GOP candidates rarely disagree in first primary debate

Four Republican candidates took to the debate stage at the Henry Clay in Louisville Tuesday evening.

Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, State Auditor Mike Harmon, and Somerset Mayor Alan Keck stood at four separate podiums.

Former U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft declined to participate. Former NKY Attorney Eric Deters said he wasn’t invited. The rest of the field also didn’t participate: David Cooper, Dennis Ray Ormerod, Bob DeVore, Jacob Clark, Johnny Ray Rice, and Robbie Smith.

The candidates debated one floor up from the general audience, which watched from a ballroom with two screens.

Spectrum 1 News’ Mario Anderson ran through numerous questions during the debate.

He hit on the big topics being discussed in state government right now: income tax reduction, teacher shortage, government oversight in the classroom, exceptions to the abortion ban, gender-affirming care in youth, medical marijuana, gun violence, whether the GOP should move on from Donald Trump, and the definition of wokeness.

Most of the candidates agreed on most topics, but there were scarce moments when they didn’t.

The first topic that brought division is abortion. When asked whether they support exceptions to the current Kentucky abortion ban, only one candidate reflected on whether or not they would consider an exception to the current rule that gives leeway in the event of a health problem for the mother — Alan Keck.

Keck said he supported exception in the event of rape or incest.

“You know, as a dad of three girls, the abortion issue is incredibly challenging for me,” Keck said. “I’m pro-life. I want you all to know that. But when it comes to violent crime, you know, I think we have to give consideration to the woman that was affected, and these decisions aren’t made in a vacuum.”

Keck also differentiated himself regarding whether he would support Trump and the definition of “‘woke.”

On Trump, Keck said that Trump is unlikely to come save Kentucky and that his focus as a gubernatorial candidate is on “looking forward” to the future with the Commonwealth.

Cameron most aligned himself with Trump — he has already received an endorsement from the former president. When asked after the debate whether he would support a run from the 45th president, he said he would support Trump if he became the Republican nominee.

Regarding the term “woke,” Keck took a similar stance to what Gov. Andy Beshear said during a recent press conference about how the word is currently used as a name-calling word.

Though there wasn’t much time spent attacking the current governor, the common refrain was that regardless of who moves forward as the GOP nominee, they want to make Beshear a one-term governor.

Quarles delivered a stand-out one-liner against Beshear and his claims that the state’s economy is “on fire.”

“Andy Beshear talks about how the economy is on fire — he’s right with inflation and high-interest rates,” Quarles said

Kentucky Democrats worked to get out ahead of the debate, and in a press conference with the Frankfort press corps earlier in the day, Kentucky Democratic Party Chair Colmon Elridge said he so far hasn’t seen any reason to replace Beshear.

“What we have not seen throughout the GOP primary and what we won’t see tonight is any compelling reason to replace one of the most popular governors in our country,” Elridge said.

He attacked each candidate and specifically spent time on Craft, even though she wasn’t present.

 “It is no surprise that Kelly craft will be missing an action once again as she was missing and has been missing for much of her career,” Elridge said.

While Craft wasn’t present, she was on the minds of the press and the candidates as she launched the first of the campaign season Monday.

A political action committee called Commonwealth PAC, which supports Craft, launched the first ad of the campaign season Monday, calling likely front-runner Cameron a “teddy bear.”

“Daniel Cameron is nice, but he’s no strong Kentucky conservative,” the ad opens, elaborating that Cameron failed to sign a lawsuit filed by other states’ attorney generals over the border wall and President Joe Biden’s “woke agenda.”