A Northern Kentucky lawmaker who has been vocal in her opposition to policies and positions set forth by Democratic Governor Andy Beshear, took a step Monday at a chance to take on the incumbent head to head in next year’s gubernatorial election.
Rep. Savannah Maddox (R-Dry Ridge) announced her bid for governor Monday evening, which came as little surprise after social media promotions of a “special announcement” that followed months of speculation about her political future.
Earlier in the day Monday, Maddox changed her Twitter profile to show she was running for governor. She released her campaign video a few hours later.
“I believe that Kentuckians, by and large, are god-fearing people who just want to live a peaceful, prosperous life in which they are free from undue interference from their government,” Maddox said in her speech Monday at the Little Britain Carriage House in Burlington.
Maddox was first elected to House District 61 in 2018 and just won again the Republican nomination on May 17 as she seeks her third term in the statehouse.
In the 2023 Republican gubernatorial primary, Maddox now joins a growing field of already announced candidates who have won statewide races before: Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, Attorney General Daniel Cameron, and Auditor Mike Harmon. Northern Kentucky resident and former attorney Eric Deters is also running.
Maddox has made a statewide name for herself as a harsh critic of Beshear and her support of gun-related legislation.
During this year’s legislative session, she filed two bills that would have seen the concealed carry age drop from 21 to 18 and ban “gun-free” zones.
“No reason that Kentucky can’t be the most pro-life state in the nation,” Maddox said, before adding that Kentucky can also be the most pro-2nd Amendment state in the nation.
Republican Congressman Thomas Massie has supported Maddox’s policies in the past but declined to comment to LINK nky about the state representative’s run for governor.
“Gun control laws suffer from the defect that criminals don’t follow the law, and gun-free zone laws are no exception,” Massie said to LINK nky in January regarding Maddox’s legislation. “Gun-free zones merely serve to disarm law-abiding citizens while advertising this fact to criminals looking for defenseless targets. I have introduced a bill to repeal the Federal Gun-Free School Zone Act, and I commend Representative Maddox for introducing her bill.”
Former President Donald Trump has also endorsed Maddox in the past, including inviting her to the White House for an event on free speech. When asked by a reporter if Trump would support her this time, she said, “I have no idea of knowing what President Trump will do in the future, but I do know he has endorsed me in the past.”
Maddox was consistently opposed to Beshear’s actions aimed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 over the past couple of years.
During the 2022 legislative session, Maddox sponsored legislation that would’ve disallowed public and post-secondary institutions from requiring the disclosure of immunization status with regard to COVID-19. The bill would have also banned vaccine passports and allowed parents to opt-out of the COVID vaccine based on conscientious objection.
“She was a rock for liberty fighting against tyrannical mandates,” said Rep. Felicia Rabourn (R-Turners Station), who introduced Maddox and called her her “best friend.” Rabourn and Maddox frequently vote together, even when casting votes differently than Republican leadership in the House.
All the legislation Maddox sponsored ultimately failed to pass.
Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman Colmon Eldridge released a statement calling Maddox an extremist.
“Savannah Maddox has done nothing for her constituents, with almost nothing accomplished in her four years in the House of Representatives except rallying armed militias to the Capitol, where she posed with Confederate sympathizers, white supremacists, and her armed supporter who hanged the Governor in effigy,” Eldridge said.
Eldridge referred to an event where Maddox spoke in opposition to COVID-19-related restrictions as part of a rally at the Kentucky statehouse. Someone at the event hanged an effigy of Gov. Beshear from a Capitol tree.
This led to Kentucky House Democrats calling for the lawmaker, who was in her first term at the time, to be censured.
Maddox’s entrance into the crowded field ensures the year-long race will be even nastier, more extreme, and more expensive, Eldridge said.
“She has declared war on the health, safety, and wellbeing of Kentuckians in an attempt to score political points and failed miserably,” Eldridge said. “She has waged a war on Gov. Beshear, on sanity, on businesses, and on fellow Republicans – successfully working to defeat fellow Republican legislators she didn’t think were extreme enough.”
Maddox’s campaign launch in Burlington is not without precedent. State Senator John Schickel, who attended Maddox’s announcement, noted that former state Secretary of Transportation Dr. Floyd Poore, announced his run for the 1991 Democratic gubernatorial nomination there. Poore, father of Republican State Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser of Taylor Mill, finished third in that primary.
Maddox said that she chose Boone County for her announcement because it is a central location of District 61 which includes all of Grant and Gallatin counties, as well as parts of Boone and Kenton counties.
Boone Co. was also the site of Republican primary results that sent shockwaves across the state’s political establishment when three incumbent state representatives were defeated by challengers running to their ideological right.
“I do find a lot of encouragement from the fact the primaries in the Northern Kentucky race, and frankly across the state, were filled with voters who were really paying attention to where candidates stood on specific issues,” Maddox said.