Kentucky’s Andy Beshear raises more than $1 million in 3 months for tough 2023 re-selection bid

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has raised $1.3 million in funds for his 2023 re-election campaign in the last three months of 2021, his campaign announced Monday. The Democratic governor’s rapid pace of fundraising comes as he prepares for a race to rule in a Republican state where many are likely to find a way to bring in a leader. GOP leader returned to office.

The son of a former Kentucky governor, Beshear was elected in 2019 after serving as the state’s attorney general since 2015, according to his campaign website. He announced in October that he would seek re-election.

The more than $1 million he has raised is the strongest initial fundraising for a sitting governor of Kentucky, according to his campaign. Beshear says financial support comes from all over the states and isn’t limited to one side

“The support we’re seeing from people everywhere shows that investing in health care and education, creating well-paying jobs in every community, and leading the way,” he said. with our shared Kentucky values ​​- honesty, courtesy and transparency – important to our people.”

Mike Harmon, the Kentucky auditor of public accounts, also entered the governor’s race as the Republican candidate in July. When asked why he came to the office, Harmon said his experience as an auditor and 13 years in the Kentucky General Assembly, Courier Magazine reported.

He also criticized Beshear’s policies amid the COVID-19 pandemic

“I just feel like over the past year and a half, the people of Kentucky have really had their liberties and livelihoods suspended and stolen,” Harmon said. “And really, the policies that were put in place to try to make those individuals as a whole have actually shrunk quite a bit.”

Harmon said to Magazine that if he had been governor instead of Beshear at the time, he would “probably be more like some Republican governors, in that we would put people back to work, get people back to work.” their business a lot earlier.”

Beshear managed the crisis for most of his tenure. The COVID-19 pandemic occurred about three months after he took office. Last month, tornadoes ravaged parts of western Kentucky, putting the governor first and center as he led the state response and chaired the President’s visit. Joe Biden, a member of the Democratic Party.

The governor has a feud with the GOP-dominated legislature over pandemic, education, and budget policies. Beshear has also presided over record-setting business investments and job creation.

He undertook the state’s largest-ever economic development project when Ford announced last year that it would build a twin battery plant in Glendale, Kentucky, in a joint venture with its battery partner.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.