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2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election

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See also: 2023 United States gubernatorial elections

2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election
← 2019 November 7, 2023 2027 →
 
Party Democratic Republican
Incumbent Governor

Andy Beshear
Democratic



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The 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election will be held on November 7, 2023, to choose the governor and lieutenant governor of Kentucky. Incumbent Democratic Governor Andy Beshear is running for re-election to a second term. Primaries will be held on May 16, 2023. The winner of the 2023 gubernatorial election is scheduled to be sworn in on December 12, 2023. This race is one of two Democratic-held governorships, the other being in Louisiana, up for election in 2023 in a state Donald Trump won in 2020.

Background

Kentucky is generally considered a heavily Republican southern state, as of 2023 both of its U.S. Senators and all but one member of the Kentucky congressional delegation belong to the Republican Party. In the 2020 presidential election, Republican Donald Trump carried Kentucky by 26 percentage points. Despite these results, the Democratic Party remains competitive, especially in certain local and state-level elections. In the 2019 Kentucky gubernatorial election, the state's Attorney General, Democrat Andy Beshear defeated incumbent Republican Matt Bevin. Bevin had been saddled with low approval ratings and heavy criticism for, among other things, signing a pension reform bill for teachers.

Beshear, who enjoys high approval ratings with Kentucky voters, has decided to seek re-election.[1] This election is expected to be competitive as Beshear remains popular, but must again overcome the state's strong partisan lean to be re-elected.[2]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Endorsements

Andy Beshear
Organizations

Fundraising

Beshear is the only candidate who has filed a financial disclosure.

Campaign finance reports as of January 3, 2023[9]
Candidate Raised Cash on hand
Andy Beshear $647,000 $7,400,000

Results

Democratic primary results[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Andy Beshear (incumbent)
Democratic Peppy Martin
Democratic Geoff Young
Total votes

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Did not file

  • Anthony Moore, wellwater drilling contractor[6]

Withdrawn

Declined

Endorsements

Daniel Cameron
Executive Branch officials
State Legislators
Individuals
Organizations
Kelly Craft
U.S. Representatives
State legislators
Individuals
Savannah Maddox (withdrawn)
U.S. Representatives
Organizations

Fundraising

Financial disclosures for major candidates are below:

Campaign finance reports as of April 18, 2023[37]
Candidate Raised Spent Cash on hand
Daniel Cameron $1,370,904 $777,446 $593,458
Kelly Craft $8,563,233[b] $8,156,315 $406,918
Eric Deters $669,064[c] $659,746 $9,319
Mike Harmon $84,547[d] $70,693 $13,854
Alan Keck $311,717[e] $257,577 $54,139
Ryan Quarles $1,202,650 $299,419 $903,231

Polling

Graphical summary

Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Daniel
Cameron 		David
Cooper 		Kelly
Craft 		Eric
Deters 		Bob
DeVore 		Mike
Harmon 		Alan
Keck 		Savannah
Maddox 		Ryan
Quarles 		Robbie
Smith 		Other Undecided
Emerson College April 10–11, 2023 900 (LV) ± 3.2% 30% <1% 24% 6% <1% 2% <1% – 15% <1% <1%[g] 21%
Mason-Dixon January 18–23, 2023 404 (LV) ± 5% 39% 1% 13% 2% 1% 5% 2% – 8% 1% – 28%
Meeting Street[A] January 9–11, 2023 500 (LV) ± 4.4% 39% – 8% 2% – 2% 1% – 8% – 2% 38%
December 20, 2022 Maddox withdraws from the race
co/efficient (R)[A] June 13–14, 2022 974 (LV) ± 3.5% 46% – 3% 4% – 5% – 7% 9% – 3% 22%

Results

Republican primary results[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Daniel Cameron
Republican Jacob Clark
Republican David Cooper
Republican Kelly Craft
Republican Eric Deters
Republican Bob DeVore
Republican Mike Harmon
Republican Alan Keck
Republican Dennis Ormerod
Republican Ryan Quarles
Republican Johnny Rice
Republican Robbie Smith
Total votes

