Rand Paul-linked group steps in to support Cameron with ads on JCPS bus problems

A group linked to U.S. Senator Rand Paul, R-KY, is throwing its support behind Republican gubernatorial nominee Daniel Cameron in more than just spirit.

A political action committee (PAC) connected to Paul, the well-funded Protect Freedom PAC, is running digital ads criticizing Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear by linking him to the Jefferson County Public Schools transportation debacle. The district has received significant criticism after bus issues on the first day of school led it to delay re-starting school by more than a week.

The ads signal the commitment of Paul’s political orbit to helping Cameron in his race against Beshear.

“It’s novel,” Al Cross, longtime Kentucky political observer and director emeritus of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky, said. “Rand Paul has never seemed to be all that interested (in state-level politics) and Mitch McConnell has always been very interested. But this is a race where the Republicans are all hands on deck, and Paul doesn’t have a race for a long time. It’s a logical thing for him to do even if it’s unusual.”

A spokesperson for Protect Freedom PAC said the group was working with School Freedom Fund on a “combined $5 million” digital, television, mail and get out the vote program. Both Protect Freedom PAC and School Freedom Fund are largely bankrolled by conservative megadonor Jeff Yass, a billionaire investment and trading executive who has thrown his support behind Paul in mutliple political endeavors.

School Freedom Fund is a group supporting pro-school choice candidates across the country. The school choice debate has grown heated in Kentucky with the passage of a bill that would have set up a tax credit scholarship fund through the state allowing kids go to schools other than their local public schools. That bill was found unconstitutional by the Kentucky Supreme Court.

The School Freedom Fund has already dumped around $3 million into the race, according to Medium Buying.

One digital ad from Protect Freedom PAC reads “Kentucky needs school choice, not Governor Andy Beshear’s failed leadership.”

When asked about the ads, Protect Freedom PAC executive director Mike Biundo criticized Beshear’s “record of failure” on COVID-19, crime, education and the economy.

“Kentucky is more conservative than how he governs; it’s time for a conservative reformer as governor that will pass popular initiatives like school choice,” Biundo said in a statement.

Cameron has signaled support for school choice initiatives like the tax credit scholarship fund in the past, though school choice was not explicitly mentioned in Cameron’s “Catch-Up” education plan.

Beshear’s campaign spokesperson, Alex Floyd, said the ads are a signal that school choice is, indeed, a major part of Cameron’s platform.

“Daniel Cameron’s allies are running an ad admitting that the centerpiece of his education plan is a voucher scheme that would take tax dollars out of public schools and send them to unaccountable private ones. Cameron’s not offering any real solutions, just a retread of old ideas that would defund and hurt our public schools,” Floyd said in a statement.

The Kentucky Democratic Party (KDP) also jumped on the advertisements.

“Despite his long track record supporting school voucher schemes, Daniel Cameron purposely left them out of his education plan because he knows how wildly unpopular they are. Kentuckians don’t want to see taxpayer dollars taken out of public schools and given to unaccountable private schools,” KDP spokesperson Anna Breedlove said.

The ads highlighting the JCPS busing scandal — one focuses entirely on linking Beshear to the situation while the other pivots to promoting Cameron in the latter half — draw tenuous connections to the governor’s race.

“Disaster at Jefferson County Public Schools and Governor Andy Beshear fails to act on numerous solutions before him. including a plan to give parents the right to send their child to their neighborhood school,” the ad says.

Though the PAC did not respond to a question on this score, that was likely in reference to a bill that’s been proposed to allow students to attend whichever school is closest to them, targeted at previous busing efforts at JCPS. According to the Courier-Journal, JCPS has since changed its busing policies and has undone the forced busing that the bill was responding to.

In response to the JCPS debacle, Beshear has also pointed out that his proposed budget included a much higher appropriation for pupil transportation than the one passed by the GOP-led legislature — $389.7 million to $274.4 million.

The ads are just one way in which Paul, who has not normally been as involved in state-level Kentucky politics as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who’s held the office for close to 40 years, has backed Cameron.

Paul’s wife, Kelley, who herself has become a prominent conservative in several national media appearances and a speech in her husband’s stead at last year’s Fancy Farm Picnic, spoke on behalf of Cameron at a recent “Mom’s for Cameron” event.

Sixth District U.S. Congressman Andy Barr, who represents much of Central Kentucky, joined Cameron on the campaign trail on Monday this week.

Cameron’s ties to McConnell are well-documented. Cameron began his political career interning for McConnell and later served as his legal counsel.

Other pro-Cameron PACs involved in the gubernatorial race include Kentucky Values and State Solutions, which are backed by the Republican Governors Association (RGA), and Bluegrass Freedom Action which has been largely funded by the McConnell-linked Concord Fund. Unlike Cameron’s campaign, Beshear’s has spent significantly on advertisements after the May primary. PACs supporting Beshear including Defending Bluegrass Values, which is funded by the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), and Preserve Protect and Defend.

Planned Parenthood, a pro-abortions rights and healthcare nonprofit that usually supports Democrats, has also filed paperwork to get involved as a PAC in the race. However, it has yet to spend any money on advertisements or report any fundraising.