Candidates were cordial and engaged on night two of Northern Kentucky’s Republican gubernatorial primary debate. While the four participating candidates agreed on many topics, their differences came through in their answers.
Auditor Mike Harmon, Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, Somerset Mayor Alan Keck and former Northern Kentucky attorney Eric Deters were present at the Lincoln Grant Scholar House in Covington Wednesday evening.
Missing from the stage were the primary’s two polling front runners: Attorney General Daniel Cameron and former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft. So far, neither Cameron or Craft have appeared on stage together for a debate.
All 12 Republican candidates were invited to participate in the two-night event, hosted by LINK nky, WCPO 9 and the Kenton County Republican Party.
David Cooper, Bob DeVore and Jacob Clark debated on Tuesday night; each candidates’ ranking in the most recent polls determined who debated when.
“I think that this race is very much in flux,” Deters told LINK nky.
As a baseline, all four candidates considered themselves to be pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, men of faith and supporters of lower taxes. Additionally, each shared similar views on issues like energy with their proposed solutions being to diversify the state’s energy economy.
The absence of Cameron and Craft gave the four candidates an opportunity to differentiate themselves from the rest of the field.
One of these instances included when asked the question, “what did Andy Beshear do well during COVID?” A stipulation of the question was the candidates couldn’t answer with “nothing.”
Both Deters and Harmon bucked the rule, saying Beshear did nothing well in his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Deters railed against Beshear’s advocacy for healthcare workers to get the vaccine, as well as the governor’s choice to close nonessential retail businesses.
Harmon also criticized Beshear’s choice to close nonessential retail businesses and his recommendation that churches suspend in-person religious services during the beginning of the pandemic.
“Our next governor needs to be someone that’s going to focus on freedom over fear, not fear over freedom like our current governor,” Harmon said. “It’s so important that we have someone that is going to protect our liberties, that is going to protect our freedoms. Beshear is not it.”
In contrast, Keck said Beshear “communicated early and showed he cared.” Quarles shared that Beshear signed a critical waiver issued by the United States Department of Agriculture during the pandemic so children would have access to hot meals. Despite this, both Keck and Quarles roundly criticized Beshear’s executive orders which led to business closures.
When asked about how their views differed from the other Republican candidates on the terms woke, cancel culture and Environmental Social Governance, Keck answered that he “doesn’t use buzzwords just because they poll well” and that he was ready for a “common sense and do something approach.” In Keck’s opinion, the reason the Republicans struggled in the 2022 midterm election was due to over-focusing on these terms instead of policy solutions.
Quarles and Harmon answered by advocating for educational solutions. Specifically, Quarles called for the Kentucky education system to focus on teaching vocational trades and “life skills” such as balancing a checkbook.
“We’re not just competing against Texas or New York, we’re competing against India and Japan,” Quarles said. “We need to have quality education that focuses on preparing our students for life skills.”
Deters differentiated himself from Quarles, Harmon and Keck by stating that Kentucky doesn’t need a moderate candidate to challenge ideas such as ESG. He then went on to declare that he supports the death penalty for anyone who either sexually abuses a child or “physically abuses a child so badly they end up in the hospital.”
“What they’re doing in our schools, what they’re doing relative to the drag queens in the schools, what they’re doing with gender mutilation, what they’re trying to do on every single issue — the indoctrination,” Deters said. “We need a strong governor that will fight back and stand up for it. Not a moderate.”
In regards to Trump, Deters said he whole-heartedly supports the former president, adding that he believes the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
Quarles answered by touting his bonafides with Trump, mentioning that the two met on a number of occasions. Quarles felt like Trump connected with “a lot of folks who otherwise felt disenchanted.”
Harmon called Trump an “exceptional president” and said that he had a hat signed by the former president which reads “keep auditing great.”
“We had $2 gasoline, got a wonderful Supreme Court, low inflation, we got great lower courts,” Harmon said of Trump’s time in office.
Keck took a slightly different approach. He supported Trump’s record on the economy, but followed it up by reproaching Trump’s combative political persona.
“We saw it in Gov. Bevin and President Trump is that if you refuse to build consensus and relationships, then that opportunity for leadership becomes finite,” Keck said. “You can be a truth-teller and be blunt, but also treat people with respect and dignity.”
On Northern Kentucky issues, all four candidates were mostly aligned. This included subjects like keeping more Northern Kentucky tax money in the region and repairing infrastructure like Interstates 71 and 75.
Keck and Deters had similar positions on Certificate of Need, which is is required under Kentucky law for healthcare providers to open up a new facility, acquire major medical equipment, make substantial changes to a facility or project or make substantial changes to a facility or project. Both said they support opening up competition in the Northern Kentucky healthcare market. Deters went as far to call St. Elizabeth, the largest hospital system in Northern Kentucky, a “monopoly.”
Harmon and Quarles held back on statements like those and encouraged all parties to work together to find a solution.