Independents

Candidates

Declared

  • Brian Bush, home remodeling contractor and U.S. Army veteran[6]
  • David Ferguson[6]
  • Clint Johnson, reverend[6]

General election

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[38] Lean D January 9, 2023
Inside Elections[39] Tossup January 20, 2023
Sabato's Crystal Ball[40] Lean D January 19, 2023

Polling

Andy Beshear vs. Daniel Cameron
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Andy
Beshear (D) 		Daniel
Cameron (R) 		Undecided
Mason-Dixon January 18–23, 2023 625 (RV) ± 4% 49% 40% 11%
Andy Beshear vs. Kelly Craft
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Andy
Beshear (D) 		Kelly
Craft (R) 		Undecided
Mason-Dixon January 18–23, 2023 625 (RV) ± 4% 57% 32% 11%
Andy Beshear vs. Mike Harmon
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Andy
Beshear (D) 		Mike
Harmon (R) 		Undecided
Mason-Dixon January 18–23, 2023 625 (RV) ± 4% 53% 33% 14%
Andy Beshear vs. Ryan Quarles
Poll source Date(s)
administered 		Sample
size[f] 		Margin
of error 		Andy
Beshear (D) 		Ryan
Quarles (R) 		Undecided
Mason-Dixon January 18–23, 2023 625 (RV) ± 4% 52% 35% 13%

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Green nominee for Kentucky's 45th House of Representatives district in 2012; Democratic candidate for Kentucky's 6th congressional district in 2014, 2016, and 2018, Republican candidate in 2020, and Democratic nominee in 2022; Democratic candidate for governor in 2015 and 2019
  2. ^ $7,001,000 of this total was self-funded by Craft
  3. ^ $52,500 of this total was self-funded by Deters
  4. ^ $10,772 of this total was self-funded by Harmon
  5. ^ $32,000 of this total was self-funded by Keck
  6. ^ a b c d e Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  7. ^ Jacob Clark with 0.5%
Partisan clients
  1. ^ a b This poll was sponsored by Cameron's campaign

