Kentucky governor debate: 5 big moments for Andy Beshear and Daniel Cameron

With candidates as disciplined in their messaging as Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear and Republican challenger attorney general Daniel Cameron, it proved hard to break new ground in the third of five gubernatorial debates leading up to the general election.

The candidates didn’t budge too much from their primary messaging points: Cameron touted his numerous plans and hit Beshear on being “crazy,” while Beshear underscored the economic vitality of the state and criticized Cameron for being too partisan.

However, the two delivered some fresh lines of attack on each other, leading to tense and revealing exchanges on the WLKY-TV studio stage in Louisville. Abortion, education, COVID-19, the Beshear administration’s actions all were familiar topics, but the candidates put a new spin on each.

Here are five key moments from Saturday’s clash and likely serve as a precursor to the remaining debates.

Calling out Cameron

A question on Kentucky’s near-total ban on abortion, which Cameron has defended in court and Beshear has routinely criticized, started off with the candidates taking familiar stances.

Cameron repeated he’s the clear “pro-life” candidate in the race, and Beshear’s stance on allowing abortions is out of step with Kentuckians. Beshear, who has gone on the offensive vs. Cameron on the issue in several television ads, said the law is draconian and criticized Cameron for supporting it.

Cameron has said he’d sign a bill adding such exceptions to the law, but has not said he’d actively lobby for them.

Beshear, in a rebuttal, asked Cameron directly to support amending the law.

“General Cameron, will you look at the camera and say, ‘I support exceptions for rape and incest?’”

Cameron refused.

“I’ve already said that I will sign the exceptions if they are brought to my desk,” Cameron said. “At the end of the day, this governor (pointing to Beshear) wants more abortions.”

Cameron: ‘There he goes again’

In a particularly biting criticism on the topic of school staffing, Cameron attacked Beshear for not delivering on a pledge to raise teacher pay.

“There he goes again. Since this governor has been running, he promised $2,000 as a teacher when he was running for governor. He then proposed a 5% increase, then an 11%. The commonality there is that you haven’t gotten any of those raises.”

Cameron went on to decry the effect of COVID-19 school shutdowns on learning in Kentucky schools. Beshear re-directed the conversation by bringing it to Cameron on his previously indicated support for school voucher programs that use public funds to help subsidize private school tuition – however, Cameron has largely avoided this topic in his latest campaign.

Beshear said such a proposal would take “tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars” away from public schools and redirect them to “fancy private schools.”

Beshear also pointed to Cameron and his running mate, Sen. Robby Mills, R-Henderson, previously supporting a controversial pension reform bill backed by former GOP governor Matt Bevin. That bill led to mass teacher protests at the time.

Cameron promises to ‘clean house’

One of the most important responsibilities of a governor is to appoint cabinet heads and oversee the daily work of state government. Cameron told the audience Saturday that he’d “clean house” over some of the shortcomings of the Beshear administration when it came to social services and the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Cameron mentioned much-publicized controversies in the cabinets, including issues with sexual assault at Department of Juvenile Justice facilities, as well as children sleeping on the floor of a Cabinet for Health and Family Services office building.

“That has all happened under this governor, yet he has held absolutely no one accountable. On Day One when I’m governor, I will clean house and make sure that we have folks there that actually care about our kids,” Cameron said.

Beshear mentioned that his administration has worked and succeeded in increasing the salary for state social workers to tackle such issues. He also re-directed attention to Cameron’s support for pension reform, which he argued would have hurt the state’s ability to pull social worker talent.

Beshear plays the Trump card?

Cameron hit Beshear repeatedly on the early release of more than 1,700 inmates during the COVID-19 pandemic. As noted in commercials and on the Cameron campaign stump, a majority of those released early – they were either judged “medically vulnerable” or who had less than six months left to serve – have committed criminal offenses again.

Beshear parried this claim by pointing out that he was following the guidance of former Republican President Donald Trump, whose endorsement Cameron has touted since early in the GOP gubernatorial primary.

“I think that General Cameron just criticized me for following Donald Trump. I didn’t expect that tonight. That was not on my bingo card,” Beshear said.

Some new personal digs

By debate three, devoted audiences have heard two familiar strategies: Cameron accuses Beshear of being “crazy” because he supports Biden and other Democrat-leaning policies, while Beshear rips Cameron for being far too partisan for the governor’s chair.

But the candidates debuted some new personal attacks Saturday.

Cameron grilled Beshear for his performance during the pandemic. The governor, Cameron said, is too proud to admit mistakes or that he should have have done some things differently. The Republican nominee pointed to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who recently admitted missteps with regard to handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cameron said that instead of owning up to mistakes, Beshear is “gaslighting” – a newly popularized word indicating that someone is distorting reality to manipulate another person – Kentuckians on COVID-19 and other issues.

Beshear, on the other hand, branded Cameron as lacking empathy and being unprofessional. He went after Cameron, for instance, for not committing to support a law banning the re-sale of weapons used in homicides.

“We cannot have a governor that lacks the empathy to say that a weapon used to murder someone’s loved one shouldn’t be auctioned off to the highest bidder,” Beshear said.

“You can support the Second Amendment and have enough care for people, to understand how much they may be hurting, to say, ‘Let’s not auction that weapon off.’”

This story was originally published October 22, 2023 at 7:12 PM.

Austin Horn

Lexington Herald-Leader

706-571-8597

Austin Horn is a politics reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He previously worked for the Frankfort State Journal and National Public Radio. Horn has roots in both Woodford and Martin Counties.