Beshear campaign, Ky. Dems refund contributions after donor gave $202k on credit card

A top donor for Gov. Andy Beshear and the Kentucky Democratic Party (KDP) was flagged this week for donations on his credit card exceeding $200,000.

Contributions from family and business connections to London Mayor Randall Weddle were first reported by the Kentucky Lantern, which broke the news of the refunds to Weddle on Tuesday morning. According to a release from the Beshear campaign, which flagged Weddle’s credit card as the source of $202,000, the contributions exceeded the limits set by state statute.

Individuals are limited by law to $15,000 per year in contributions to political parties and $2,100 to political campaigns.

“The donors themselves raised the issue, and expressed the desire to properly remedy the situation. In and of itself, excess contributions are not unusual. Both the campaign and the Kentucky Democratic Party have processes in place to identify excessive contributions and issue refunds,” Beshear campaign manager Eric Hyers said in a release.

Hyers also stated in the release that the campaign would refund those donations made in excess of the limits. The money, though it’s listed as being returned to the name of the donor who initially gave, is being returned to Weddle’s credit card, Hyers said. The refunds listed on Beshear’s latest finance report include members of Weddle’s family and business associates of Weddle, who owns freight hauling company WB Transport.

Weddle himself did not give to Beshear or to KDP, but family members and business associates of his gave more than $300,000 to both organizations, according to reporting earlier this year from the Kentucky Lantern. Weddle, a Republican who was elected mayor of the Southeastern Kentucky city in 2022, was appointed by Beshear to the Kentucky Transportation Center Advisory Board last June. This May, London was one of five communities to receive a major transportation grant, totaling $1.4 million, from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

Like GOP gubernatorial nominee Daniel Cameron and the Republican Party of Kentucky (RPK), Beshear and KDP are running a coordinated campaign.

Alex Floyd, a spokesperson for Beshear’s campaign, was quick to point out that the $1.4 million is part of more than $21 million handed out grant funds in the program — the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) — across the state.

Sean Southard, spokesman for the Republican Party of Kentucky and Cameron’s campaign, criticized the refunds in a statement Tuesday: “Andy Beshear and the Democrats only returned this money after getting caught in a pay-to-play scandal. This is the latest example in a long pattern of Andy and his family getting caught with corrupt campaign contributions or selling off government to the highest bidder. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a governor who doesn’t have to constantly play catch up with ethics and state law?”

The Republican Governors Association (RGA), which has already gotten involved in the race on behalf of Cameron, also chimed in.

“Andy Beshear and the Kentucky Democratic Party illegally took over $200,000 in campaign contributions from one, single donor on a credit card and then immediately turned around and handed out $1.4 million in taxpayer money to the same donor. Not only does this reek of campaign finance corruption, but it isn’t the first time Beshear has accepted illegal contributions. Andy Beshear owes Kentuckians an answer, and taxpayers deserve to know if their money was used as a political thank you gift,” RGA National Press Secretary Courtney Alexander said.

Floyd responded by calling Southard and Alexander’s claims “irresponsible” and “categorically false.”

“The Beshear Administration has a strong record of providing funding for transportation and infrastructure across Kentucky, including over $21 million in Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grants to 33 cities in 29 different counties – all of which are chosen by staff in the Transportation Cabinet. As usual, GOP political staff are making false, irresponsible accusations. These attacks are categorically false,” Floyd said.

Beshear still gaining, Cameron fundraising slows

Though Beshear’s campaign found itself in controversy this week, its most recent fundraising report from just before the primary showed strength.

While Cameron spent the final 15 days before this year’s May primary fending off attacks from his right, Beshear was able to net more than $465,000 in campaign contributions. $5 million from Beshear’s primary election account was recently transferred, ostensibly to his general election bid.

The final finance report from the primary showed Cameron receiving about $62,000. The Democratic incumbent faced no well-funded primary competition and got 91% of the vote in May, while Cameron surprised many with a landslide victory over well-funded and well-connected GOP competition with 48% of the Republican vote.

Third-place GOP gubernatorial primary finisher Kelly Craft loaned herself nearly $1.4 million in those final days, pushing her self-loaned total to over $10.6 million. Her husband Joe Craft also gave a political action committee (PAC) supporting her $1.5 million, pushing the family’s total contribution to help Kelly Craft get elected to more than $12 million.

Defending Bluegrass Values, a PAC backed by the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) — which has started airing ads critical of Cameron’s response to controversial pardons issued by former GOP governor Matt Bevin — reported raising nearly $2.5 million as of Monday.

A Republican Governors Association-backed PAC called Kentucky Values has been formed to support Cameron in the general election, but it’s not yet reported its finances because the first general election reporting deadline is later this Summer. A PAC active for Cameron in the primary election, Bluegrass Freedom Action, ended the primary cycle having raised just over $3 million total. $1.75 million of that total came from The Concord Fund, a conservative “dark money” group that has attempted to reshape America’s courts.

Beshear donors

Beshear’s campaign received 893 contributions alone in the 15 days leading up to the primary election, 871 of which came from Kentucky donors.

Included on the long list of individuals who contributed either $2,000 or $2,100 — the newly established maximum individual contribution — is Chuck Schnatter, a co-owner of popular Louisville coffee chain Heine Brothers, and the brother of pizza entrepreneur “Papa” John Schnatter. John Schnatter has become something of a conservative figure since stepping down as Papa Johns CEO, giving a speech at a popular Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC) event and even being rumored as considering a run at governor as a Republican. John Schnatter recently posted a picture of himself playing pickleball with Republican U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Another notable name contributing to Beshear was Jerry Bruckheimer, one of Hollywood’s most prominent producers in film and television. Bruckheimer gave Beshear’s campaign $2,100.

State Senate Minority Floor Leader Reggie Thomas, D-Lexington, gave Beshear $1,500.

Cameron & pro-Cameron PAC donors

Cameron’s campaign has seen some change since the attorney general claimed the GOP nomination. Most notably, a top staffer for U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, joined the campaign in a senior management role.

Though Cameron did not get as large a haul as Beshear, his latest report contains the names of major players in national Republican circles.

The biggest name in the report, indicating potentially greater involvement through PACs, is Richard Uihlien. Uihlien, who founded a shipping company in the Midwest, is worth around $3.5 billion and gave Cameron the max $2,100 in mid-May. During the 2022 midterms, Uihlein was the highest-dollar GOP donor in the country, giving $80.7 million to various candidates and groups supporting Republicans.

Scott Jennings, the founder of RunSwitch PR in Louisville who has close ties to McConnell, gave Cameron the maximum amount. Jennings, who is a national pundit also involved in state GOP politics, remained neutral during the primary.

Cameron’s report initially listed contributions from the leaders of Edgewater Recovery Center in Morehead totaling to $12,600. Cameron’s report included a maximum contribution from Ashley Adkins, who was the General Counsel for Democrat Amy McGrath’s 2020 U.S. Senate campaign and is currently listed as the Rowan County Democratic Party Chair, but Adkins told the Herald-Leader that she was later given a full refund for that contribution. Later on Tuesday, an updated version of Cameron’s report listed refunds to many people associated with Edgewater.