Editing Pike County, Kentucky (section)

==Politics==
{{PresHead|place=Pike County, Kentucky|source=<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|first=David|last=Leip|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=April 4, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|19,684|4,025|241|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|20,284|4,866|245|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|19,747|4,280|638|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|17,590|5,646|400|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|12,655|9,525|463|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|2004|Democratic|12,611|14,002|157|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|2000|Democratic|11,005|13,611|319|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|7,160|14,126|2,209|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|8,212|17,358|2,512|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1988|Democratic|9,976|16,339|101|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1984|Democratic|11,869|15,817|126|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1980|Democratic|10,550|14,878|292|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|9,178|14,320|193|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|12,535|9,513|152|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1968|Democratic|8,911|11,663|1,952|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|7,078|14,140|35|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|9,956|13,039|0|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|11,678|11,466|41|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|9,778|12,761|37|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|8,097|11,423|244|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|8,092|9,757|48|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|8,985|12,160|16|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|8,210|11,382|11|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|7,914|12,686|74|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|9,386|7,930|19|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|7,059|5,835|646|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|7,911|5,619|92|Kentucky}}
{{PresRow|1916|Republican|4,212|3,414|73|Kentucky}}
{{PresFoot|1912|Republican|2,777|2,583|832|Kentucky}}
Pike County voted reliably Republican in presidential elections from 1896 to 1928 under the [[Fourth Party System]], then Democratic in presidential elections from 1932 until 2004. Since 2008, it has shifted back to Republicans in presidential voting.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/KY/PI-votes.html|title=The Political Graveyard: Pike County, Ky.|first=Lawrence|last=Kestenbaum|website=politicalgraveyard.com|access-date=April 4, 2018}}</ref>

Local politics have been dominated by the Democratic Party throughout the county's history. Most local offices, including judge-executive, sheriff, and several representatives in the [[Kentucky House of Representatives]] remain Democratic. No Republicans ran in the last races for judge-executive and sheriff.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article44490042.html|title=Pike voters replace state lawmaker, judge-executive and Kentucky's longest-serving sheriff|website=kentucky.com|access-date=April 4, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/kentucky-state-house-district-94|title=Kentucky 94th District State House Results: Angie Hatton Wins|date=August 1, 2017|access-date=April 4, 2018|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref> In the [[2022 United States elections|2022 midterm elections]] Pike County saw a "[[Wave elections in the United States|red wave]]" in which every incumbent county commissioner was ousted along with Democratic incumbent County Clerk Rhonda Taylor, Democratic incumbent County Attorney Kevin Keene, and Democratic incumbent State Representative [[Angie Hatton]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Election Results |url=https://www.wymt.com/politics/election-results/ |access-date=November 10, 2022 |website=www.wymt.com |language=en}}</ref>

===Local government===
The office of Pike County [[County Judge-Executive|Judge Executive]] served as a launching pad for the governorship of [[Paul E. Patton]] (1995–2003).<ref>[http://www.pikecountyky.gov/index.php?id=judge-executive Pike County Judge/Executives Since 1965] Office of the Pike County Judge Executive. Retrieved June 25, 2014.</ref>

In 2016, Pike County voted to switch from a magisterial form of government to a commissioner form of government. As of 2019, the Pike County Fiscal Court is composed of three county commissioners and the county judge/executive. This was a bipartisan effort led by a citizens' group, Pike Countians Against Government Waste, that garnered signature petitions in 2015–16 to place the question on the ballot. In 2016, nearly 70% of voters supported changing to a commissioner form of government. In March 2017, the fiscal court, composed of six magistrates and a judge-executive, voted unanimously to sue the judge-executive (who voted to sue himself) to overturn the results of the ballot question to change the form of government. The fiscal court, composed of magistrates Jeff Anderson, Vernon "Chick" Johnson, Leo Murphy, Hilman Dotson, and Bobby Varney and Judge Bill Deskins, was first represented by Assistant County Attorney John Doug Hays and then by County Attorney Howard Keith Hall. The citizens' group was represented by State Senator Ray S. Jones II, who filed a motion to intervene on behalf of the citizens of Pike County. In October 2017, Special Judge Rebecca Phillips of Morgan County dismissed the lawsuit in a 23-page decision, which effectively ended the effort to overturn the voters' decision. The commissioner form of government replaced the magistrate form in 2019.

===Elected officials===
{| class=wikitable
|-
| colspan="3" |'''Elected officials as of January 3, 2025'''<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/Legislators/smembers_county.html |title=Senate Members - County |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=apps.legislature.ky.gov |publisher=[[Kentucky General Assembly]] |access-date=January 3, 2025 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/Legislators/hmembers_county.html |title=House Members - County |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website=apps.legislature.ky.gov |publisher=[[Kentucky General Assembly]] |access-date=January 3, 2025 |quote=}}</ref>
|- 
! scope=row|[[U.S. House]]
| {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Hal Rogers]] (R)
| {{party shading/Republican}}|{{ushr|KY|5|B}}
|- 
! scope=row|[[Kentucky Senate|Ky. Senate]]
| {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Phillip Wheeler]] (R)
| {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Kentucky's 31st Senate district|31]]
|- 
!rowspan=4 |[[Kentucky House of Representatives|Ky. House]]
| {{party shading/Republican}}|[[John Blanton]] (R)
| {{party shading/Republican}}|92
|- 
| {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Mitch Whitaker]] (R)
| {{party shading/Republican}}|94
|- 
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|[[Ashley Tackett Laferty]] (D)
| {{party shading/Democratic}}|95
|- 
| {{party shading/Republican}}|[[Bobby McCool (politician)|Bobby McCool]] (R)
| {{party shading/Republican}}|97
|}