Kentucky’s candidates for governor—Democratic Governor Andy Beshear and Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron—took to Northern Kentucky University’s campus on Oct. 16 for the gubernatorial debate.

In the digitorium of Griffin Hall, the candidates stood at their podiums and prepared to answer questions from the panel of journalists: Larry Smith of LEX18, Gilbert Corsey of WDRB and Meghan Goth of LINK nky.

The two candidates set the stage by delivering opening remarks. Incumbent Beshear noted that the Commonwealth had been through a lot together during his term, yet he has delivered the two best years of economic development in the state’s history. He expected viewers to see “vision versus division,” during Monday night’s debate, with Beshear’s plan for the future paired with attacks from Cameron.

Cameron began the night by discussing what he believed Kentuckians were concerned about: inflation, the “far-left indoctrinating your kids,” the war on coal, crime and biological males in women’s sports.

Following the opening statements, moderator and WCPO 9 anchor Evan Millward turned the microphone to the panel of journalists to begin asking questions. 

Labor

The first question for the night, raised by Corsey, concerned how the candidates would balance economic interests and worker rights, in light of the strike by United Auto Workers (U.A.W.) that has expanded into Ford’s largest manufacturing plant in Louisville.

Taking pride in his endorsement by U.A.W., Beshear called the strike a win-win: that workers are fighting for better wages and healthcare benefits. The governor also noted a need to incentivize more workers into Kentucky and acknowledged his role as the dealmaker in Ford’s investment of $5.8 billion in the Commonwealth to build the world’s two largest battery plants.

“This isn’t an either/or. We need UAW to come out in a strong place and Ford to come out in a strong place too,” Beshear said.

According to Corsey, U.A.W. is striking in Louisville partly out of fear that jobs at the battery plants would be non-union. Emphasizing his close connections to the union, Beshear reassured placement of the factories could generate 5,000 new jobs in Kentucky down the line, not just for batteries but also the rest of the industry to follow, from supply chain to assembly.

Attorney General Cameron also stated an unequivocal support for workers. However, he pinned the wave of strikes across the nation onto federal inflationary pressures, while stressing a plan to entirely eliminate the income tax and raise wages at the Louisville plant.

“These workers know that, but they are having to deal with more expensive groceries, more expensive gas, more expensive childcare,” Cameron said.

Cameron has previously criticized what he called “green energy fantasies,” and during the debate he voiced support for the coal industry: he is in the process of fighting the closure of three coal-fired plants in Kentucky, he said. Coal gives the state a competitive advantage and attracts businesses by way of low-cost, reliable energy, he argued.

The candidates also butted heads on solutions for Kentucky’s social worker shortage and foster care crisis. Beshear commented on investment in new facilities, while Cameron sharply criticized the governor’s welfare programs as keeping people out of the workforce.

Education

Public school funding was the next topic, in a question presented by Goth.

Cameron said he wanted a world-class education system in Kentucky, which included reading, writing and math—not “incubators for liberal and progressive ideas.” The attorney general continually criticized the governor’s decision to shut down schools during the pandemic, which he said caused a need for children to catch up. Cameron has created the “Cameron Catch-up Plan” to counteract this. 

“We’re going to make sure that we increase the salaries of teachers, restore discipline to the classroom and remove any bureaucracy that might exist that disconnects our teachers from our students,” the Republican candidate said.

Beshear followed with the same question and pointed out that Cameron’s “catch-up plan” contains vouchers that would defund tens of millions of dollars from public schools and instead fund private schools. “That doesn’t catch anybody up,” the governor rebutted. 

The ultimate plan of Beshear is to enact an 11% pay raise for every school staff member, including teachers, bus drivers and mental health counselors. This increase would move Kentucky in starting teacher pay from 44th in the country to the mid-20s, the Democratic candidate said.

Corsey posed the next question regarding splitting up Jefferson County Public Schools, Kentucky’s largest school district with over 100,000 students. 

Cameron said he did not want to make a rash decision and would prefer to talk with all stakeholders, like legislators and the school superintendent. 

Beshear said it would be devastating for the legislature to take control of the school system from the locally-elected school board.

Abortion 

With the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year, Kentucky’s trigger law immediately outlawed all abortions except in life-threatening situations to mothers.

When prompted for his position on allowing abortion exceptions for rape and incest, Beshear said that individuals in such circumstances deserve to have options. He pointed out that Kentucky’s current law is one of the most restrictive in the country. “My opponent’s position would give a rapist more rights than their victim,” the governor said. “It is wrong. We need to change this law.”

