Republican Matt Bevin elected governor in Kentucky
Then-Kentucky Tea Party Senate candidate Matt Bevin on May 6, 2014. [Think Progress]

Republican businessman Matt Bevin was elected Kentucky's next governor on Tuesday in a setback for Democrats who had controlled the governor's mansion in every election but one since 1971, CNN projected.


Bevin, who rode Tea Party support to a narrow victory in a four-way Republican primary, defeated State Attorney General Jack Conway, whose late October lead in the polls evaporated on election day.

(Reporting by Steve Bittenbender; Editing by Sandra Maler)