Ky. GOP governor primary was already crowded. One more candidate just jumped in.
It’s hard to keep up with how many people are vying for the GOP nomination for governor.
But on Monday, one more name emerged: Somerset Mayor Alan Keck. The 37-year-old executive announced to an audience of around 300 people on Monday night that he intends to seek the highest office in the state.
“Kentucky needs a CEO,” Keck said in a video shown to supporters in Somerset before he gave a 20-minute speech.
That comment was a major theme of the night, with Keck emphasizing his experience as the leader of a city government and as an entrepreneur as a distinguishing factor.
“I’m the only person in this race now that has the executive experience in the private sector and the public sector to go solve the problems that Kentucky needs solved,” Keck said. “There’s some in this room, who I love dearly, who said ‘Alan, it’s not your time. You need to wait your turn.’ I don’t believe in ‘turns’ and I don’t believe in ‘times.’
“This race is not going to be about who has the most money it’s not going to be about who has the biggest network or the biggest name.”
Keck has thrown his hat in an already crowded ring for the GOP nomination, including candidates with plenty of political cachet. Candidates include Attorney General Daniel Cameron, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft, Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles, retired attorney Eric Deters, Rep. Savannah Maddox, Auditor Mike Harmon, and more.
Quarles leads the pack in terms of funds raised and endorsements from state-level officials. Cameron has high name I.D. due to his national profile, which rose after a fiery speech at the Republican National Convention and during his oversight of the prosecution of officers tied to the killing of Breonna Taylor; he also touts an endorsement from former GOP president Donald Trump. Craft’s campaign got off to the hottest fundraising start of any in the field, she has access to many millions through her billionaire philanthropist and coal magnate husband Joe Craft, and she’s hired a team with strong connections to Virginia GOP Governor Glenn Youngkin’s campaign, which drew nationwide renown for its strategy.
But Keck seemed heartened by the amount of local support in Somerset and framed his low name recognition as a chance to start fresh with GOP voters.
“We’re embracing the underdog (role). My name ID is lower than the rest of the field, but it’s also a really neat opportunity: I get to tell my story in a fresh way.”
Keck released a lengthy policy platform on Monday. It included some bread and butter GOP priorities like shoring up the state’s workforce participation rate and supporting law enforcement, but also mentioned some novel items for a Republican candidate. He listed support for raising teacher pay and investing in pre-K– Keck said he was open to considering universal pre-K – as well providing incentive to companies that provide maternity leave and eliminating the sales tax on childcare items.
Much of Keck’s policy platform is centered around economic development, touting the recent growth of Somerset as an example.
“Downtown was dead eight to ten years ago. You just drove through and there was nothing,” Claudette Prather, who was at the kickoff, said. “There are now new jobs, industries and opportunities. I’d hate to lose him for our city, but I’d love to share him with all of Kentucky.” Prather’s son, Centre College student Jackson Prather, added that given the recent growth he feels like he can move back to the area post-graduation.
The downtown venue where the event took place is city-owned. A campaign spokesperson said that the campaign will pay a standard rental fee for use of the venue.
The announcement came just weeks after he won his second sour-year term as mayor of the South-Central Kentucky city, which is home to about 12,000 people.
Aside from being mayor, Keck is also a businessman. He served as president of Somerset Recycling – a company owned by his father – and helped found his own sports management agency as well as the University of Somerset, a planned four-year university that brands itself as an institution free of “indoctrination.” His brother is listed as a vice president there.
He and other GOP guberntorial hopefuls are vying for a chance to unseat Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who boasts high approval ratings – the highest of any Democratic governor in the nation according to Morning Consult – and a massive campaign war chest of more than $4.5 million.
Mayor of Somerset to governor of Kentucky?
Kentucky Democratic Party Chair Colmon Elridge released a statement shortly after news broke of Keck’s announcement referring to him only as “the mayor.” Elridge touted Beshear’s accomplishments as governor and emphasizing how “nasty” the primary on the other side could get given the litany of candidates vying for relevance.
“(The Republican primary) is shaping up to be a crowded, expensive and nasty race to the extreme fringe of the GOP. Next year, Kentuckians will have a clear choice between one of the most popular governors in the country and whoever emerges from the crowded, brutal Republican primary,” Elridge wrote.
Still, some argue that Keck, whose political brand does not yet extend far beyond the borders of his native Pulaski County, could stand to benefit from the GOP field remaining so crowded.
“Once a field has become this incredibly crowded, the odds only increase that a candidate with a small but focused base can rise to the top,” University of Kentucky Political Science Professor Stephen Voss said. “When you’re talking about someone with a regional reputation, a crowded field is the best situation for such a candidate.”
Jacob Dick, a Somerset native in attendance on Monday, likened the field to the 2016 GOP presidential primary, where a slew of candidates vied for the top spot. Trump’s nomination was seen as unlikely at the outset.
The region around Pulaski County has been majority-Republican, unlike much of Kentucky, for decades. Because of the state’s closed primary system, where only Republican Party members can vote in GOP primaries, the region has a reputation of disproportionately mattering more relative to its total population. Former GOP Secretary of State and U.S. Senate candidate Trey Grayson said that the dynamic made Keck potentially more viable despite his relatively low name I.D.
“There are a lot of folks that are going to be voting in 2023 primary who live in and around Somerset. If he can secure the support of activists and leaders in the southeastern Kentucky area, that’s a decent base from which to run. I think the challenge for him would be fundraising as he’s got no name ID statewide, but that base gives him a rationale, or a lane, to give it a give it a shot in a race with no clear-cut favorite.”
This story was originally published November 21, 2022 at 3:25 PM.