When asked for his position on the same topic, Cameron largely referred to Beshear’s stance instead of his own. “I am the pro-life candidate and Andy is the abortion candidate,” the attorney general stated. In a press conference following the debate, he said that Beshear wanted no limits on abortion.

Cameron did say that if legislature presented him with a bill containing exemptions for such circumstances as rape and incest, he would surely sign it. In the post-debate press conference, Beshear pointed out the attorney general’s refusal to say that he supported abortion exceptions.

Funding 

Panelist Smith asked the candidates how their administration would reduce the state’s income tax—which currently sits at 4.5%—without cutting social services or damaging the budget. 

Attorney General Cameron criticized Governor Beshear’s employment of “Bidenomics” or a belief in stronger federal control of spending. In contrast, he positioned himself as believing Commonwealth citizens deserve to have more money in their pockets, in view of inflated consumer prices and what he called a war on coal.

For his part, Beshear re-emphasized that under his governance, Kentucky has experienced its two best years of economic development and is on track toward a third. The state now has the biggest surplus in its history, he said, which can be used to build a Brent Spence companion bridge without tolls, reduce tax burdens and raise teacher incomes by 11% across the board.

Beshear also called attention to his past executive actions on taxes: he signed an income tax decrease when the state could afford it, lowered the property tax rate three separate times, and froze the gas and motor vehicle taxes when they were burdening the people.

The governor attacked Cameron’s four-year plans to eliminate the income tax as “[turning] us into Kansas,” where funding for infrastructure programs, public safety, education and healthcare had to be slashed.

“We do it [reduce income tax] responsibly. While I don’t agree with all the guardrails that the General Assembly put on, they tried that,” Beshear said. “They didn’t say we’re going to cut everything within four years which would crater the economy.”

Cameron rebutted that the governor only signed the most recent income tax reductions because it was an election year.

“Make no mistake about it come next year. When our legislature is working through the process of continuing to cut our taxes here in Kentucky, Andy Beshear is not going to sign that legislation,” Cameron said. “He’s going to veto it because it is not an election year and he’s untethered for any responsibility in an election season.”

Crime

One of the final topics of the night was crime. Goth began by asking the Republican candidate how he would balance punishing criminals with mental illness while providing mental health services and also protecting the public.

Cameron said he has a 12-point plan to address the state’s violent crime. He said that Beshear had released roughly two thousand criminals, and more than 50% of the individuals recommitted felony offenses. The attorney general is endorsed by the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police, the same group which endorsed Beshear in his 2019 campaign for governor.

Beshear noted that he provided the Kentucky State Police with their single largest pay raise in history. He also said he had achieved the lowest recidivism rate in the history of the Commonwealth. Cameron’s blaming of the governor for violent crime showed Cameron’s true intentions, Beshear said, as attorney general is the top prosecutor of the Commonwealth.

On the topic of the death penalty, which has not been used in Kentucky since 2008, both candidates said the penalty should be re-enacted. Currently, Beshear said, there is a court order which prevents the death penalty from happening. 

Cameron believed that murdering a police officer should allow the death penalty to be sought after. Beshear said that heinous and terrible crimes should render capital punishment.

Closing statements

To close out the night, Governor Beshear hoped that spectators would see in him a vision and a record of achievement in a “red-hot economy.” At the same time he referenced the Republican candidate’s fiery sense of partisanship.

“When you’re running, you should be for something and not just against someone. When you have a candidate that is so partisan, they only see the world in red or blue,” Beshear said. “Anything good that happens must be one party and anything bad that happens must be the other. It means he’s going to leave out almost half of the people of Kentucky.”

The governor once more positioned his achievements and plans—clean drinking water, the Brent Spence Bridge, high-speed Internet access for every household—over what he called Washington, D.C. division and anger politics.

“This is our time. To never be a flyover state over again but to be the destination,” Beshear concluded. “Let’s grasp this potential. Let’s craft our destiny together.”

Attorney General Cameron returned his attention to the issues he had touched upon throughout the debate: inflation hurting consumers’ wallets, low test scores as a result of pandemic school closure, a need to reduce violent crime. He also, once again, emphasized his endorsement by the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police.

“That’s why I’m running for governor, to make sure that we catch our kids up and that they have every educational opportunity to be the best and brightest versions of themselves,” he said.

Cameron commented that under Beshear’s administration, Kentucky has the lowest workforce participation rate in the country, and that the governor “will not stand up for your family and protect women’s sports from biological males,” referring to the issue of whether transgender athletes could participate in women’s sports categories.

“When I’m governor, we will look out for our citizens. We will make sure that this Commonwealth is a shining city on a hill,” Cameron concluded.