Tired of reading about the House GOP speakership fight? Then turn your attention to the competitive off-year Kentucky gubernatorial contest between Democratic governor Andy Beshear and Attorney General Daniel Cameron, which has largely flown under the radar in Beltway reporting circles this cycle but is shaping up to be an important bellwether ahead of 2024 nonetheless.
Polls show Beshear in a single-digit lead as outside spending groups continue to pour boatloads of cash into the state in the final weeks before Election Day on November 7. That includes Bluegrass Freedom Action, a Cameron-aligned group that on Thursday unveiled a new ad tying the incumbent governor to President Joe Biden.
“This ad is part of a seven-figure push on television, mail, digital, and text from Bluegrass Freedom Action to highlight the fact that Beshear supports the Biden agenda and that he has received $250,000 from the Biden Victory Fund,” a Bluegrass Freedom Action adviser tells National Review, adding that Cameron is a rare unity GOP candidate in an often fractious Republican Party. “Believe it’s the only race in the country where Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, and the Club for Growth are behind a single candidate.”
The ad fight is ugly. Earlier this week a Democratic Governors Association–backed group, Defending Bluegrass Values, released a new ad hitting Cameron for his support for private-school vouchers.