Republican Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron touted his endorsement from former President Donald Trump in an advertisement for the first time since winning the GOP primary for the 2023 gubernatorial race.
An analysis from AdImpact found that the 30-second ad touting Trump's endorsement is the first ad to mention Trump by name since the May primary when Cameron defeated former U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft and state Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles. Cameron is now facing incumbent Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) in the general election in November.
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“I am proud to be the only candidate in this race endorsed by President Donald Trump and the only candidate who has stood up to Joe Biden,” Cameron says in the ad.
The decision to use Trump's name in the recent ad is likely a political move to appeal to Republican general election voters who voted for Trump in the 2020 election. The former president won Kentucky by 26 percentage points, but Beshear holds a slight lead over Cameron in the 2023 governor's race, according to recent polling. The Democratic governor won the seat for his first term in 2019 by less than half a percentage point.
Cameron's decision to tout Trump's endorsement signals that Republicans are hoping to nationalize the presidential race and draw in criticism of President Joe Biden as a way to sway voters. Kentucky Values, a group affiliated with the Republican Governors Association, launched a TV ad earlier this week tying Beshear directly to President Joe Biden.
“I fought the Biden agenda in court to defend Kentucky. Andy Beshear? He never will," Cameron says in his 30-second ad. "Kentucky deserves better than a governor who does Biden’s bidding in Frankfort.”
Heading into a general election where he is falling shortly behind Beshear, the former president's endorsement could help Cameron secure the support of Republican general election-only voters who support Trump.
Cameron's change in tactics also comes after several Republican candidates across various state and national offices stepped away from touting endorsements from Trump after the GOP's less-than-expected performance in the 2022 midterm elections. Many Trump-endorsed candidates, mostly hard-line conservatives, defeated centrist Republicans in the primaries but went on to lose heavily to Democrats in the general election.
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The Kentucky governor's race will take place on Nov. 7. The GOP lost the governorship four years ago in the heavily Republican state when Beshear ousted then-GOP Gov. Matt Bevin. Since 1947, there have only been three Republicans elected as governor of Kentucky.
Democrats have outspent Republicans on the airwaves since the May primary, according to AdImpact. Beshear's campaign and Defending Bluegrass Values, an outside group aligned with the Democratic Governors Association, have spent a combined $35.6 million on ads. Cameron and his Republican allies have spent a combined $21.6 million.