Call it shadow boxing in the dark.
The primary for Kentucky Governor yesterday had former President Donald Trump’s endorsed candidate, Attorney General Daniel Cameron, square off against former Ambassador Kelly Craft.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, only two days before the election, endorsed Craft. Seeing potential momentum, he wanted to have a victory over Trump for once.
The race seemed like it was Cameron’s to lose from the beginning. The GOP is always interested in a black candidate as they aim to diversify their voting base.
But supporters feared Cameron was coming off as too moderate, and Craft was making inroads. One poll had them 15 points apart. But a later one, out just a week before the election, had only a 6 point spread between the two.
Craft came out with an ad criticizing Cameron for not opposing President Biden’s investigation on civil violations on behalf of the Louisville Metro Police, in the wake of the Breonna Taylor shooting incident. He largely remained mum even though he was attorney general. The ad states Cameron let President Biden “and his woke DOJ take over the Louisville Metro Police Department.”
Cameron has also advocated to change drug possession from a felony to a misdemeanor. In response, Craft again, has called him “woke”. Cameron shot back with a TV ad calling Craft desperate, while pointing to her failed attempts at winning Trump’s endorsement.
With all that being said, it looked like Cameron would be the wisest choice to face off against incumbent Democrat Andy Beshear.
And Cameron accepted Trump’s endorsement but did his best to keep the him at arm’s length. Think Glenn Youngkin’s victory in Virginia. Trump was not asked to come to Kentucky to campaign for Trump, even in the midst of a tough primary.
But Cameron took home the gold anyway, with an impressive 48%.
And the second place finisher? It wasn’t even Craft. Ryan Quarles, the Commissioner of Agriculture, took home the silver with 22%. Quarles ran a respectful, slow but steady race, not joining the two candidates in attacking their opponents. He also announced over 20 local state elected officials which gave him a nice boost. Quarles defied expectations, expect him to see him in higher office soon.
But Craft came in third with 17%, giving DeSantis some serious egg on his face. His choice couldn’t even come in second place, and a whopping 26 point gap separated the first and second place finisher.
Trump touted his victory on TruthSocial:
Although it’s likely Cameron would prefer Trump stay silent instead. Beshear will be tough to beat as he currently enjoys a 63% approval rating. He garnered a lot of good will after getting his state back on track in the wake of devastating storms.
But with Cameron’s relatively moderate bend, he might just be able to pull this off. Stay tuned to find out.
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