KY governor election candidates: Who’s running in primary? | Lexington Herald Leader

Kentucky is one of just three states in the nation to elect its next governor in 2023, and the official field of candidates is crowded.

Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, is seeking his second term in office after defeating incumbent Republican Matt Bevin in a close race in 2019.

Beshear may be tough to beat, despite being a Democrat in a red state. Polling has repeatedly shown him to be the most popular Democratic governor in America, even cracking the Top 5 as recently as April.

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But that hasn’t stopped Republicans — a lot of them — from stepping up to the challenge.

Kentucky’s primary is May 16, and the last day to register to vote was April 17.

Here’s a comprehensive look at everyone who is running for Kentucky’s top office.

Republicans vying for the GOP nomination

Daniel Cameron is the current Kentucky Attorney General, having been elected to that office in 2019. He is the first Black person to hold that role in Kentucky’s history, and is the first Republican to hold that office in decades. He is endorsed by former President Donald Trump and is seen as a rising star in the GOP, having spoken at the Republican National Convention in 2020. He has been the target of much national scrutiny for his handling of the investigation into the fatal Louisville Metro Police shooting of Breonna Taylor in 2020. Cameron’s campaign has centered around backing law enforcement and restoring “Kentucky values” to the governor’s office. He’s being backed by a political action committee called Bluegrass Freedom Action, which has raised more than $2.7 million to support Cameron’s campaign. Public polling shows that Cameron is consistently the front-runner in the Republican contest. His campaign has raised nearly $1.5 million.

Kelly Craft was an ambassador to the United Nations and before that, Canada, under Trump. Craft is a native of Glasgow, and is married to billionaire coal magnate Joe Craft. The Crafts are prominent donors to University of Kentucky athletics and have placed the multi-million dollar winning bid on the champion ham at an annual charitable auction for the last two years. She was the first front-runner to announce her pick for lieutenant governor in State Sen. Max Wise, R-Campbellsville. Much of Craft’s campaign has focused on combating “wokeness” in schools and fighting the opioid epidemic. Craft has loaned her campaign more than $9 million, and her husband has given $1.5 million to the Commonwealth PAC, which is backing Craft’s bid.

Ryan Quarles, the Commissioner of Agriculture, was first elected to that statewide office in 2015. He also served two years in the state House of Representatives. A native of Scott County, Quarles obtained his doctorate in higher education from Vanderbilt University in 2018. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Quarles and an apple orchard partnered to sue Beshear over restrictions placed on businesses. As Cameron and Craft have sparred with each other in a pricey ad war, Quarles has sought to position himself as the candidate above the fray. Quarles touts endorsements from more than 200 elected officials across Kentucky and is running as the rural, grassroots candidate. Quarles has raised more than $1.2 million for his campaign.

Mike Harmon is currently the auditor of public accounts, an office he was first elected to in 2015. He’d previously served more than a decade in the state House of Representatives. Harmon was the first major Republican candidate to announce his run for governor, but has been quickly overshadowed by more prominent names like Quarles, Cameron and Craft. But, Harmon has been an underdog before; he defeated incumbent auditor Adam Edelen in 2015 despite having been far outraised by the Democrat. Harmon’s office has been critical of the Beshear administration’s handling of pandemic unemployment claims. Harmon has struggled in fundraising and polling compared to some other candidates, with the numbers low enough in some cases to have him excluded from televised debates, like at KET. He’s raised about $85,000 for his campaign.

Eric Deters is a suspended Northern Kentucky attorney. He is a fervent supporter of Trump and often uses the slogan “Make Kentucky Great Again.” Thousands of people packed Deters’ farm in September for “Freedom Fest,” and has followed up with several smaller “Liberty Fest” events across Kentucky. Criminal charges were filed against Deters in October following a run-in with his nephew, and he has since pleaded guilty. Despite not having the former president’s endorsement, Deters has promoted himself as the candidate for Trump voters. He often promotes falsehoods and misinformation about the severity of the covid-19 pandemic, the January 6 insurrection and the 2020 presidential election. He is largely self-funding his campaign. His running mate is Wesley Deters.

Alan Keck is the mayor of Somerset in Pulaski County, having just been elected to another term in November 2022. He served as president of Somerset Recycling – a company owned by his father – and helped found his own sports management agency as well as the University of Somerset, a planned four-year university that brands itself as an institution free of “indoctrination.” Keck announced his run on Nov. 21, after months of speculation. He has differentiated himself from his fellow Republicans by shying away from national talking points about “wokeness” and the like, and is focused on Kentucky-centric issues is his “Keck Game Plan.” He has raised just over $325,000.

David Cooper is a resident of Kenton County in Northern Kentucky and a member of the Kentucky Army National Guard since he was 17. According to his website, Cooper has worked as a production operator for Veolia.

Bob DeVore is a Jefferson County resident. He has previously run for Jefferson County Clerk and the state House of Representatives.

Robbie Smith is a resident of Madison County. His website says he is a high school math teacher and has lived his entire life in Kentucky.

Johnny Ray Rice is a resident of Harrison County. Rice was an organizer for a January 2021 “Patriot Rally” outside of the Kentucky Capitol, which included many heavily armed attendees.

Dennis Ormerod, a resident of Jefferson County, filed his paperwork for office on Jan. 6 — the deadline for running for filing with the secretary of state’s office.

Jacob Clark is a resident of Grayson County. His website says he is “an inventor, machinist, welder, engineer, and an all-around problem solver.”

Beshear to be challenged by perennial candidate, former GOP nominee

Andy Beshear is the current governor of Kentucky. He defeated controversial Republican incumbent Matt Bevin in 2019. Prior to being elected governor, he was the commonwealth’s attorney general. His first term in office was marked by widespread challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the December 2021 tornadoes in Western Kentucky and the July 2022 flooding in Eastern Kentucky. He has raised nearly $7 million for his re-election bid.

Peppy Martin is a resident of Jefferson County. In 1999, publicist Martin was the Republican Party’s long-shot challenger to Democratic Gov. Paul Patton’s re-election. Patton defeated her in a landslide. She later ran for other offices, including state auditor, without success.

Geoff Young, who was most recently the Democratic nominee challenging U.S. Rep. Andy Barr for Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District seat, filed with KREF in December more than a month after tweeting out his intended candidacy. He’s previously run for office eight times, including two attempts for the governor’s office in 2019 and 2015, and has sued the state Democratic party and other officials. He calls both major U.S. political parties “fascists” and supports Russia in the war against Ukraine.

Who’s out of the running for governor?

Matt Bevin, former governor of Kentucky from 2015 to 2019, did not file to run for governor. Despite showing up at the Capitol little more than an hour before the filing deadline and giving a 20-minute speech that sounded much like a campaign platform, Bevin left the building without filing for a third run for the office.

Savannah Maddox announced she was withdrawing from the Republican primary on Dec. 20. Maddox has been a state representative since 2019, representing parts of Northern Kentucky. Maddox is aligned with the ‘Liberty’ segment of the Republican Party and is endorsed by U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie. She has made a name for herself in the statehouse as one of its farthest right members and has slammed other Republicans for being too soft on Beshear’s pandemic restrictions.

Anthony Moore, a resident of Oldham County, filed in KREF as a Republican, but did not file officially with the secretary of state’s office.

This story was originally published November 22, 2022 11:48 AM.