Running to the right, Rep. Savannah Maddox kicks off GOP bid for governor
Rep. Savannah Maddox, R-Dry Ridge, is joining a growing field of candidates vying for the 2023 GOP gubernatorial nomination.
Maddox, 35, scheduled a “big announcement” event in Northern Kentucky for Monday night, but launched her campaign website earlier on Monday.
A blurb on her campaign website called her a “patriot” and an “authentic Republican fighter.”
“Her proven conservative leadership has been at the forefront of the fight for Kentucky’s families. Savannah’s unyielding determination to protect our constitutional rights and liberties has set a precedent for what Kentuckians should expect when they put their trust in a public servant,” her biography reads.
The representative, elected in 2018, has made a name for herself in the statehouse as one of its farthest right members. With varying degrees of success, Maddox has carried several pieces of legislation hitting on prominent social conservative issues: guns, COVID-19 mitigation, transgender issues,
In 2019, she passed a bill with the support of former governor Matt Bevin that did away with separate permit or training required for legal gun owners to conceal carry a gun; in 2021, she sponsored bills that banned doctors from performing gender transition therapy and tackled free speech on college campuses.
This year, Maddox’s efforts to bar any employer – later reduced in a committee substitute to only public employers – from requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 grew a significant following online. Its passage was doomed, though, after a GOP-dominated Senate committee took the rare step of blocking a bill in a committee vote.
In a video officially announcing her candidacy, Maddox denounced fellow Republicans for being too soft on Beshear during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Some Kentucky Republicans were cheering on Beshear, while I fought him every step of the way. To me, that’s unconscionable and completely disqualifying in a Republican candidate, but especially among those who want to run for governor. Just admit that you’re actually a Democrat, and go run in the primary in their party,” Maddox said.
Maddox has ties to Northern Kentucky U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a libertarian-leaning Republican who’s made a name for himself in Washington as an ultra-conservative contrarian and provocateur. Massie has endorsed Maddox, and donated to her campaign, in her previous races.
The representative got some wind in her gubernatorial sails after witnessing the results of GOP primaries in nearby Boone County, a populous northern Kentucky area where ‘Liberty’ candidates akin to Maddox defeated three prominent House committee chairs.
“I was very encouraged by the results of the primary insomuch as I think that you are clearly seeing the anger and the frustration many Republicans hold. I think that that paves the way for a candidate who’s going to speak boldly to the issues that matter to them, and I think I am that candidate,” Maddox said in an interview with the Herald-Leader before her announcement.
Maddox’s brand of ‘Liberty’ or constitutionalist Republicanism is not always popular with state GOP leadership, though she says her politics and those of similar candidates such as the primary winners in Northern Kentucky and Andrew Cooperrider, a locally famous businessman who lost a primary bid against Sen. Donald Douglas, R-Nicholasville, are a more true to platform style of Republicanism. Like others in her wing of the party, she has been critical of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, the state’s most prominent lobbying group that often fights for business priority legislation carried by other GOP members.
“The new movement that is arising is departing from a version of the Republican Party that had become more moderate, and had abandoned the instinct to fight for individual liberties to fight for freedom, to fight against the government overreach,” Maddox said.
Maddox holds a bachelor’s degree from Northern Kentucky University. She lives on a farm in Grant County with her husband and two children.
The Kentucky Democratic Party released a statement critical of Maddox’s tenure, claiming that she has accomplished “almost nothing” for her constituents, has fought against the health interest of Kentuckians and is too cozy with more extreme elements of the GOP.
“She has declared war on the health, safety, and wellbeing of Kentuckians in an attempt to score political points, and failed miserably,” KDP Chair Colmon Elridge said. “She has waged a war on Gov. Beshear, on sanity, on businesses, and on fellow Republicans – successfully working to defeat fellow Republican legislators she didn’t think were extreme enough. Her entrance into the race ensures the year-long Republican primary will be even nastier, more extreme and more expensive.”
The Northern Kentuckian joins a field already rife with candidates.
Three statewide constitutional officers in Auditor Mike Harmon, Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles and Attorney General Daniel Cameron have all announced their campaigns seeking the Republican nomination for governor. Northern Kentuckian Eric Deters has also raised a significant amount of money towards his gubernatorial effort.
Harmon said he wouldn’t be surprised to see 10 or more legitimate GOP candidates for governor. Others who haven’t denied interest include Sens. Max Wise and Ralph Alvarado, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft, Somerset Mayor Alan Keck and former governor Matt Bevin.
They’re all jockeying for the chance to face Gov. Andy Beshear in his reelection campaign.
Despite Republicans holding massive majorities in both chambers of the state legislature, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear is still popular in Kentucky, according to recent polling. Polls from the Morning Consult and Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy show Beshear’s job approval rating is hovering near 60%.
Beshear, who narrowly defeated Matt Bevin in 2019, has also collected nearly $2.4 million in campaign contributions half a year into his reelection bid.
This story was originally published June 6, 2022 at 11:44 AM.
