KY gov candidates say something nice about each other. ‘Stop Cameron’ movement starts | Trail to ’23

This is part of an occasional Herald-Leader series, Trail to ‘23, to catch readers up on all the latest from this year’s Kentucky elections, most notably the governor’s race. There are fewer than 50 days until the Nov. 7 general election in which Kentuckians will decide the commonwealth’s next governor: incumbent Democrat Andy Beshear or Republican challenger Daniel Cameron. Past installments can be read online.

Let’s start this campaign recap in a way we never have and may never get to do again: with the candidates for Kentucky governor saying something nice about one another.

Yes, that really happened — and their answers even matched.

Both Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear and Republican challenger Attorney General Daniel Cameron participated in the Kentucky Chamber’s Gubernatorial Forum in Louisville Wednesday evening, and moderator Jacqueline Pitts made each man say one nice thing about the other in a room full of onlookers.

The event was the same day the Beshear campaign released a scathing new ad attacking Cameron on his record of not supporting exceptions for rape and incest in Kentucky’s current abortion ban, prompting Cameron to respond in a video of his own.

“I would have had a lot of nice things to say about him until he ran that ad against me today,” Cameron quipped before giving his answer.

Cameron told the story of how early in his career, he worked at the law firm Stites & Harbison, where Beshear also practiced.

“He was the first lawyer to give me work there, and I always have appreciated that,” Cameron said. “In fact, when he signed my papers, when I became the attorney general, I said I got that strange sensation that he was marking up my papers again.”

Cameron also added that Beshear is a “a good family man” and that he could “certainly appreciate his heart as it relates to his family.”

Beshear, too, recounted their days together at Stites & Harbison.

“I was the lawyer that gave him his very first private sector legal assignment,” Beshear said, adding, “it helped the case.”

Sign up for our Bluegrass Politics Newsletter

A must-read newsletter for political junkies across the Bluegrass State with reporting and analysis from the Lexington Herald-Leader. Never miss a story! Sign up for our Bluegrass Politics newsletter to connect with our reporting team and get behind-the-scenes insights, plus previews of the biggest stories.

American Principles Project PAC to oppose Beshear

Yet another political action committee has entered the governor’s race with an announced multimillion dollar ad buy.

Also on Wednesday, the American Principles Project PAC announced a $2 million ad campaign for digital ads and texting to expose Beshear’s “extreme record on gender issues.” The PAC plans to reach more than 1 million Kentucky voters.

The ads returned to a familiar theme in the gubernatorial campaign: transgender kids and athletes.

“While Beshear still deceitfully claims to be a ‘moderate’ governor, voters deserve to know the truth: he is completely beholden to the radical transgender industry and has as extreme a record as almost any other governor in America,” PAC President Terry Schilling said in a news release.

One ad, called “Protect Women,” features former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines calling Beshear a “trans rights activist” while saying Cameron would “protect women.”

The second ad, called “Common Sense,” attacked Beshear for vetoing Senate Bill 150 during the 2023 legislative session, an omnibus anti-trans bill that included a ban on gender-affirming surgeries for minors among other provisions. Beshear and LGBTQ groups in Kentucky maintain they have no problem with banning such surgeries, but took issue with other parts of the sweeping bill.

Protect Freedom PAC, a group affiliated with U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-KY, also released an ad on the topic of trans issues, with the commonwealth’s junior senator saying Beshear has “more in common with California liberals than Kentucky families. Keep Kentucky kids safe; kick Gov. Beshear out of office.”

Other new ads released in the last week include:

• Three digital ads from Planned Parenthood Action Kentucky — “Wrong,” “Control” and “Bans” — go after Cameron’s record of supporting Kentucky’s abortion ban without exceptions for rape and incest. “This is a pivotal moment for abortion rights in our state,” State Director Tamarra Wieder said in a statement. “Extremist, anti-abortion candidates should take these first ads as a warning — when you come for Kentuckians’ rights, they will come for you at the polls.”

• Cameron’s campaign released an education-centered ad Monday, which focused on Beshear’s school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The Cameron Catch-Up Plan is about supporting our teachers and getting kids caught up,” he says in the ad. “I won’t just campaign on education, I’ll get it fixed. Because our teachers and students deserve it.”

Until Freedom returns to Louisville for ‘Stop Cameron’ events

New York-based social justice group Until Freedom, which played a large role in organizing demonstrations for Breonna Taylor in 2020, returned to Louisville last week to start up its “Stop Cameron” effort.

Under Cameron’s administration, the office of the attorney general acted as the special prosecutor in the fatal police shooting of Taylor, 26, more than three years ago. Cameron did not bring charges for the young Black woman’s death, which had become one of the defining cases of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.

Until Freedom organizers and Taylor’s mother Tamika Palmer announced the effort on what would have been Taylor’s 30th birthday in June, and the group frequently promoted its fundraising effort on social media.

Linda Sarsour, one of the organizers of Until Freedom, said the group will be focusing on voter registration and turnout among low-propensity voters in Louisville, Lexington and potentially Hopkinsville.

“What’s the next step for Breonna Taylor and those that stood outside in 2020?” Sarsour said. “It’s time to flex your political muscle, and what better way to do that than against Attorney General David Cameron, who has a despicable track record when it comes to Breonna Taylor. So we feel like that issue is something that is still sensitive for people and could potentially win the people. If you go to the polls and defeat this man, that’s actually sending a message to the rest of the country.”

While the inevitable outcome of a successful “Stop Cameron” campaign would mean Beshear’s re-election, the effort is not being run as a pro-Beshear initiative.

Sarsour told a crowd Monday night that, “we’re not going outside saying he’s the best thing that ever happened to us. But you know, damn well sure that Andy Beshear needs to be the governor of the state.”

At the same event, Shameka Parrish-Wright, an organizer and candidate for Louisville Metro Council, said she’s voting for Beshear “out of strategy” — not because he’s perfect.

“See, I can do what’s right and do what’s right for the people and have my personal feelings,” Parrish-Wright said. “Not electing Daniel Cameron is for the people. No matter how you feel, it is the right thing to do, to get in that poll and to vote.”