Attorney General Daniel Cameron files for 2023 Kentucky governor run
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron has filed intent to spend on a bid to run for governor in 2023.
The 36-year-old filed the paperwork to launch a run for the state’s highest office on Wednesday morning via the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance (KREF).
Cameron, the state’s top attorney, is a Republican with strong ties to Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell. He served as legal counsel for the Senate Minority Leader from 2015 to 2017.
He rose above a once-crowded primary field in 2019 to win the Republican nomination, later defeating former speaker of the house Greg Stumbo in the general election. Cameron became the first Black attorney general in Kentucky history.
In a video launching his campaign, shot in front of the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park in Hodgenville, Cameron says that Gov. Andy Beshear does not reflect the values of Kentuckians.
“This governor does not reflect our values. He’s never going to change, so we have to change our governor,” Cameron said.
Cameron said that he would use “common sense... defend innocent life,” and help unify Kentucky in the role of governor.
He also hinted at criticism regarding Beshear’s actions during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that he wouldn’t “target” or shut down churches or small businesses.
“If you attend church or own a small business, you should know your governor won’t target you and shut you down,” Cameron said in a release. “You should expect a governor who will stand up for life. And if you’re in law enforcement you deserve a governor who won’t abandon you for political gain.”
As Attorney General, Cameron has drawn national media attention for overseeing the prosecution of police officers involved in Breonna Taylor’s killing in Louisville, a speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention and for being listed as a potential Supreme Court nominee by former president Donald Trump.
Fellow constitutional officer Ryan Quarles made a splash when he announced a bid for the post earlier this month, launching a campaign website and advertisement this week.
In an interview earlier this month before he filed with KREF, Cameron told the Herald-Leader that he had spoken with many people including Quarles, Sen. Mitch McConnell and fellow potential candidate Kelly Craft about the 2023 race.
Originally from Elizabethtown, Cameron holds undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Louisville, where he played on the football team.
A spokesperson for Cameron’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The attorney general had already raised more than $55,000 on a bid for reelection to that post as of April this year, per KREF.
Thus far, Harmon and Northern Kentucky candidate Eric Deters have been the only Republican candidates to raise significant amounts of money for their gubernatorial efforts, with Quarles expected to raise significant amounts of money as well.
Other prominent state Republicans mulling runs for the post include Sen. Ralph Alvarado, Somerset Mayor Alan Keck, Rep. Savannah Maddox, Sen. Max Wise and former governor Matt Bevin among others.
Also filing intent to run as Republicans are David Cooper of Kenton County, Johnny Rice of Harrison County, Robbie Smith of Madison County and Anthony Moore of Oldham County. Brian Bush of Johnson County and Rev. Clint Johnson of Laurel County have also filed intent to run as neither Democrats nor Republicans.
Despite being a Democrat in a state that has shifted in recent years to overwhelmingly support Republicans at the state level, Gov. Andy Beshear is largely supported by Kentuckians based on recent polling.
Though polls have not asked respondents whether they would vote for Beshear, his job approval is among the highest of any Democrat governor in the U.S., hovering near 60 percent. Beshear has also collected nearly $2.4 million in campaign contributions half a year into his reelection bid as of early last month.
“Andy Beshear is one of the most popular governors in the country because he works for Kentuckians, with strong leadership that is taking Kentucky from difficult years of a pandemic and devastating storms into record breaking economic development that is creating more opportunities for our families,” Kentucky Democratic Party Chair Colmon Elridge said in a release, also calling Cameron’s tenure as attorney general “weak.”
Shortly after news broke of Cameron’s bid for governor, Secretary of State Michael Adams tweeted that he would “consider” running for Attorney General. Former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky Russell Coleman, another Republican litigator with ties to McConnell, is also rumored to be mulling a run to replace Cameron.
This story was originally published May 11, 2022 at 1:09 PM.
