Daniel Cameron scores Trump endorsement in bid for Kentucky governor
.jpeg "Daniel Cameron met with then-President Donald Trump in the White House prior to receiving Trump’s endorsement for attorney general in 2019.")
Former president Donald Trump has endorsed Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron in his run for governor in 2023.
11 months out from the 2023 GOP primary for governor, Trump announced in a statement Thursday night that Cameron has his “Complete and Total Endorsement,” calling the 36-year-old attorney general a “young star.”
Cameron announced his run for governor last month, joining a crowded field of Republicans vying to take on Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles announced just before Cameron and Auditor Mike Harmon launched his race in 2021. Prominent statehouse “Liberty” Republican representative Savannah Maddox, as well as Northern Kentucky attorney Eric Deters, are also running for governor.
News of the former president’s endorsement broke when Cameron thanked Trump on Twitter, posting a short press release announcing the endorsement.
“I have known Daniel from the beginning of his meteoric rise, and he is absolutely outstanding in every way. He is Strong on the Military and our Vets, a Fierce Defender of our Borders, Protects our totally under-siege Second Amendment, and is a Crime Fighter who represents the absolute opposite of ‘Defund the Police,’” Trump wrote.
Though Trump lost to President Joe Biden in 2020, he easily won Kentucky. The former president beat Biden in the state by more than 500,000 votes – nearly 26 percentage points. In 2016, Trump’s win over Hilary Clinton was even wider.
An endorsement from the former president has proven valuable to candidates running in primaries across the country this year – but Trump’s endorsement record is not exactly perfect.
In Ohio, Trump’s endorsement is often credited with elevating author and attorney J.D. Vance to his win in a competitive GOP Senate primary. However, Trump’s picks for tight GOP gubernatorial primaries in Georgia, Idaho and Nebraska have faltered.
In 2019, Cameron rose above a once-crowded primary field to win the Republican nomination for attorney general, later defeating former speaker of the house Greg Stumbo in the general election. He became the first Black attorney general in Kentucky history.
Cameron has previously garnered national media attention for overseeing the prosecution of police officers involved in Breonna Taylor’s killing in Louisville, a speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention and for being listed as a potential Supreme Court nominee by Trump.
Cameron also has strong ties to Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell. He served as legal counsel for the Senate Minority Leader from 2015 to 2017.
Despite being a Democrat in a state that has shifted in recent years to overwhelmingly support Republicans at the state level, Beshear is largely supported by Kentuckians based on recent polling. Though polls have not asked respondents whether they would vote for Beshear, his job approval is among the highest of any Democratic governor in the U.S., hovering near 60 percent.
Beshear has also collected nearly $2.4 million in campaign contributions half a year into his reelection bid as of early last month.
At least one Republican competitor for governor significantly altered their path in the wake of Trump’s endorsement. Deters told the Herald-Leader that he will now run as an Independent in 2023.
“I’m going to be a realist: I can’t beat the sitting attorney general who’s got the endorsement of Donald Trump,” Deters said. “... I am in this all the way to November 2023, including self-financing for a full blown campaign.”
Like Deters, potential Republican candidate Kelly Craft appeared at the Kentucky Derby with Trump. Craft served as U.S. Ambassador to Canada and later to the United Nations in Trump’s administration. She and her husband Joe Craft, a Kentucky coal magnate, are prominent GOP donors.
In response to an inquiry about the Trump endorsement, Quarles – who said earlier this month that Trump’s backing would be “helpful” – emphasized the litany of local state official endorsements he’s received. The commissioner of agriculture has announced the backing of 30 of the state’s 120 judge-executives, as well as several statehouse members.
“I’m tremendously honored by the scores of endorsements my campaign has received from members of the Kentucky General Assembly and County Judge Executives from all corners of the Commonwealth; and I’m proud of the support from the dozens of additional local elected officials who have endorsed me that we will be announcing in the coming days and weeks,” Quarles said. “These are the people who, day in and day out, serve the people of Kentucky, locally.”
Harmon said that the Trump endorsement “doesn’t change anything” for his run, adding that he wished he would have had the chance to get in front of Trump.
Maddox, who has previously aligned herself with Trump in campaign materials, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the endorsement
This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 9:42 PM.
