kentuckykernel ELECTION SPECIAL SECTION
Fall 2023 est. 1892 | Independent since 1971 www.kykernel.com @kykernel @kentuckykernel
Fall 2023
BESHEAR’S BLUEPRINT:
Governor’s momentous first term fuels re-election campaign By Gray Greenwell features@kykernel.com
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is deep into a re-election campaign — the intensity of which mirrors his initial gubernatorial race against former Gov. Matt Bevin nearly four years ago. The Democratic governor will face off against Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron in next month’s general election, t h e t w o cand i dates likely feeling the heat as Nov. 7 draws near, advertisement jabs multiply and yards i g n w a r s r a g e on. I n 2019,
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Editor's note: The Kentucky Kernel was unable to meet one-on-one with the candidates. All information is cited from public events attended by Kernel staff and credible online sources. Beshear beat out the Republican incumbent Bevin by just over 5,000 votes, Associated Press election results showed, in a neck-and-neck race for the governorship. Beshear, Kentucky’s then attorney general, began a term that would see the ambitious new governor — and the state — face good, bad and everything in between, including economic growth, job creation, a global pandemic and devastating natural disasters. It was only a few months after Beshear took office when COVID-19 would find its way into the U.S. in early 2020, prompting a public health emergency, school and business closures, and stay-at-home orders. Masks, frequent testing and social distancing became the norm, and it was up to the states themselves to encourage or set aside these mandates. Beshear quickly took the plunge amidst uncertainty, notably recommending that schools cease in-person classes and advising Kentuckians to limit community gatherings. Beshear’s school regulations have since been criticized by Cameron in his campaign, with the “The Cameron Catch-Up Plan” being the attorney general’s answer to Beshear’s closures. Cameron attributed this to “generational learning loss” across the state, according to his website. Even so, Beshear’s swift response to COVID-19 and his daily “Team Kentucky” video updates garnered national attention and bipartisan praise at the time, AP reported in 2020. “We didn’t do red or blue, Democrat or Republican, but we treated the pandemic as life versus death, while at the same time working with the private sector to keep it humming along,”
Beshear said in a 2021 interview with a television station, reflecting on his response to the pandemic. Beshear remains a bipartisan anomaly within a deep red state ahead of November’s election, holding not only stronger Democratic support than Cameron’s Republican support “but also 44% of independent voters’ support and 28% of Republican voters’ support,” said Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, in recent poll results. The years following the start of the pandemic saw Beshear and Kentucky grapple with two more major crises: a tornado that laid waste to the state’s western regions in Dec. 2021 and historic floods that displaced residents and homes in several eastern counties in July 2022. The combined death toll from the two natural disasters amounted to over 100 people, The Courier Journal reported. Efforts to restore both of these areas are already underway, as the governor recently indicated. “We’re not just rebuilding, we’re revitalizing,” Beshear said at a Paducah Chamber of Commerce candidate forum on Oct. 12. “The 12 months after those tornadoes hit, we created so many jobs in (Mayfield, Kentucky). They made the top 100 in economic development of towns their size.” A major pillar of both his initial and current campaigns, Beshear’s emphasis on economic growth in Kentucky has led to big strides — Pratt Paper in Henderson, the world’s largest electric vehicle battery plant in Hardin and sports betting, to name a few. Economic development, however, is not exactly one of this election’s hot button issues, as voters look to Beshear and Cameron for their stances on abortion and now highly contentious gender-affirming care regulations. On higher education, Beshear supported the Supreme Court-struck down affirmative action and assured contin-
ued funding for Kentucky’s colleges. “I was proud to be a governor that proposed increase and, at least for the last decade, record funding for higher education in each and every budget that I’ve been a part of, and you can expect that to continue,” Beshear said at Commerce Lexington’s Public Policy Luncheon on Oct. 11. Beshear hasn’t shied away from expressing his distaste for Kentucky’s abortion trigger law, which bans almost all abortions, the exception being those that are carried out to save the mother’s life or prevent serious injury. “Kentucky has one of the most restrictive (abortion) laws in the country,” Beshear said in a debate hosted at Northern Kentucky University on Oct. 16. “The trigger ban removes any and all options from victims of rape and incest.” Cameron called himself the race’s “pro-life candidate” and Beshear “the abortion candidate” at the debate and once stood firm as anti-abortion, though now, Cameron has clarified that if he was presented an abortion bill with exceptions, he would sign it. This followed a particularly hard-hitting advertisement from Beshear in which Owensboro resident Hadley Duvall chastises Cameron’s abortion stance, recounting her experience being raped by her stepfather. “Anyone who believes there should be no exceptions for rape and incest could never understand what it’s like to stand in my shoes,” Duvall said. Beshear made it clear at the NKU debate that he has always believed in “reasonable restrictions” on late-term abortions, though. At the annual Fancy Farm picnic in August, Beshear continued to reinforce a bipartisan winning strategy ahead of November’s election. “This race is the difference between vision and division,” Beshear said. “A good job isn’t red or blue, and the most important thing for a governor is getting the job done.”
