U.S. Rep. James Comer says he won’t challenge Bevin, but slams governor’s performance

U.S. Rep. James Comer, who hinted for months that he might challenge Gov. Matt Bevin in this year’s Republican gubernatorial primary, announced Sunday night that he won’t get into the race now that Bevin has filed for re-election. But Comer sharply criticized Bevin for his performance as governor so far.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Comer, R-Tompkinsville, said he spent the last three days in the hospital with his father, who had a massive stroke Thursday. He expressed “zero desire to run against a multimillionaire incumbent governor in a primary regardless of how unpopular he (is).”

“Kentucky deserves better than a governor who belittles anyone who disagrees with him, who has not set foot in many of our desperate rural communities, who has zero accessibility to most of Kentucky’s elected officials, and who has spent more time traveling outside Kentucky than getting to experience the uniqueness and greatness of Kentucky and its people,” Comer said.

He added: “I wish the governor the best of luck in the future. I do hope he is successful, because if he succeeds then Kentucky succeeds. I do believe he will be re-elected.”

Bevin narrowly defeated Comer, a former state representative and agriculture commissioner, in the 2015 gubernatorial primary. The next year, Comer was elected to Congress from Western Kentucky.

So far, Republicans have three choices for governor this spring: Bevin, state Rep. Robert Goforth and William Woods. Democratic candidates include Attorney General Andy Beshear and Kentucky House Minority Leader Rocky Adkins, with former state Auditor Adam Edelen expected to file before the filing deadline at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

This story was originally published January 28, 2019 at 9:50 AM.