Key fobs, swipes and going to work. What records show (and mean) for Cameron, Beshear.
Records show that both gubernatorial candidates, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear and GOP Attorney General Daniel Cameron, rarely if ever use the Kentucky Capitol key fob swipe system to get into the Capitol building.
Fob swipes are an imperfect measure of attendance for both elected officials. Beshear’s Finance and Administration Cabinet provided a more prompt response explaining why no such records exist for the governor: a Kentucky State Police detail uses their security badges when the Democratic governor enters the building.
Meanwhile, Cameron drew scrutiny after a recently released Huffington Post story that highlighted records showing he hasn’t swiped into the Capitol building. Cameron’s office told the Herald-Leader that Cameron has “regularly” come into the office since Dec. 2019 and that “key fob records do not accurately reflect the comings and goings of General Cameron or any elected official, nor can any conclusions be drawn from them.” It did not state explicitly why Cameron hadn’t swiped in.
However, the spokesperson added that they could not elaborate due to “security concerns.”
Following a series of death threats for his office’s handling of the investigation into the March 2020 fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor, the state paid for 24/7 armed security for Cameron.
It’s possible that the security detail is swiping in for him, according to Auditor Mike Harmon.
“I would assume that, since Daniel Cameron has had security all this time that they probably swap in and open the door for him. I would assume the same for Beshear,” Harmon said.
Cameron has also made several public appearances at rallies and other events in the Capitol after taking office.
While Beshear lives in the Governor’s Mansion a short walk away from the Capitol, Cameron lives in Louisville – roughly an hour’s drive from Frankfort.
An open records request for all constitutional officers’ key fob swipes – excluding lieutenant governor Jacqueline Coleman – into the office dating back to Jan. 2020 shows that the statewide office-holders rarely use their key fobs. All officers except Secretary of State Michael Adams logged few, if any, swipes into the Capitol.
Secretary of State Michael Adams logged more than 750 swipes into the Capitol building, Harmon swiped in 6 times, Treasurer Allison Ball has swiped in 17 times and Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles has not swiped in once.
Swiping in is not generally required for known employees at the front entrance of the Capitol, which is regularly open to the public. Harmon said he often takes that entrance or else someone traveling with him from his other office in Frankfort to the Capitol will swipe in.
“A lot of times I go in the front. And sometimes I’ll swipe, sometimes my communications director will, and sometimes whoever’s with us will swipe and I’ll go in,” Harmon said.
Of the officers requested, Adams, Beshear and Cameron are the only ones with offices in the Capitol. Harmon, Quarles and Ball’s main offices are all elsewhere in Frankfort. Cameron also has an office in East Frankfort in addition to his Capitol office. A record obtained by the Herald-Leader showed that Cameron did not swipe into that office from Sep. 2022 to March 2023.
Lisa Tolliver, a spokesperson for Quarles’ office, said that Quarles often times his visits to the Capitol to coincide with staff who swipe in for him.
“If not entering through the main entrance where security is present and no key swipe is needed, staff traveling with the commissioner are the ones gaining access through the key swipe,” Tolliver said.
She added that much of Quarles’ business on the Capitol grounds is in the Capitol annex, where legislators’ offices are located.
Sebastian Kitchen, the executive director of the Kentucky Democratic Party, tweeted on Monday that he believes Cameron “does not show up for work.” Before taking the reins at KDP, Kitchen worked for Beshear, whose offices are generally located on the same wing of the Capitol as Cameron’s.
“No. Daniel Cameron does not show up for work. As someone who parked in the same lot as him and walked in the same door and worked down the hall from him -- the man rarely bothers to even show up. He doesn’t even do the bare minimum,” Kitchen said.
