Despite some last-minute teasing before Friday’s filing deadline, former Gov. Matt Bevin will not be running for governor.
Even without the controversial former governor, the Republican primary for governor will feature 12 candidates, including two Northern Kentuckians.
Whoever emerges from that field will most likely face Democratic incumbent Gov. Andy Beshear in the general election.
The constitutional officer positions — Secretary of State, Agricultural Commissioner, Treasurer, State Auditor, and Attorney General — are also up for election this year.
Here is a comprehensive list of who is running for governor and constitutional officer positions.
Governor
Democratic incumbent Andy Beshear faces two primary challengers — Geoff Young and former Republican nominee Peppy Martin.
With Beshear the top fundraiser with $5.18 million, he’s likely to emerge from that field, and then he’ll face one of the 12 Republican challengers in the general election.
The Republican field features five candidates with more serious credentials — name recognition, fundraising, and experience.
Kelly Craft is the top fundraiser in the Republican group so far, with more than $1.2 million, according to campaign finance reports from the Kentucky Registry for Campaign Finance. The former ambassador to the United Nations is also married to coal magnate Joe Craft, so expect her to spend a lot of cash.
Attorney General Daniel Cameron has raised $967,000 and has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
The term-limited Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles has raised $930,000 overall.
Somerset Mayor Alan Keck raised $204,800 after entering the race in November.
Kentucky Auditor Mike Harmon raised $68,700 overall.
The following candidates have filed to run but lack name recognition, fundraising, and experience.
Two Northern Kentuckians are on this list: David Cooper of Independence and Eric Deters of Walton.
Two candidates are from Louisville: Dennis Ray Ormerod and Bob DeVore.
The rest are Jacob Clark, Johnny Ray Rice, and Robbie Smith.
Secretary of State
Former state Rep. Buddy Wheatley announced his candidacy to run for Secretary of State last month because of low voter turnout and reduced voter locations in the 2022 elections.
“What we need most is real leadership in the Secretary of State’s Office — a true champion for voting rights,” Wheatley said. “Someone who will stand up to election deniers.”
Democrat Wheatley doesn’t have a primary, so he’ll face one of three Republicans in the general election in November.
Incumbent Republican Michael Adams expanded in-person early voting, has worked to clean up the state’s voter rolls, and is widely considered to work well across the aisle — he even worked with Wheatley on voting legislation when the latter was at the statehouse.
Stephen Knipper, a former Erlanger City Councilman, also announced his bid to run for office. Knipper runs the Restore Election Integrity tour with Sen. Adrienne Southworth (R-Anderson) and has said there’s widespread voter fraud in the country and state.
Filing in the Secretary of State’s office an hour before the 4 p.m. deadline on Jan. 6, Knipper said he is running because there are a lot of questions. When pressed about what those questions were, he said:
“I think I’m just going to say ‘stay tuned’ as we progress. There’s a lot of unanswered questions, and we’ll just discover them and go along as we did last time,” Knipper said.
Knipper testified in the Senate District 24 recount last summer after candidate Jessica Neal said there were issues with the voting machines in Campbell County.
Finding no issues, Campbell County Judge Daniel Zalla said that what Neal, Knipper, and Southworth say publicly versus what they say under oath is very different.
The last Republican candidate is Allen Maricle of Lebanon Junction.
Here is the comprehensive list of candidates running for the rest of the state’s constitutional offices.
Attorney General
Democrat Pam Stevenson
Republican Russell Coleman
Agriculture Commissioner
Democrats Sierra Enlow and Mikael Malone
Republicans Richard Heath and Jonathan Shell
State Auditor
Democrat Kim Reeder
Republican Allison Ball and Derek Petteys
Treasurer
Democrat Michael Bowman
Republicans Andrew Cooperrider, Mark Metcalf, and O.C. “OJ” Oleka