Northern Kentucky gubernatorial candidate Eric Deters did not take home the Republican nomination Tuesday night, but said he would support Current Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who did win.
Cameron beat out his 11 opponents and will face Gov. Andy Beshear, the Democratic nominee, in November, according to the Associated Press. Deters was one of two Northern Kentuckians running in the gubernatorial race alongside Independence native David Cooper.
“I texted him (Cameron) congratulations,” Deters said at his election night watch party Tuesday.
Deters said he expected Cameron to win based on the polls. He continued to say that it was his first statewide race and had no statewide press.
“I started out at 1%,” Deters said. “I went from 5% to 6% in the polls, and then I got up to 10% in the last poll, and I hope I finish 10%. So, I’m going to beat Mike Harmon. I’m going to beat Alan Keck. And I literally got no statewide press.”
When this story was published, 78% of the votes were counted, and Deters had 6.1% of the votes to Harmon’s 2.7% and Keck’s 2.5%. In total, Deters had 15,695 votes out of the 121,455 counted votes and was in fourth place.
Deters told LINK nky that he attributed Cameron’s win to former President Donald Trump’s endorsement and support from Republican Senator Mitch McConnell.
“So, what Daniel Cameron had, is he had both the Trump support, as well as the establishment support for Mitch McConnell,” Deters said. “And I think that’s reflected in the outcome.”
What is next for Deters? He said he plans to run for office again. This time he is looking to challenge McConnell.
McConnell would be up for reelection in 2026, but Deters said he wouldn’t wait until then to get started.
“I am not going to waste what I’ve started to build as a leader of the outsiders of the state Republican Party,” Deters said. “The non-establishment voter needs some representation, and I plan on being that person.”