Trump, DeSantis Back Opposing Candidates In Ky. Gubernatorial Primary

Topline

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) quietly endorsed a different candidate than former President Donald Trump’s pick in the Kentucky gubernatorial GOP primary election set to take place Tuesday, taking their feud to a new turf in an early test of their endorsement powers.

Key Facts

DeSantis is backing former Trump-era U.N. Ambassador Kelly Craft in the 12-way primary race, he told Fox News on Monday, while comparing her policy stances with his own governing style.

Craft “shares the same vision we do in Florida,” DeSantis said, adding “she will stand up to the left as they try to indoctrinate our children with their woke ideology,” while blasting Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear as a “woke, liberal governor who’s put a radical agenda ahead of Kenutckians.”

Trump threw his support behind Kentucky Attorney General David Cameron in June and appeared at a tele-rally with him on Sunday, saying, “I have no doubt he’s going to be a fantastic governor.”

Republicans view the Kentucky gubernatorial race as a bellwether for their election prospects in 2024, when the Democrats risk losing their Senate majority in several swing states where vulnerable senators are up for re-election.

The election also serves as one of the first chances for Trump to redeem himself after losses of his preferred candidates in the 2022 midterm election led many in the GOP to blame him for costing Republicans the Senate majority and contributing to a slimmer-than-expected majority in the House.

Key Background

Tuesday’s election caps off a heated primary race that pits the wife of billionaire coal magnate and GOP megadonor Joe Craft against the state’s first Republican attorney general in more than 70 years, who would also become the first Black GOP governor in the country. An April Emerson College/Fox 56 poll shows a tight race between Cameron (30%) and Craft (24%), followed by State Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles (15%). Craft and Cameron have waged a contentious advertising war, and overall, the 12 candidates and their backers have poured more than $12 million into the race, according to AdImpact Politics. On the campaign trail, Cameron has sought to highlight his Trump endorsement, despite Craft having worked for Trump, while pro-Craft ads have cast Cameron as an “establishment” Republican “insider” with ties to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who he previously worked under. Kentucky’s two Republican senators, McConnell and Rand Paul, have not endorsed a candidate in the race, while Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) has endorsed Craft.

Surprising Fact

Craft said during a debate in April she would support Trump over DeSantis in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, touting his record as president. “He kept hundreds of thousands of jobs in America and not being sourced out to China and Mexico. He kept our country safe and energy independent,” she said, according to the Courier-Journal.

What To Watch For

The winning candidate in Tuesday’s primary will face Beshear in the November election. Beshear ousted former Republican Gov. Matt Bevin in 2019, marking a significant win for Democrats in a conservative state where both chambers of the state legislature are controlled by the GOP.

Further Reading

Trump-Backed Candidates Have Mixed Showing In Midterms—And Trump Is Reportedly Furious (Forbes)

A Hostile, Under-the-Radar Primary Splinters Republicans (The New York Times)

Kentucky GOP governor primary tests Trump’s influence ahead of 2024 (CNN)