Trail to ’23: KY primary season draws to a close, final campaign stops + endorsements pour in

This is part of an occasional Herald-Leader series, Trail to ‘23, to catch readers up on all the latest from this year’s crowded governor’s race (and occasionally other races). Earlier editions can be found online. The May 16 primary will decide who among several GOP candidates will take on presumptive Democratic nominee Gov. Andy Beshear.

Folks, we’re thiiiiiiiiis close to the end of this long, brutal, exhausting Kentucky Republican gubernatorial primary.

Early voting is now underway and Primary Day is Tuesday. We’re no longer counting the end in weeks or months, but mere days.

Before long, we’ll know who’s won this hard-fought campaign and will face off against incumbent governor, Andy Beshear, the presumptive Democratic nominee. (Beshear also “technically” has a primary with two challengers — former Republican gubernatorial nominee Peppy Martin and pro-Russia perennial candidate Geoff Young — so, yes, Democrats, you get to vote in this election, too.)

For all you voters, The Herald-Leader has a shameless plug, er, we mean, resource for you: our voter guide. In it, you’ll find handy articles about the logistics of voting, candidate profiles, previous installments of Trail to ‘23, debate coverage and stories from some of the down-ballot races, too.

Hitting the road

Candidates are making their final pushes to connect with GOP voters across the commonwealth.

Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles has planned a “Big Red Truck Tour,” hitting 23 stops between Thursday and Saturday. Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced his own “Fight for the Commonwealth Tour,” hitting eight stops between Thursday and Monday.

Former United Nations Ambassador Kelly Craft, who has been hosting a campaign-long “Kitchen Table Tour,” is hosting several get-out-the-vote rallies in the days ahead with two special guests: Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas on Saturday and then on Monday with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, a Republican candidate for president in 2024.

In addition to an endorsement from Ramaswamy, Craft has also rolled out a recent endorsement from former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former University of Kentucky basketball player Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (who wore a very prominent pendant of New Jersey in his endorsement video).

Fox News giveth, Fox News taketh away

With just three governor’s races in the nation this year, national media has taken an interest in the Kentucky race, which is expected to be the most hotly contested contest. Fox News has welcomed candidates to its TV channel, and written articles about the campaign in recent months.

Craft appeared on the Ingraham Angle with Laura Ingraham earlier this week in an appearance that didn’t seem particularly friendly.

“Kelly promoted her appearance on Laura Ingraham last night but then never posted the interview…here’s why,” Cameron campaign manager Gus Herbert tweeted Wednesday.

Ingraham immediately asks Craft why she didn’t take part in a primary debate Tuesday evening, which was attended by Cameron, Quarles and suspended Northern Kentucky Attorney Eric Deters. Craft was invited, but said she’d hosted six campaign stops that day instead.

“I wouldn’t ever miss a debate. I love debating people. ... Don’t ever skip one,” Ingraham told Craft.

Ingraham also asked Craft if former President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Cameron meant that he was the “America-first” candidate.

“I wasn’t in the race when Donald Trump endorsed Daniel Cameron,” Craft said. “That was not a choice because I wasn’t running.”

Craft went on to talk about her record as ambassador to Canada and the U.N. before Ingraham tells the candidate “we have to go.” Then Ingraham asks: “Now, is Frankenstein racist?”

But on Thursday, Fox News came out with a story diving into donations Cameron has received from “pro-ESG companies” — that’s short for environmental, social and governance — despite a pledge that he would halt ESG spending in state pension funds on “day one” in office.

Fox News found that between 2019 and 2023, Cameron “received $60,750 in corporate PAC money from companies like Capital One, J.P. Morgan, Citigroup and Amgen – all of which have published ESG and sustainability reports.”

The story continues: “The election finance reports could be troublesome for Cameron, who is running on a platform against ESG investing that he claims will destroy fossil fuel industries.”

Fox reported Cameron’s campaign didn’t respond to their request for comment.

More campaign ads drop

Auditor Mike Harmon, who is also running for governor, released a video touting some of his positions — eliminating the state income tax and preventing China from “buying up our beautiful Kentucky land” — while also poking fun at the time Trump got his name wrong.

Trump mistakenly called Harmon “Mark” instead of his actual name, a clip that’s also used in the ad. (Mark Harmon is, of course, an actor and the star of the long-running TV show, NCIS, for 19 seasons.)

Quarles also released a new ad, titled “Mud slingin’,” in which he denounces “negative ads, not showing up to debates and not even traveling across the commonwealth to ask for your vote.”

“That’s not me,” Quarles says.

And, yes, it does feature a close-up of some actual mud on a tire, but it’s unclear if said tire belongs to Quarles’ beloved Big Red Truck.

In the GOP treasurer’s race, all three candidates — Andrew Cooperrider, OJ Oleka and Mark Metcalf — are up on TV. While Cooperrider is slingin’ mud of his own at Oleka, calling him a “fake conservative,” Metcalf has taken a different approach; his self-funded commercial brands himself as “tough on illegals.”