References

  1. ^ Bowman, Bridget (January 26, 2023). "Kentucky Gov. Beshear gets high job approval marks in new poll". NBC News. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  2. ^ Buczek, Karolina (January 17, 2023). "Kentucky's governor's race expected to be a competitive election in 2023. Since 2003, the party that has won the election went on to win the presidential election the next year". WLEX. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Brammer, Jack (October 1, 2021). "KY Gov. Andy Beshear kicks off re-election bid, will keep Coleman as running mate". Lexington Herald-Leader. McClatchy. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Election Candidate Filings - Governor". web.sos.ky.gov. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
  5. ^ Martin, Ryland (December 2, 2022). "Beshear draws a primary challenger…former Republican Peppy Martin". WEKU.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Duvall, Tessa (November 22, 2022). "Here's the complete list of candidates running for Kentucky governor in 2023". Lexington Herald Leader. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  7. ^ "Kentucky's working families stand with Governor Beshear". Kentucky AFL–CIO. January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  8. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20230417152836/https://umwa.org/ky-compac/
  9. ^ "Beshear maintains big fundraising lead over Republican rivals". January 3, 2023.
  10. ^ "Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron Announces Gubernatorial Run". National Review. May 11, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
  11. ^ a b c Schreiner, Bruce (September 7, 2022). "Trump ambassador Kelly Craft joins Kentucky governor's race". Associated Press. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  12. ^ a b c d e "Craft taps Sen. Max Wise as early 2023 GOP running mate". Spectrum News. September 22, 2022. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  13. ^ Karthikeyan, Divya (October 6, 2022). "Beshear leads in gubernatorial fundraising; Craft closes in on Quarles".
  14. ^ Sonka, Joe (July 12, 2021). "Kentucky Auditor Mike Harmon is running for governor". Courier-Journal. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  15. ^ Horn, Austin (November 21, 2022). "Ky. GOP governor primary was already crowded. One more candidate just jumped in". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
  16. ^ Schreiner, Bruce (April 30, 2022). "GOP's Quarles announces run for Kentucky governor in 2023". Associated Press. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  17. ^ "State Rep. Savannah Maddox joining Kentucky governor's race". WKYT-TV. June 6, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  18. ^ Fowler, Audrey (December 20, 2022). "State Rep. Savannah Maddox drops out of Kentucky governor's race". WLEX-TV. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  19. ^ Horn, Austin. "Sen. Ralph Alvarado leaving office to lead Tennessee health department". Lexington Herald Leader. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
  20. ^ Bacon, Perry (November 7, 2019). "Kentucky May Have Gotten Even More Red This Week". Louisville Eccentric Observer. Louisville Eccentric Observer. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  21. ^ Storm, Nick (July 25, 2022). "Treasurer Allison Ball Announces Campaign for KY Auditor". www.kentuckyfried.com. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
  22. ^ Delouche, Conroy. "Matt Bevin teases run for Kentucky governor, walks out as deadline passes". WDRB. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  23. ^ Schreiner, Bruce (August 5, 2021). "US Rep. Comer eyeing House chairmanship, not governorship". Associated Press. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  24. ^ May, Adam (July 8, 2022). "Comer says he'll endorse a GOP gov candidate who hasn't announced yet". Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  25. ^ a b Horn, Austin (August 6, 2022). "Maddox picks up endorsement; Comer hints at new candidate for governor". Lexington Herald-Leader. Archived from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  26. ^ Horn, Austin (December 21, 2022). "Savannah Maddox drops out of Republican primary for 2023 Kentucky governor's race". Lexington Herald-Leader.
  27. ^ Schreiner, Bruce (August 18, 2021). "Kentucky elections: Republican state Sen. Max Wise eying possible run for governor". The Courier-Journal. Gannett. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  28. ^ "Trump endorses Cameron's bid for governor in Kentucky". spectrumnews1.com. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  29. ^ https://www.facebook.com/kevin.d.bratcher/posts/pfbid022yhoQfyetqc3ghuqZseDsBhzjotvEo5GAPggYhFiE6iEYrXnJwJQCofMRktQAWhal
  30. ^ https://twitter.com/danielcameronag/status/1649082432476311554?s=46
  31. ^ https://twitter.com/danielcameronag/status/1637918456044503041?s=46
  32. ^ a b Owens, Mary (June 22, 2022). "SBA Pro-Life America's Candidate Fund Endorses Pro-Life Champion Daniel Cameron for Kentucky Governor". Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  33. ^ https://twitter.com/DanielCameronAG/status/1653107961110093849
  34. ^ "Kentucky Right to Life Victory PAC Alert" (PDF). squarespace.com. Retrieved April 6, 2023.
  35. ^ a b c d e Storm, Nick (September 13, 2022). "Kelly Craft Attempts to Nationalize Gubernatorial Race in Campaign Rollout". Kentucky Fried Politics. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  36. ^ Republican Liberty Caucus [@RLibertyCaucus] (July 13, 2022). "The Republican Liberty Caucus proudly endorses Savannah Maddox for KY Governor. @SavannahLMaddox has been an unwavering liberty warrior in the KY legislature. As Governor, Savannah will continue to fight for personal liberty, smaller government and economic freedom. #RLCendorsed" (Tweet). Retrieved July 28, 2022 – via Twitter.
  37. ^ "Candidate Search". Kentucky Registry of Election Finance. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  38. ^ "2024 Governor Race ratings". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  39. ^ "Gubernatorial Ratings". Inside Elections. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  40. ^ "2024 Gubernatorial race ratings". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
Official campaign websites
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