Gov. Andy Beshear held an open house in Covington Saturday morning to speak with Kentuckians about his reelection campaign, which he said is the most important election of their lives.
Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, Rep. Buddy Wheatley and Michael Bowman joined Beshear at the Democratic Party’s Northern Kentucky field office. The four spoke to a crowd of Kentucky Democrats about Beshear’s campaign and the significance of helping his reelection effort.
“Every door you knock on, every dollar you give, every conversation you have makes a difference in the future of Kentucky,” Coleman said.
Beshear touted his record during his term as governor, beginning with economic development. He said Kentucky’s hiring boom “has the chance to change everything” and will bring more talented youth to the state to find jobs.
“We rolled into 2022 with $10.5 billion in investment, 16,500 new jobs, and it’s just September,” he said. “We’re living through the third-best year for economic development … last year, we set the lowest annual unemployment rate. Five months ago, the lowest monthly unemployment rate, the longest period of low unemployment.”
Furthermore, Beshear said that he is going to bring high-speed internet to every Kentuckian, and that the Commonwealth is experiencing its biggest budget surplus ever – last year’s being $1.55 billion.
“This means that we have plenty of money to give our public-school educators,” Beshear said. “We have plenty of money to fund universal pre-K.”
Asked for his thoughts on Sen. Mitch McConnell’s recent health episodes and making way for younger politicians in government, Beshear said that he believes officials should be transparent about their health if it could impact their job.
“Otherwise, I think ideas like age limits could discriminate against people who are ready, willing and able,” he added.
Beshear is running for governor against Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron in the battleground Nov. 7 election.
“This is the most important election in our lifetime,” he said. “Go back to 2019 – we thought it was about right versus wrong. Turns out, it was about life versus death. Even with that, I believe this one is more important.”
Attendees at the open house cheered throughout Beshear’s speech in a show of support for his campaign.
“I’m on the school board, and I really appreciate [Beshear’s] stand on education,” said Covington resident Glenda Huff. “I really liked the way that he handled the pandemic. If it wasn’t for the way that he handled the pandemic, a lot more Kentuckians would be dead.”
Fort Thomas resident Brandon Long, who attended the open house with his family, agreed with Beshear’s support of education, and particularly of Kentucky children.
“I support Andy Beshear because he puts kids first – it’s that simple,” he said. “In all the areas of policy, I see his prioritization of children. We have five boys ourselves, so that’s what we really care about.”
Union resident Tom Story said Beshear is the best governor Kentucky has ever had.
“He cares about Kentuckians more than money,” Story said.
Despite Beshear’s 63% approval rating and ranking as fifth-most popular Democratic governor in the country, the governor said he doesn’t currently have any plans to pursue national leadership in the future.
There are 52 days until the general election, with three days for early voting. The Democratic ticket urged everyone to help canvass in Northern Kentucky and to vote in the election for the sake of all Kentuckians.
“I run as a proud Democrat, but the moment I’m elected, I take that hat off and I serve every single Kentuckian,” Beshear said.