What do governors do, and how much power do they have?

BY MARK PAYNE | LINK nky REPORTER

It’s possible many Kentuckians didn’t think about the power a governor has until Gov. Andy Beshear told residents of the commonwealth when and where they had to wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Every four years, Kentucky holds a gubernatorial election. This year, the commonwealth will choose to either elect a new governor or re-elect Beshear, a Democrat.

Governors act as chief executives of the state, with the power to pardon criminals, fill vacancies on commissions, sign or veto laws and issue executive orders.

But what else can a governor do, and what powers do they have? LINK nky talked with University of Kentucky political science professor D. Stephen Voss, Ph.D., about the power of Kentucky’s executive branch.

“Kentucky governors historically have held more power than their peers in most other states,” he said. “The most important source of gubernatorial strength has been the short legislative sessions required by Kentucky’s constitution, combined with the governor’s monopoly over when the state can hold special sessions and what legislation those sessions could consider.”

However, during Beshear’s tenure – with supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature – Republicans have dictated more of the legislative agenda than usual in the state. During the 2022 legislative session, they upstaged the governor by releasing their budget ahead of Beshear – a first in Kentucky history.

“Kentucky governors do have one major limitation on their power, which is that veto overrides only require majority support in the legislative chambers,” Voss said. “Now that the governor represents a different party from the Legislature, veto overrides suddenly have become a major feature in Kentucky politics, eroding gubernatorial power compared to when the governor was the highest-ranking member of the party controlling the legislative branch.”

During the last two legislative sessions, Republicans have exerted control by overriding the governor’s veto on major legislation – such as an omnibus abortion bill and a bill banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

Beshear, on the other hand, exercised his power during the pandemic by issuing executive orders to close businesses to prevent the spread of COVID-19. With legislators unable to call themselves back into session — something they attempted to change via a failed 2022 constitutional amendment — they were left on the sidelines until the Legislature could reconvene.

“For most of the year, Kentucky governors could exploit their discretion, especially their emergency powers, to set policy without needing to consult with elected representatives,” Voss said. “Kentucky’s part-time legislators typically lack both the resources and the time necessary to rival the executive branch’s policy knowledge and influence.

“Kentucky’s legislative branch periodically tries to gain some policy leverage over the governor, for example, by funding a relatively professional Legislative Research Commission and by organizing interim committees so that they will be ready to hit the ground running when legislative sessions officially start.”

But for the first time in 2022, Republicans saw statewide party registration flip over Democrats. Typically, the latter party has held power in Kentucky, though Kentucky Democrats have been more conservative than elsewhere in the country. Kentucky Democrats have traditionally been anti-abortion, for example.

“The governor’s lopsided power mostly relied on the same party, generally the Democratic Party, dominating the statewide elected offices and the General Assembly,” Voss said. “Kentucky’s recent shift toward divided government, not just between the executive and legislative branch but also across the statewide constitutional offices, undercut some of the reasons why governors could dominate the state.”

Voss thinks that if a Republican wins the office in November, the power that has shifted toward the Legislature and other constitutional seats – attorney general, agriculture commissioner, secretary of state, state auditor, treasurer – could be transferred back toward the governor’s office.

“Republican legislators have used their supermajority to pass legislation that shifts the balance of power in their direction, but so far they have used their new strength modestly, overruling Gov. Beshear on specific policies but only eroding the power of the governor’s office modestly,” Voss said. “Should a Republican take the governor’s mansion, I would expect that we will see the pendulum shift back toward strong governors, although probably not to what Kentucky used to have in the late 20th century.”

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear was one of the most popular state leaders in the country as of April, according to a Morning Consult poll.

The organization's poll shows the governor with a 59% approval rating among voters ahead of the 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election.

Forty-six percent of Republicans approve of Beshear’s handling of the state. Further, 49% of independent voters and 87% of Democrats approve of the governor.

“Public sentiment in Kentucky about Gov. Andy Beshear remains overwhelmingly positive as the Democrat prepares to defend his seat this year,” the report reads.

Despite his popularity, Beshear will face an uphill battle in the gubernatorial election, according to the poll. Kentucky has a history of electing Democratic governors but has voted overwhelmingly in favor of Republicans on the state and federal levels over the past two decades.

“He flipped the seat in 2019 thanks in large part to former Republican Gov. Matt Bevin’s unpopularity, an advantage he will not likely have this fall as he faces a slate of potential Republican challengers, including state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, former U.S. ambassador to Canada and the United Nations Kelly Craft and Agricultural Commissioner Ryan Quarles,” the poll reads.

Bevin’s unpopularity was the only significant advantage Beshear enjoyed, with