Democrat Andy Beshear overcomes Biden’s unpopularity to win reelection as Kentucky governor

Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear survived a reelection challenge from Republican Daniel Cameron and dissatisfaction with President Biden to capture a second term in the red state of Kentucky.

With 87% of the vote counted, Mr. Beshear had a lead of 52.5% to 47.5%. and majot news organizations all called the race shortly before 9 p.m.

“Thank you, Kentucky!” Mr. Beshear said Tuesday evening at his acceptance speech in Louisville, surrounded by his family. “Tonight, Kentucky made a choice, a choice not to move to the right or the left, but to move forward for every single family.”

“It was a victory that sends a loud clear message: a message that candidates should run for something and not against someone,” he said. “That a candidate should show vision and not sow division, and a clear statement that anger politics should end right here and right now.”

Moving forward, Mr. Beshear vowed to fight for teacher pay raises and provided universal pre-kindergarten for “every Kentucky child.”

Mr. Beshear ran on his stewardship of the state through the coronavirus and his response to natural disasters.

The 45-year-old pointed to the state’s economic development and low unemployment as proof that his administration was steering the state in the right direction, and deserved another four years.

Mr. Beshear also made abortion rights central to his message, highlighting Mr Cameron’s support for a state ban on the procedure that does not include exceptions for cases of rape and incest.

“Kentucky voters delivered a major rejection of that anti-choice agenda,” Jaime Harrison, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement. “As we’ve seen time and again following the overturning of Roe v. Wade – no matter how red the state – voters across the political spectrum oppose GOP attempts to rip away their freedom.”

Despite being a popular governor, there were questions over whether the brand Mr. Beshear has cultivated in Kentucky would hold off the national Biden blowback.

Former President Donald Trump endorsed Mr. Cameron’s bid after handily carrying the state in back-to-back presidential elections.

CNN released a poll Tuesday that found Mr. Biden trails Mr. Trump in a hypothetical rematch by a 49%-to-45% margin and Mr. Biden’s approval rating is in the tank, with 39% giving him a thumbs up and 61% a thumbs down.

That survey came on the heels of a New York Times / Siena College poll this week that showed Mr. Biden trailing Mr. Trump in five of the six traditional battleground states, and the Democrat coalition in shambles.

Mr. Cameron, the state’s 37-year-old attorney general, sought to capitalize on that sentiment, hoping Mr. Biden would be an anchor around Mr. Beshear’s neck in a red state.

Mr. Cameron said Mr. Beshear backed the Biden agenda that Republicans blame for the high inflation that has burdened voters across the state.

David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report said the vote tallies suggested Republicans had a problem energizing voters.

An apprentice of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Mr. Cameron was seeking to become the state’s first black governor.

“Looking at the numbers, pretty evident KY Republicans had a turnout/enthusiasm problem today,” Mr. Waserman said on the social media platform X.

The results provide bragging rights for Democrats, who will be breathing a sigh of relief about the political climate heading into 2024 given Mr. Biden’s poor polling.

Democrats will tout the victory as more proof that Republicans are on the wrong side of the abortion issue in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling, which had made abortion a federal constitutional right.

Mr. Beshear dominated the urban areas around Louisville and Lexington, which proved to be enough to offset Mr. Cameron’s success in the more rural areas.

Mr. Beshear won the governor’s mansion four years ago, squeezing out a victory over Republican Gov. Matt Bevin in a result that was viewed as a blow against then-President Trump.

It proved to be a bad omen for Mr. Trump who went on to lose the 2020 election to Mr. Biden.

Mr. Beshear, meanwhile, has been one of the few bright spots for the state Democratic Party, which otherwise has not had much success in statewide elections.

Republicans have controlled the state Senate since 2000, and the state House since 2017.