New ads, big spending in Kentucky governor’s race: ‘He’s got my vote this time around’

BY MARK PAYNE | LINK nky POLITICS & GOVERNMENT REPORTER

Anew ad from Gov. Andy Beshear’s campaign hit the airwaves recently, featuring a Republican who didn’t vote for the Kentucky governor in 2019 but is planning to this time.

Beshear’s campaign is spending big this week, but so is a PAC supporting his opponent, Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

In Beshear’s new ad, Jim, a Republican small-business owner, opens the ad saying that he’s worked in Kentucky his whole life and there are more jobs now than he’s ever seen in the state.

“Gov. Beshear’s been great for business,” Jim says in a small library before he appears on screen with Beshear as they converse in front of heavy machinery. “The magnitude of industries that’s come to southern Kentucky — companies are coming in, and there’s so many job opportunities.”

On the bottom third of the screen, headlines from state newspapers highlight the state’s low unemployment rate and other strong economic indicators — something Beshear is quick to take credit for in his weekly press conferences. The Republican Legislature also takes credit for the state’s economic success.

State Budget Director John Hicks released numbers this week that show the state with a $1.4 billion budget surplus — the third one in a row — though those numbers are helped by record windfalls from COVID-19 pandemic funds from the federal government.

In a gubernatorial election year, however, Beshear will continue to take credit for the state’s financial windfalls, and the latest ad shows support from across the political aisle regarding the economy.

“I’m a Republican,” Jim says in the ad. “I did not support Andy Beshear the first time.

He’s got my vote this time around.”

Beshear’s campaign spent $330,000 for the week of July 11 to the 17, according to Medium Buying, which tracks ad spending for political races.

A political action committee supporting Beshear through the Democratic Governors Association, Defending Bluegrass Values, went dark that same week for the first time since May.

Two PACs supporting Cameron — Bluegrass Freedom Action and Kentucky Values, which is affiliated with the Republican Governors Association — also spent big during the week of July 9-15 to fill the airwaves.

Bluegrass Freedom Action, which is mostly funded through a dark money group called The Concord Group that was previously known as the Judicial Crisis Network, spent $380,000 on a new ad that tries to tie Beshear to President Joe Biden.

A dark money group is a 501 (c)(4), or a social welfare organization; that designation allows them not to report who donates money.

Kentucky Values placed $292,000 in ad spending in June.

The ad opens with a picture of Biden and

Beshear, with Vice President Kamala Harris in the background, set in front of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

“Andy Beshear backs Joe Biden’s failing agenda,” the ad says. “But, what about Beshear’s own far-left record?”

The ad then lists what it calls a partisan takeover of Kentucky schools, which is a reference to Beshear’s actions to change the Kentucky Board of Education when elected in 2019 — something that’s no longer possible under a new Kentucky law passed in 2021. The ad then says he packed the board with his political donors. Further, it says, Beshear allowed the release of 1,900 convicts.

Spending from both camps has already hit nearly $7 million in the general election, according to Medium Buying.

Beshear’s campaign has spent $2.5 million, and the Defending Bluegrass Values PAC, affiliated with the Democratic Governors Association, has spent nearly $2.1 million.

The two PACs supporting Cameron have also spent big so far this year. Kentucky Values has spent $1.97 million, and Bluegrass Freedom Action has spent $380,000 overall.