Does national politics trump all? Kentucky voters are about to find out
Kentucky's gubernatorial race is in a dead heat as Democratic incumbent Andy Beshear faces off against Trump-endorsed state Attorney General Daniel Cameron in a race that has become a test on the potency of national politics.
Beshear won office in 2019, beating an unpopular Republican incumbent. A year later, Kentuckians voted for then-President Trump by an overwhelming 26 points. Voters also solidified a Republican stranglehold on the state legislature, gaining 14 additional seats in the state House of Representatives.
But despite being a blue dot in a very red state government, Beshear's popularity has remained high. A recent Morning Consult poll found 43% of Kentucky Republicans approve of Beshear.
"Beshear has a following," said Al Cross, the director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community at the University of Kentucky.
"There are tens of thousands of people in the state to whom he's just Andy."
Cross says Beshear, 45,
