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Kentucky Democrats Keep Control of the State House

Kentucky Democrats will retain control of the state's House of Representatives.

State Republicans had sought to end nearly a century of Democratic control in the House and complete a takeover of the General Assembly.

Democratic House Majority Floor Leader Rocky Adkins of Sandy Hook believes U.S. Senate candidate Alison Lundergran Grimes helped bring Democrats to the polls.

"She's stayed strong at the top of the ticket and there's no question that's helped our candidates down the ticket for her to be at the top of the ticket," Adkins told WFPL. "And Mitch McConnell had to concentrate his effort on Alison Grimes instead of concentrating his efforts on us, so with her at the top of the ticket its been a big plus for us."

The party divide in the House is now 54-46.  

In the House's 32nd District, which encompasses east Louisville, Republican businessman Phil Moffett defeated Democratic newcomer Ashley Miller.   

Moffett won with 53 percent of the vote. He is a former gubernatorial candidate with close ties to the tea party and support from U.S. Sen. Rand Paul. Miller is a first-time candidate, was vying to be the first African-American woman elected to the state legislature in over a decade.  

Also, Republicans grabbed an open seat in east Jefferson County's 36th District, where Jerry Miller won.   

Along with holding onto several seats, Democrats managed to snag new seats in Kentucky's House.   

This includes the 10th District, where Dean Schamore was victorious. In the 49th District, Linda Belcher took the new district's open seat. And in the 91st, Democrat Cluster Howard managed to squeeze past Republican Gary Harold 91 more votes.   

In other races, Democrats lost the 74th District, where Rep. Richard Henderson, of Mt. Sterling, was ousted by Republican David Hale.  

Elsewhere, Democratic Rep. Jimmie Lee lost the 25th District race by the razor-thin margin of 248 votes. In the 13th District, Democratic Rep. Jim Glenn barely held on.  

Republicans picked up the open seat in the 53rd District with a James Tipton victory. It was countered by Democrat Russ Meyer's win in the 39th District's open seat. 

The Associated Press contributed to this story.