Kentucky governor candidates focus on key issues.

Kentucky GOP Gubernatorial Primary: Top Contenders and Their Key Issues

The Race is On

With just days until the Kentucky GOP gubernatorial primary, hopefuls are looking to attract Republican voters by campaigning on the issues most important in the state. The top three GOP contenders are Attorney General Daniel Cameron, former United Nations Ambassador Kelly Craft, and state Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles. A total of 12 people are running to be the Republican Party’s choice for governor.

Key Issues

Here are the issues that the top contenders are focusing on as the May 16 primary nears.

• Transgender rights
• Fighting the Biden administration and “radical left”
• Gun violence

Transgender Rights

Transgender issues are likely to be a large influence in the fall campaign for governor. Whoever wins the GOP primary will face off against Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY), who has made it clear that he will advocate for transgender rights — particularly in education.

Craft, who is trailing Cameron, is leaving no debate on her position on transgender issues. Her running mate, Republican state Sen. Max Wise, introduced legislation regarding transgender youth this year. During a debate on Wednesday, she said that, if elected, “we will not have transgenders in our school system.” She did not, however, address specific policies that she envisioned.

In response to blowback from Craft’s comments, her campaign clarified that “Kelly was referring to the woke ideologies being pushed in our schools,” her campaign said in a statement via Associated Press. “She has been advocating for the best for all children this entire campaign.”

Cameron also has a history of legislating transgender rights, especially in sports. He joined a coalition of attorneys general that filed a brief in late January to stop the Biden administration from enacting laws that would allow biological males to compete on women’s sports teams.

Fighting the Biden Administration and “Radical Left”

Cameron and Craft have put attacks against the Biden administration, “woke” ideologies, and the “radical left” at the forefront of their respective campaigns.

Craft has used her experience as a former ambassador to blast the Biden administration for the cost of living and the rise in drugs in Kentucky. During her campaign, she touted her experience on economic issues as U.S. ambassador to Canada and the United Nations under the Trump administration. Trump has endorsed Cameron.

In several videos, she has blasted President Joe Biden for the crisis at the southern border and for policies that closed down several of Kentucky’s coal plants and raised energy costs. She also used a coal plant closure in West Virginia to bash Cameron, as the plant provided electricity to thousands of residents in eastern Kentucky.

Cameron has also taken aim at Biden and left-leaning policies, despite once being linked to a criminal justice group that supported bail reform. He has filed several lawsuits against the administration in recent years, not just in athletics, but in matters relating to Waters of the United States and Title 42. He has also challenged the Biden administration’s decision to cancel the Keystone Pipeline and halted vaccine mandates for private businesses. Cameron is anti-ESG (environmental, social, and governance) policies, which has led to him blasting both Beshear and Biden.

Gun Violence

Gun violence will be a very hot-button issue heading into both the primary and the general election, as candidates will need to discuss plans to prevent mass shootings in the wake of the shooting in Louisville that left five people dead, several injured, and one officer in critical condition.

Kentucky does not have a “red flag” law in place that would keep firearms away from people deemed a danger to themselves or others. In neighboring Tennessee, Gov. Bill Lee (R) called on the state legislature to enact a measure that strengthens those laws.

GOP candidates in Kentucky’s gubernatorial race have kept a low profile on the shootings and have danced around the subject during debates.

During a debate on April 17, a week following the Louisville shooting, Cameron took the approach of praising law enforcement. He said in an interview with WKU Public Radio following the shooting that he is not “for gun control.” Cameron said he would not support a red flag law, either.

Both Craft and Quarles have placed emphasis on the need for mental health reform. Quarles pushed his office’s program called “Raising Hope,” focusing on mental health in rural Kentucky, while Craft said she would plan to bolster mental health services and “won’t touch the Second Amendment.”

Craft has pushed ads attacking Cameron for his overall record on combating crime, calling him Kentucky’s “soft-on-crime teddy bear” — dozens of law enforcement officials came to Cameron’s defense and have endorsed him for governor.

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