In a race that was expected to be more closely contested, Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear defeated Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron.
The Associated Press called the race for Beshear’s win around 9 p.m. Tuesday, with Beshear receiving 53.4% of the votes to Cameron’s 46.6%.
While earlier polls had mostly showed Beshear leading Cameron, a Nov. 3 polling from Emerson College showed the candidates in a dead heat at 47% among 1,000 likely voters.
Beshear fought a close race when he was first elected in 2019 and defeated Republican Gov. Matt Bevin by just over 5,000 votes. If the race had been closer this time around, a 2021 law, part of House Bill 574, would have triggered an automatic recount if the results of the governor’s race were closer than 0.5 percentage points, which the 2019 race was.
“Tonight, Kentucky made a choice, a choice not to move to the right or the left but to move forward for every single family,” Beshear said in his remarks after he won. “A choice to reject ‘Team R’ or ‘Team D.’”
“It was a victory that sends a clear message,” he said. “A message that candidates should run for something and not against someone. That a candidate should show vision, and not division, and a clear statement that anger politics should end right here and right now.”
Cameron won in Boone County, while Beshear won Kenton and Campbell counties, according to the Kentucky Secretary of State’s website. Beshear won in Kenton and Campbell Counties in 2019 but lost in Boone.
“Thank you so much for your willingness and commitment to this campaign in this effort that was ultimately about our kids and our grandkids,” Cameron said in his remarks after Beshear’s win was called.
Cameron said the campaign was about future generations.
“I called the governor to congratulate him,” he said. “I know from his perspective, and from all of our perspectives, that we all want the same thing for future generations. We want a better commonwealth and one in which it can ultimately be a shining city on a hill.”
Numbers that come in on election night are unofficial and won’t be certified until Nov. 14.
Kentucky is one of only three states that hold off-year gubernatorial elections along with Louisiana and Mississippi, which can mean much lower turnout, former Northern Kentucky political science professor Ryan Salzman told LINK nky. According to the Kentucky Secretary of State’s website, voter turnout on election day was just over 35% in Boone County, just over 34% in Kenton County, and just over 40% in Campbell County this election cycle.
In Boone and Kenton counties, voter turnout in the 2019 general election was about 40%, and just under 40% in Campbell County.
Days before Kentucky’s general election, Beshear and Cameron made their final campaign rounds to voters across the commonwealth on a bus tour.
Beshear, like he has for months, focused on his administration’s record in economic development, according to LINK nky content partner, the Kentucky Lantern. Cameron underlined that he believes his conservative values better align with Kentuckians.
Record spending has also been a factor in the governor’s race.
According to the Kentucky Lantern, the Beshear campaign’s fundraising for the general election reached $17.3 million compared to Cameron’s $3.9 million; however, Cameron narrowed the money gap due to support from outside groups.
When outside committee spending was added to campaign fundraising, Beshear was backed by $35 million compared to roughly $30 million for Cameron, as reported by the Kentucky Lantern.
Election results can be viewed here.
