GOP makes gains in one-time Democratic stronghold

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Democratic state Sen. Joey Pendleton was a political survivor for years in his conservative region of western Kentucky. But sharing the ballot with Barack Obama may have been his undoing.

The Hopkinsville Democrat hasn't conceded but trails his Republican challenger by 297 votes in a district where Mitt Romney outpolled Obama by a roughly 2-to-1 margin. Pendleton says he was hurt by anti-Obama voters who voted straight Republican.

Republicans made more inroads in the traditional Democratic stronghold.

GOP candidates won three open House races in far western Kentucky that have been reliably Democratic seats.

Democratic Rep. Mike Cherry, who is retiring and saw a Republican win his seat, calls it a "perfect storm" against Democrats in the region. In Cherry's home county, Obama barely got 30 percent of the vote.