A $10 million ham and plenty of talk about KY governor’s race at annual charity event

In the lead-up to one of the most closely-watched governor’s races in Kentucky history, political players from across the state descended on Louisville Thursday for the 59th Annual Kentucky Farm Bureau Country Ham Breakfast held at the state fairgrounds.

While all in attendance Thursday morning got their bellies full with country ham and other breakfast items at the event, Kentucky’s political class also got an earful of chatter about GOP gubernatorial nominee Daniel Cameron’s challenge against Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.

Beshear delivered a straightforward speech touting his record on disaster recovery, infrastructure and particularly economic development.

The governor said that the two best years for private investment in the state have taken place under his watch, and that 2023 was on track to be at least the third-best.

”This is our chance not just to leapfrog 10 other states’ economies, but to be a top 10 state economy. At the rate we’re creating jobs, we can have a good job for every Kentuckian we get healthy enough, educated enough and trained. Think about what we can do to address generational poverty. Think about what we can do to restore hope where it’s been lost while still supercharging this economy. My faith tells me that that’s what we’re supposed to do,” Beshear said.

In terms of a vision for the future, Beshear focused on two proposals, both educational: to give teachers an 11% raise and to fund universal pre-K for the state.

Both of Kentucky’s U.S. Senators, Republicans Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, spoke at the event. While McConnell did not weigh in on the race to the public, Paul criticized Beshear without naming him for being too stringent with his efforts to mitigate COVID-19.

Cameron, in a response to Beshear’s speech, said that the governor “is taking his eye off the ball” on the workforce participation rate – where Kentucky has routinely ranked low relative to other states – as well as crime and the educational effects of COVID-19.

The crowd, seen by many Democrats as more conservative and less friendly territory for progressives, gave Republicans like Cameron and McConnell a more robust round of applause than Beshear.

“What you saw in that room was the reaction of folks that understand our message in terms of making sure that we have good, quality schools, making sure that our streets are safe from crime and drugs, and making sure that we protect the family unit,” Cameron said.

Beshear’s comments about accomplishments in the last few years also rankled some members of the GOP-dominated legislature.

“You heard the governor today bragging on himself but he never once mentioned the legislature and what we’ve done legislatively. That’s really unfortunate,” Sen. Stephen Meredith, R-Leitchfield, said.

Talking strategy

But Republican legislators’ theories on how to channel that frustration into defeating one of the nation’s most popular governors diverge.

For many, like Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, the race will be about shoring up voters that are already Republican-leaning and making sure they turn out. Thayer said that Western Kentucky has to lean further right than it did in 2019, when former governor Matt Bevin lost by a razor thin margin. Beshear only won a handful of counties in the region, but the counties won by Bevin did not deliver ruby red margins close to those seen in South-Central Kentucky.

Thayer said Beshear won’t be easy to beat.

“The further we get away from COVID, the more of us who opposed his executive actions feel even better about the things we did to make sure they can’t happen again, but there there seems to be a certain slice of the populace who thinks that he saved their lives,” Thayer said.

Meredith said the race between Cameron and Beshear will be “close” and that issues top of mind for his district – it encompasses a big chunk of Western Kentucky – include job creation and education. Rep. Josh Calloway, R-Irvington, said that turnout in the region is “gonna be key,” and that Cameron’s campaign needs to get voters there a concrete reason to turn out.

On the other end of the state, Southeastern Kentucky Rep. Adam Bowling, R-Middlesboro, said he thinks cultural issues will help Cameron win his district. The biggest social or cultural issue pushed by Cameron and pro-Cameron forces has been advocacy for bills limiting LGBTQ medical options and education in public schools.

“The feeling I get when I go back home talking to my folks, it’s not that they dislike governor Beshear, but they relate better with Daniel. On cultural issues, I think he’s a better fit,” Bowling said.

Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams, who is running against former Democratic representative Buddy Wheatley for re-election, said turnout will likely be 40% to 42%, and that Bevin nearly won because the turnout last time was higher than expected at 42%.

On the other side of the aisle, Minority Floor Leader Derrick Graham, D-Frankfort, said that while last cycle’s race pitting Beshear against the largely unpopular Bevin was tight, there’s now one big difference.

“The governor has a record to run on,” Graham said. “I think the people will see all the advantages that we now have in terms of economic development.”

When asked what Democrats should focus on electorally, Graham said getting out the Democratic base would be key along with encouraging Kentuckians who don’t normally vote to support Beshear.

Graham conceded that transgender issues may be used to help Republicans in certain areas but “a lot of families” of any political stripe “aren’t impacted by it,” and that Beshear’s economic message will win the day.

“The question is what do we do to help all of our people in our Commonwealth of Kentucky no matter who they are,” Graham said.

Where will the ham money go?

The rumor mill wasn’t spinning as strongly as last year, when former GOP gubernatorial hopeful and eventual third-place finisher Kelly Craft, dropped millions on a charity ham auction and former governor Matt Bevin was teasing another stab at the governor’s chair.

Craft, who was an ambassador the United Nations during the administration of former president Donald Trump, herself was not present this time around but she was part of a record $10 million winning bid on the ham in a joint bid she and her husband made with Central Bank. She and her husband Joe Craft, a prominent philanthropist and coal magnate in the state, also bought the ham last year in a joint bid with the bank and its CEO and president Luther Deaton last year – the total price then was $5 million.

“We’re going to give back to the communities that we serve,” Deaton said of his company’s bid.

The Crafts said they plan to give their funds to Boys and Girls Clubs, a mental health initiative that will be announced later this year and for the purpose of building 57 new homes in Knott County for families who lost everything in the 2022 floods. Central Bank plans to donate its $5 million to a variety of nonprofits, including several university-related ones.