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Kentucky
Governor
| KENTUCKY |
Nov. 7,
2023 Governor
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Plurality: 67,025 votes (5.07 percentage points). KY
Secretary of State
Notes: Gov. Andy Beshear (D), seeking a second term, defeated Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R), dashing Republican hopes of achieving a pick up. In 2019 Beshear won by a 0.35 percent margin against the unpopular incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin (R). Under Beshear's leadership, the Commonwealth enjoyed considerable economic success, and Morning Consult 's July 2023 survey showed he was one of the nation's most popular governors. In the May 16, 2023 Democratic primary, Beshear faced only nominal opposition and tallied 91 percent of the vote. Republicans saw a competitive primary with 12 candidates on the ballot (1, 2). Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles announced via a May 9, 2022 video (>) followed by a rally on June 1. Cameron, who was elected in 2019—the first African American elected to statewide office in his own right—was seen as a rising GOP star. He announced in a May 11, 2022 video, declaring "this governor does not reflect our values (>)." Kelly Craft, former U.S. Ambassador to the UN (2019-2021) and to Canada (2017-2019) in the Trump Administration, entered in September (>). Craft, who is married to wealthy coal executive Joe Craft, put millions into her campaign. Other candidates included suspended attorney Eric Deters, running as a 100% pro-Trump candidate, State Auditor Mike Harmon, and Somerset Mayor Alan Keck. Former President Donald Trump endorsed Cameron early, on June 16, 2022. Cameron also had strong ties to U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, having served as his legal counsel from 2015-17. According to AdImpact campaigns and outside groups spent more than $13 million on advertising in the primary, including $6.74 million by the Craft campaign. When the votes were tallied, Cameron won with 144,576 votes (48%) followed by Quarles 65,718 (22%), Craft 52,170 (17%), Deters (6%), Harmon (3%), Keck (2%) and others in single digits. Fresh off the primary, Beshear and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman kicked off their campaign on May 19 with a three-day "From Paducah to Pikesville" bus tour. Cameron finally announced state Sen. Robby Mills of Henderson as his running mate on July 19. Speeches by the candidates for governor and lieutenant governor at the 143rd Fancy Farm picnic on Aug. 5 (+) marked a full start of the general election campaign. Cameron hit the values theme hard, while Beshear highlighted economic success. Beshear and Cameron participated in multiple debates: Sept. 20 - hosted by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce at their 77th Annual Meeting Dinner at the Omni Hotel Louisville; Oct. 12 - Gubernatorial Candidate Forum at Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the County Convention Center, broadcast by WPSD Local 6 (>); Oct. 16 - hosted by WCPO-TV ABC 9 at Northern Kentucky University (>); Oct. 21 - WLKY Channel 32 CBS in partnership with the League of Women Voters in Louisville (>); Oct. 23 - hosted by KET at their studios in Lexington (>); Oct. 24 - hosted by WKYT at their studios in Lexington (>). Beshear touted job creation and investments in infrastructure during his tenure, while Cameron criticized "the crazy Beshear-Biden agenda." Cameron also called for eliminating Kentucky's income tax. The Beshear campaign had a huge financial advantage, reporting total receipts of $16.5 million to compared to $3.4 million for the Cameron campaign as of the Oct. 11 report. However, outside groups spent heavily. On Aug. 10 the Democratic Governors Association announced over $11 million in TV ad reservations for its affiliate Defending Bluegrass Values; ads sought to "hold Daniel Cameron accountable for his failed record of covering for Matt Bevin’s corrupt pardons of violent criminals and pushing to gut health care coverage for nearly 100,000 Kentuckians (>)." Republican Governors Association affiliate Kentucky Values ran ads accusing Beshear of "putting liberal politics over parents" and seeking to tie him to the "radical transgender agenda (>)." The Decision Desk HQ website noted that of "forty polls released in the final months of every major statewide campaign from 2014 through 2022...39 out of those 40 polls had underestimated the Republican." Nonetheless Beshear benefited from the strong economy and strong fundraising, consistently led in horserace polls, and was in a strong position in the weeks leading up to Election Day, Although Cameron lost, Kentucky nonetheless is and remains a very "red" state. On Nov. 7 Republicans won all statewide races except governor/lieutenant governor. They have huge majorities in both chambers of the state legislature, and hold both U.S. Senate seats and five of six U.S. House seats. Campaign Managers Andy Beshear: Eric Hyers Owner of Outperform Strategies since Jan. 2020. Michigan state director on Biden for President, June-Nov. 2020. Campaign manager on Beshear/Coleman 2019, Jan.-Dec. 2019. Campaign manager on Clark Co. Commissioner's Chris Giunchigliani's campaign for Governor in the 2018 Nevada Democratic primary. Campaign manager for the Aruba People's Party, Apr.-Sept. 2017. Campaign manager on Montana Gov. Steve Bullock's re-election, Aug. 2015-Nov. 2016. Senior advisor to Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo's re-election, Mar.-July 2015. Campaign manager on Gina Raimondo's campaign for governor of Rhode Island, Nov. 2013-Dec. 2014. Campaign manager on Karen Spilka for Congress (MA-5), June-Oct. 2013. Campaign manager on Nia Gil for State Senate (NJ), Apr.-June 2013. Campaign manager on Cicilline for Congress, Mar.-Dec. 2012. Executive director of the Connecticut Democratic Party, Mar. 2011-Mar. 2012. Campaign manager on David Cicilline for Congress (RI), Mar.-Dec. 2010. Campaign manager on a State rep. race in Virginia, 2009. Field director on Gary Trauner's campaign for Congress in Wyoming, Fall 2008. Organizer in Iowa and Nevada on John Edwards' presidential primary campaign. Field organizer on Kirsten Gillibrand's congressional campaign, 2006. Degree in political science from Skidmore College, 2006. Volunteer campaign manager on Cheryl Keyrouse for Saratoga County Board of Supervisors, 2005. Grew up in North Adams, MA. twitter Daniel Cameron: Gus Herbert (Dec. 2022) U.S. Sen. John Thune's (SD) 2022 re-election. Special advisor to KY Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles after managing his 2019 re-election and serving as an aide to Commissioner Ryan. "Nearly a decade of grassroots campaigning and public affairs work." Graduate of the College of William and Mary. twitter See also: andybeshear.com | cameronforkentucky.com Election Coverage: Kentucky Lantern | Spectrum News 1 | KET Kentucky Registry of Election Finance Joe Sonka. "Beshear stretches spending lead over Cameron in Kentucky governor race. Here's a look." Louisville Courier Journal, Oct. 12, 2023. Brandon Finnigan. "Kentucky Gubernatorial Election Preview (and a warning about polling in the Bluegrass State)." Decision Desk HQ, Oct. 8, 2023. Eli Yokley. "U.S. Governor Rankings: Beshear Gets a Boost, Desantis' Approval Dips." Morning Consult, July 2023. Mark Payne. "Despite spending millions, Kelly Craft places third." LINK nky, May 16, 2023. Ethan Mort and Josh Fried. "2023 Kentucky Gubernatorial Primary Analysis." AdImpact, May 16, 2023. Alexandra Marquez. "GOP primary for Kentucky governor tops $10 million in ads." NBC News, May 4, 2023. Tom Loftus. "Top contributors to Beshear and Kentucky Democratic Party." Kentucky Lantern, Apr. 17, 2023. |
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