Kentucky governor Andy Beshear won reelection Tuesday night, besting the Trump-endorsed Republican state attorney general Daniel Cameron.
Beshear went into the election with an unusually high approval rating for a Democrat in a deep-red state, driven largely by his response to a spate of natural disasters that rocked Kentucky during his tenure, including the Covid-19 pandemic, a deadly tornado outbreak in 2021, and massive flooding in 2022.
The 45-year-old performed better at the ballot box this time around than he did in 2019 when he narrowly beat Republican governor Matt Bevin, one of the least popular governors in the U.S. at the time, by just 0.4 percent.
Throughout his campaign, Beshear cast himself as a uniter capable of rising above partisan politics, avoiding heated national political debates in favor of local issues.
“I run as a proud Democrat, but you saw the moment I won, I took that hat off and I serve every single family because it’s time for us to recognize that a good job isn’t Democrat or Republican,” Beshear said Monday of his first gubernatorial victory. “So, whether you’re a Democrat, Republican or independent, there is a place for you in this campaign.”
Meanwhile, Cameron tried to tie Beshear to President Joe Biden’s dismal approval ratings in the state, hoping to chip away at the Democrat’s Republican and independent voter base in a state that overwhelmingly supported former president Donald Trump in 2020.
Cameron, who repeatedly touted Trump’s endorsement on the campaign trail, said Monday “it is crazy to have a governor here in Kentucky who would openly endorse Joe Biden for President.”
Abortion proved to be a key issue in the race as Cameron sought to moderate slightly by vowing to support exceptions to the state’s near-total ban for rape and incest. Cameron did, however, slam Beshear as radical on the issue of gender ideology after the incumbent vetoed a ban on gender-transition procedures for minors and a ban on males playing on female sports teams. The Republican-controlled legislature overrode both vetoes.