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harland-sanders-kentucky-state-senate-race/1001358/11 "2024-05-11T00:20:25Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Losing the state senate race was a mere blip in Harland Sanders’ [political career](https://althistory.fandom.com/wiki/Colonel_H._Sanders_(FDR_Two_Term)), as he went on to become governor of Kentucky and to serve as vice president under Richard Nixon. Wow, that took me down a disturbing rabbit hole. While I definitely like the idea that Fred Rogers is our president (you thought _Biden_ was geriatric?!), and I was happy that Kennedy served two terms, missing out on Obama was quite the disappointment. And I shudder to think about what the Reagan, Romney, Ryan years were like.