Hardin County Election Results 2026

Watch the full Hardin Local Election Night livestream above. All numbers in this article are unofficial results from the Hardin County Clerk, last updated 8:40 PM ET on November 3, 2026, with 21 of 21 polling places reporting. Hardin Local does not call races.

The night in numbers

The Hardin County Clerk's unofficial count lists 33,464 ballots cast among 83,405 registered voters (Kentucky State Board of Elections), a turnout of 40.1%. All 21 polling places had reported in the 8:40 PM run. These figures are unofficial and subject to change until the vote is certified.

U.S. Senate, U.S. House (2nd District), State Senate District 10 and State Representative Districts 10, 18, 26 and 27 cross county lines. For those races, the board below shows Hardin County votes only. State Representative District 25 sits wholly inside Hardin County.

Key moments from the stream

Hardin Local went live with the results board, a forecasting tool and a rotating cast of hosts and guests. Early on, the stream set the ground rule: the numbers were unofficial and the races were not being called. Here are the moments worth jumping to.

1. First clerk results arrive (23:53). After more than twenty minutes of conversation, the clerk's page updated with results from five of 21 polling places, and the hosts walked through the local races: County Judge/Executive, Sheriff, Jailer, the magistrate districts and the city races. They noted that voters can cast ballots at any polling place, so early returns cannot be tied to a neighborhood.
2. The first lead changes (37:04). As more polling places reported, the hosts called out the first changes in who led the unofficial count, with the Property Valuation Administrator and a magistrate district among them.
3. All 21 polling places reported (1:16:16). The last polling place to report reordered the Elizabethtown City Council top six: in the final unofficial count Bryan "Cheese" Reesor finished with 3,290 votes to Jim Shaw's 3,270, a margin of 20 votes.
4. County Judge/Executive reaction (1:17:07). With every polling place in, hosts reacted on air to the unofficial count in the County Judge/Executive race. In the final unofficial count, J. J. Duvall (Democrat) leads with 18,298 votes to Keith Taul's (Republican) 14,810, a margin of 3,488 votes.
5. Federal and state races, Hardin County only (1:31:34). Late in the night the hosts turned to the U.S. Senate, U.S. House and State Senate and House races and stressed that the board shows only the votes cast in Hardin County, not the rest of each district.

Disclosure. Hardin Local's creator, Phil Taul, is the son of Republican candidate Keith Taul. Hardin Local is committed to even-handed coverage of this race: both candidates receive the same format, the same questions, and the same airtime, and this relationship is disclosed whenever the race is covered.

Race highlights (unofficial)

• County Judge/Executive: J. J. Duvall (D) 18,298 (55.27%), Keith Taul (R) 14,810 (44.73%). Duvall leads in the unofficial count by 3,488 votes.
• Sheriff: John Ward (D) 17,940 (54.37%), Willie Oden (R) 15,054 (45.63%). Ward leads by 2,886 votes.
• Jailer: Josh "Big Josh" Lindblom (D) 20,259 (61.55%), Robert Reynolds (R) 12,656 (38.45%). Lindblom leads by 7,603 votes.
• Property Valuation Administrator: Casey Overstreet (R) 17,607 (53.84%), Kristofor King (D) 15,096 (46.16%). Overstreet leads by 2,511 votes.
• Constitutional Amendment 1: Yes 21,953 (72.09%), No 8,500 (27.91%), Hardin County votes.

The County Judge/Executive race is the one the stream flagged for disclosure. Disclosure. Hardin Local's creator, Phil Taul, is the son of Republican candidate Keith Taul. Hardin Local is committed to even-handed coverage of this race: both candidates receive the same format, the same questions, and the same airtime, and this relationship is disclosed whenever the race is covered.

The closest margins

These single-seat races with two or more candidates finished closest in the unofficial count. Margins are exact vote differences from the clerk's totals.

• Mayor Radcliff: Terry Owens 2,601 to Toshie Murrell 2,544, a margin of 57 votes in the unofficial count.
• Magistrate 5th Magisterial District: Aaron Pennington 1,679 to Jim Becker 1,600, a margin of 79 votes in the unofficial count.
• Mayor West Point: Dwayne Culver 194 to Richard A. Ciresi Sr. 99, a margin of 95 votes in the unofficial count.
• Magistrate 4th Magisterial District: Fred Clem Jr. 2,438 to Travis Leffew 2,309, a margin of 129 votes in the unofficial count.
• Mayor Vine Grove: Pamela Ogden 1,232 to Selena Hudson 952, a margin of 280 votes in the unofficial count.

Every vote in these races is still unofficial, and close margins are the ones most likely to move if the count changes before certification.

Explore every race

Use the board below to search by race, candidate or city, filter by type, sort by closest margin, and jump straight to a moment in the stream. It works on a phone and follows your light or dark setting.

How we built this report

Results come from the Hardin County Clerk's unofficial election returns published at 8:40 PM ET on November 3, 2026, with registered voter totals from the Kentucky State Board of Elections. The recap and timestamps come from an automated transcript of the Hardin Local livestream, reviewed for accuracy before publication. The transcript has no speaker labels, so this article describes what was said on the stream rather than attributing statements to individuals. Results are unofficial until certified by the county. Hardin Local does not call races.