Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) “has shaken up his reelection campaign weeks ahead of the November vote, a potentially ominous sign for the Republican incumbent,” Politico reports.
“The shakeup comes as Bevin tries to survive a competitive reelection battle against state Attorney General Andy Beshear, the Democratic nominee. Public polling is limited, though past survey data has shown Bevin to be one of the most unpopular governors in the country.”
An internal poll from the campaign of Andy Beshear (D) shows the Democratic challenger leading Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) by 9 percentage points in the race for governor, 48% to 39%, with a little over two months until the election, the Louisville Courier Journal reports.
The results closely resemble an internal poll conducted by the Democratic Attorneys General Association a week earlier, which found Beshear leading Bevin by the exact same margin.
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) defeated challenger Robert Goforth (R) in May’s Republican gubernatorial primary, 52% to 39%.
But a new video suggests the two men haven’t found party unity in advance of the general election.
“President Trump’s reelection campaign is still a year away, but Kentucky is going to get a preview this fall,” Politico reports.
“Gov. Matt Bevin is clinging as tightly as he can to Trump — even borrowing some of his tactics — as he attempts to overcome rock-bottom approval ratings in a bid for a second term. The unpopular governor is counting on Trump’s appeal here — the president won Kentucky by 30 percentage points in 2016 — and conservative cultural positions to knock off his chief political rival, state Attorney General Andy Beshear, the son of Bevin’s predecessor.”
Kentucky state Sen. Dan Seum (R) announced he would cross party lines and endorse the gubernatorial campaign of Andy Beshear (D).
“Under normal circumstances, the Kentucky governor’s race would be all but over except for the concession phone call. The incumbent running for re-election this year is a conservative Republican in a state that has recently become as red as hot coal, where unemployment is as low as it has been in nearly two decades and most of the voters are still crazy about the governor’s ally, President Trump,” the New York Times reports.
But, said former Gov. Paul Patton (D): “This is not a normal governor’s race. We’ve got an abnormal governor.”
The Cook Political Report sees the Kentucky gubernatorial race between Gov. Matt Bevin (R) and Attorney General Andy Beshear (D) as a Toss Up.
“There haven’t been any recent general election polling, but we suspect that a reliable poll would show the race within the margin of error. We wouldn’t even be surprised to see polling showing Beshear ahead, at least at the start.”
Attorney General Andy Beshear (D) marched to victory in the Democratic primary for governor Tuesday, laying the groundwork for a battle with Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) that has been festering in Frankfort for three years, the Lexington Herald Leader reports.
“The two political rivals, who have sniped at each other from their first-floor offices in the Capitol, will move their fight to the campaign trail until Nov. 5. Beshear won Kentucky’s two largest cities to hold off House Minority Leader Rocky Adkins’ rural surge and set up the familiar storyline for the fall.”
“Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) is a presidential phone-buddy and White House regular who’s become one of President Trump’s loudest surrogates,” Politico reports.
“He’s also one of the most unpopular governors in the country, facing a treacherous reelection in November. And the White House, fearing that an embarrassing loss in a deep-red state would stoke doubts about the president’s own ability to win another term, is preparing to go all-in to save him.”
“Though the national political focus has largely turned to the 2020 presidential campaign, three Southern states will see hard-fought governors’ races this year, with Democrats trying to show they can compete in Donald Trump territory,” the Associated Press reports.
“Democrats hope to unseat Kentucky’s Republican Gov. Matt Bevin and win an open governorship in Mississippi. In Louisiana, they’re working to re-elect John Bel Edwards, the lone Democratic governor in the Deep South.”
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) “dismissed polling that shows him struggling with voters as he runs for a second term — and said he welcomes having President Trump and vice president Mike Pence come to Kentucky to campaign for him,” McClatchy reports.
Said Bevin: “There has never been a poll ever taken… done by anyone, including people who want to be supportive, that has ever found me above water or likely to win anything, ever. I have never led in any poll or been popular in any survey that has ever been done.”
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) announced that state Sen. Ralph Alvarado (R) will be his lieutenant governor running mate as he seeks re-election in 2019, putting an end to speculation about his political plans, the Lexington Herald Leader reports.
When asked why he chose not to run again with Lt. Gov. Jenean Hampton (R), Bevin said “because I chose to run with Ralph Alvarado.”
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) “pledged he will soon file his paperwork to run for re-election. Bevin made the pledge to a group of reporters in Frankfort as rumors swirled he may not run,” the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
Said Bevin: “It is still absolutely my intention, I’ll run again… I’m the governor of Kentucky, that’s my focus, not paperwork. I will do it.”
Amy McGrath (D), who ran a nationally watched campaign for Congress, said she will not seek her party’s nomination for Kentucky governor in 2019, the Louisville Courier Journal reports.
The former Marine fighter pilot’s decision comes two weeks after the Courier Journal reported that some Democrats had concerns about whether she fulfilled the residency requirement to run.
The Lexington Herald-Leader published an editorial cartoon that Kentucky Gov.-elect Matt Bevin (R) called “deplorably racist,” according to the Louisville Courier Journal.
The cartoon shows Bevin hiding under his desk and an aide telling him, ‘Sir, they’re not terrorists… they’re your own adopted kids!”
Four of Bevin’s children were adopted from Africa.
A Smart Politics analysis finds that Jack Conway turned in the worst performance by a Kentucky Democratic gubernatorial nominee since the Civil War – with his 43.8% of the vote lower than every Democratic nominee over the previous 40 election cycles.
First Read: “Perhaps the most significant consequence of Republican Matt Bevin’s victory in Kentucky’s gubernatorial race last night is that it could result in the dismantling of maybe the most extensive (and successful) effort to implement Obamacare in the entire country… And that would give national Republicans a statewide experiment to see how — or simply if — you can rollback the law.”
“And so we’re likely to see a political fight play out in Kentucky that might even be bigger than yesterday’s gubernatorial contest: Bevin and Republicans will be trying to — choose your term — reform/rollback/dismantle the state’s health-care system under the federal law, while Democrats will argue that the effort will result in taking away people’s health insurance that they liked or didn’t have before.”
“Bottom line: The aftermath of last night could answer these questions for national Republicans: If you want to repeal the health-care law, how do you do it? How big will the blowback be to changing people’s health insurance? And can repeal even be done?”
Wonk Wire: Could an upset in Kentucky herald a rollback of Obamacare?
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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