Beshear’s PAC backs Democrats in vulnerable U.S. races & a nonpartisan KY judge

Gov. Andy Beshear is starting to throw his political weight beyond the borders of the commonwealth.

And in a first round of endorsements unveiled last week, his “In This Together” political action committee targeted vulnerable Democrats in high-profile races across the country and one nonpartisan judge running for a seat on the Kentucky Supreme Court.

U.S. senators Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Jon Tester of Montana and Jacky Rosen of Nevada. The list of candidates Beshear’s PAC is supporting reads like a report highlighting the most vulnerable Democrats during a cycle where they’re expected to play defense. Later, the New York Times ranked all three among their “10 Senate races to watch.”

Beshear is also supporting Democratic candidate for North Carolina governor Josh Stein, who he has backed since the inception of his political action committee. Stein is facing Mark Robinson, a Republican who has made national headlines for inflammatory and homophobic language.

But the only Kentucky endorsement – according to a release from the group, all endorsements will come with financial support of some kind – is Court of Appeals Justice Pamela Goodwine. It could raise some ethical questions given that governors, Beshear included, often have business before the Kentucky Supreme Court.

Beshear backs a justice

Beshear’s team appeared multiple times before the Kentucky Supreme Court in his first term, particularly in successfully defending executive action during the COVID-19 pandemic and unsuccessfully challenging laws later passed to limit those very powers.

In March, Beshear said the state’s highest court ought to test legal questions posed by the passage of multiple bills aimed at further limiting his power.

A spokesperson for Goodwine said she appreciated the “voluntary endorsement of Governor Beshear, which is based upon her record of impartiality, fairness and justice.”

However, if her impartiality was “reasonably” challenged in any case, she said she would consider the circumstances and “if necessary, recuse myself to ensure the integrity of the judicial process.”

“Throughout my 25 years of service as a judge, I have earned a reputation for serving with the utmost honesty, integrity, ethics, impartiality, fairness and justice for all. I am committed to continuing to demonstrate these principles on the Kentucky Supreme Court and remaining unbiased in my decision making,” Goodwine said in a statement.

In a response to a press inquiry, Beshear political consultant Eric Hyers, who led both of Beshear’s successful gubernatorial campaigns, said the governor supports judges who will rule in a nonpartisan manner.

“The governor believes that judges should decide cases by the letter of the law and not by the letter of anyone’s party registration. Judge Goodwine is a fair and impartial judge who he believes will make a great justice,” Hyers said.

Goodwine is running to replace outgoing Chief Justice Laurance VanMeter for the Central Kentucky-based 5th Kentucky Supreme Court District seat. Goodwine is up against Erin Izzo, a Lexington attorney at Landrum & Shouse.

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Republicans also have played in key nonpartisan judicial races. In 2022, the Herald-Leader reported Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, co-hosted a fundraiser for then-Franklin Circuit Court judge candidate Joe Bilby in his unsuccessful run against longtime judge Phillip Shepherd.

Bilby now works for House Republican leadership.

Also that year, several Republicans offered support to former state representative Joe Fischer, who sponsored both Kentucky’s trigger ban on abortion and a proposed anti-abortion constitutional amendment.

Fischer’s campaign took on a particularly partisan bent, so much so that the Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission initiated proceedings against him, a move that was later enjoined by the U.S. Sixth Circuit. Fischer lost to incumbent Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Michelle Keller by nearly 10 points.

Cross-state political influence

In less than two months since its creation, In This Together has raised more than $129,000, according to reports filed with the Federal Elections Commission. It came from a variety of sources, including multiple Frankfort lobbyists and a $20,000 donation from BlueWave America, a super PAC founded by former Louisville Democratic congressman Mike Ward to help Democrats win in rural America.

In This Together gives Beshear a chance to help like-minded politicians and build a network with key Democrats around the country. With the governor vowing to serve out his full term until the end of 2027, it’s possible his gaze could shift to Washington in a few years.

Last month, political consultant James Carville said in a New York Times article that Beshear ranked as one of eight top Democratic talents “right below the presidential level.”

Al Cross, a longtime political commentator and journalist in Kentucky, called the creation of In This Together “a way to run for president without running for president.”

In a statement accompanying his endorsements, Beshear said he prioritized leaders who reject “anger politics” and divisiveness and are running in “competitive, consequential elections.”

“We created In This Together because the anger politics increasingly dominating our country represent a threat to the health of our democracy. We need more leaders who reject divisiveness and who aren’t afraid to stick to the values of empathy, decency and compassion,” Beshear said.

“I’ve had the opportunity to get to know and work with each of these candidates, and first and foremost, they are good people.”

The group said more endorsements will come later this year, and endorsements for Kentucky legislative and other local candidates will come through the Kentucky Democratic Party.

Beyond the political action committee, Beshear’s nonprofit 501(c)(4) group Heckbent has been raising and spending money this legislative session. As a 501(c)(4) group, also known in politics as a “dark money” entity, Heckbent is not required to publicly disclose its donors, unlike political action committees akin to In This Together.

According to the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan group specializing in election and fundraising issues, such “dark money” groups are allowed to support election-related groups like political action committees but are barred from making that their “primary activity.”

Heckbent has been running several ads on Facebook, urging Kentuckians to tell their legislators to support increased education funding, a key plank of Beshear’s re-election platform.