KY governor’s race: Beshear launches first TV ad, while GOP slate shows united front

The first weekend in August and its annual gathering of politicians from across the commonwealth is traditionally seen as the kick-off to general election season in Kentucky.

Not this year.

With nearly six months until the Nov. 7 election, candidates, political parties and the organizations backing them aren’t wasting any time. The Kentucky governor’s race — one of just three in the nation this year — is expected to be the most expensive and closely watched of any of the contests.

Less than 48 hours after the polls closed for the Tuesday primaries, Gov. Andy Beshear dropped the first ad of the Kentucky gubernatorial general election Thursday afternoon, with it slated to start running on television Monday, according to Medium Buying. Beshear will kick his campaign into high-gear this weekend when he takes part in a three-day, 12-city bus tour across the state.

Friday morning, the complete slate of GOP candidates for Kentucky’s constitutional offices will appear together at the Republican Party of Kentucky’s Frankfort office “to present a united front and vision for a brighter future.” The Republican nominee for governor, Attorney General Daniel Cameron, is at the top of the ticket after emerging victorious from an expensive 12-way primary.

Beshear: “Four Years”

Beshear also faced a primary, though not one so competitive as Cameron’s; the governor was challenged by perennial pro-Russia candidate Geoff Young and former GOP nominee for governor, Peppy Martin.

Despite Kentucky’s conservative leanings, Beshear will be a formidable opponent for Cameron, as polling consistently shows he’s got a strong approval rating and is one of America’s most popular governors.

He also enters the general election with another key factor: money.

In a pre-primary campaign finance report, Beshear reported having raised nearly $7 million to support his re-election bid and still had more than $6 million cash on hand. Then Thursday morning, Beshear campaign manager Eric Hyers tweeted that in the first 24 hours after the primary, the campaign “raised more than $650,000 for the reelection (the best general election kickoff to a Gov re-elect I have ever seen).”

The new Beshear commercial is a 60-second spot that “highlights Kentuckians rebuilding with resilience and hope,” according to a release from the campaign.

The ad sets an optimistic tone in contrast to the attack ads that dominated the Republican primary, focusing largely on Beshear’s leadership in the aftermath of natural disasters and economic development.

It ends with Beshear sitting inside Dawson Springs Primitive Baptist Church, where his grandfather and great-grandfather were preachers.

“It was flattened by the tornadoes,” Beshear says, referencing the 2021 outbreak of tornadoes in Western Kentucky. “But when Kentuckians get knocked down, we get right back up again and we rebuild stronger and better than before. I will never stop showing up and working for the people of Kentucky.”

Noticeably absent from the ad: any mention of his opponents, being a Democrat or President Joe Biden, who appeared with Beshear in the aftermath or tornadoes and flooding and to announce more than $1.6 billion in funding for the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project.

Omitting Biden comes as no surprise, though; former President Donald Trump carried Kentucky by more than 20 percentage points in 2020, and remains Bluegrass Republicans’ most favored candidate in 2024, according to a recent poll.

According to Medium Buying, which tracks political ad spending, Beshear’s general election campaign wasn’t on TV until August 6.

On Friday, a group called Defending Bluegrass Values, which is backed by the Democratic Governors Association, also launched a new TV ad, this one attacking Cameron. The ad says Cameron, as attorney general, should have investigated “former Governor Matt Bevin’s appalling and corrupt pardons of more than a dozen violent criminals.”

KY GOP: “10 Reasons”

While Cameron is not yet up on TV — though he aired several commercials during the primary — Republican groups are already mobilizing behind him.

The Republican Party of Kentucky and the Republican Governors Association both launched attacks on Beshear Wednesday, highlighting his “disastrous leadership” and “liberal” record, respectively.

The state party rolled out a web page touting “10 reasons to fire Andy Beshear,” including allegations that the incumbent has “mismanaged the economy,” is “hostile to religious freedom” and “botches” disaster responses.

“Governor Andy Beshear has failed the people of Kentucky,” RPK Spokesperson Sean Southard said in a statement. “Fewer people are working today than when he took office. Our streets are less safe, flooded with drugs and crime. Students have suffered historic learning loss. And he has mismanaged the recovery efforts in Western and Eastern Kentucky. Kentucky can’t handle four more years of Andy Beshear.”

Southard adds that Cameron “will be a strong leader and deliver for Kentucky.”

The RGA, which aims to elect Republicans as governors, also rolled out a list of issues about “Liberal Beshear,” including shutting down schools and churches during COVID-19, is supported by “far-left teachers’ unions,” and has “appointed extreme liberals to key posts.”

“Bottom line - this is a competitive race, and with Republicans having increased their margins in the state, the focus will be on bringing all Republicans home and uniting behind Daniel Cameron,” the RGA memo concludes.