CAMERON'S CAPITOL? A look inside his fiery campaign
kentuckykernel
CONTACT Hannah Stanley, editor-in-chief editor@kykernel.com
Abbey Cutrer, managing & photo
By Alexis Baker features@kykernel.com
With a gubernatorial history dominated by Democrats, Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron will face Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in Kentucky’s governor race this November. Despite Cameron’s campaign efforts, the odds are not swaying his way as Beshear has a 16-point lead, only pulling 33% of voter support compared to Beshear’s 49%, according to a recent survey conducted by Emerson College. From church pews and kitchen tables, Cameron is attempting to persuade voters with campaign strategies rooted at the core of his political and moral values, focusing on issues surrounding employment, drug and crime rates, law enforcement support and education. With a staggering political and legal history, Cameron is the first Black American independently elected to statewide office in Kentucky history, also spending some of his years as legal counsel to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Around three years before assuming the role of attorney general, the Kentucky Narcotics Officers Association named Cameron “Legislative Staffer of the Year” for his work as the spokesman for the Kentucky Smart on Crime Coalition, his attorney general website said. During his “Only One” campaign video, Cameron said he sued Beshear’s team for not enforcing the abortion law. Additionally, he took Beshear and President Joe Biden to the state Supreme Court over COVID-19 masking policies, in an attempt to hold them accountable for violating state and federal law. Similarly, in his ad “Kitchen Table,” Cameron’s wife feeds their child in the background as he tells the viewers he has taken Biden to court 23 times over immigration policies, the abortion law, climate disagreements and COVID-19 vaccine requirements. “I figure if we fight the radical liberals now, maybe kids like Theodore will still have the real America when it's their turn,” Cameron said. Under Cameron’s vision for Kentucky, he plans to improve schools, build a stronger economy and create safe streets, according to
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editor managinged@kykernel.com
his campaign website. “In a campaign of this magnitude, our people need to hear not only the case against Andy Beshear, but also what I intend to do as the next Governor of Kentucky,” Cameron said on his campaign website. While not part of his original campaign, Cameron is now facing controversy surrounding his view on abortion laws. Cameron has historically expressed support for the current Kentucky trigger law and now softened his tone in response to a message from a rape victim in one of Beshear’s campaign ads. The trigger law in Kentucky bans abortion without the opportunity for services in the case of rape or incest. “I’ve said if the legislature were to bring me a bill with exceptions, I would sign it,” Cameron said in response to Beshear’s ad. In the recent gubernatorial debate, Cameron criticized Beshear’s decision to close schools during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We need leadership that’s going to catch our kids up. Going to make sure we increase the salaries of our teachers, restore discipline to the classroom and remove any bureaucracy that might exist that disconnects our teachers from our students,” Cameron said. Because of the prolonged closure of K-12 schools, Cameron is planning to introduce what he calls “The Cameron Catch-Up Plan” to improve the educational experience of students. “(It) is an historic expansion of reading and math instruction, a restoration of order in the classroom, a concerted effort to reduce Kentucky’s epidemic of truancy, and a surge of resources directly to the teachers who deserve our respect and admiration,” according to Cameron’s campaign. His early efforts against the use of narcotics and reducing crime led to a campaign endorsement by the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police, a pivotal step towards increasing safety in the streets. He also emphasized his support for “(backing) the blue” in a political advertisement which escalated tensions with some affected by the
Breonna Taylor case. Taylor's mother released an anti-Cameron campaign this past June, according to the Associated Press. Taylor was a 26-year-old woman killed in March 2020 by Louisville Metro Police officers while they were serving a no-knock search warrant. She was unarmed, The Courier-Journal reported. Despite backlash, Cameron continues to push forth efforts toward fighting fentanyl and illegal drugs on the streets while also enacting stricter sentences for those imprisoned. “We can have a commonwealth that is about good quality schools, making sure that we stand up for our teachers, that we keep our streets safe from crime and drugs, and we get folks working again, and we eliminate Kentucky’s income tax,” Cameron said in the debate. “That's where we can go together. I hope you will vote for me on Nov. 7.”
photo@kykernel.com Gray Greenwell, copy & features editor features@kykernel.com Alexis Baker, news editor news@kykernel.com Laurel Swanz, assistant news & features editor Cole Parke, sports editor sports@kykernel.com Samantha Money, assistant sports editor Ali Cetinok, assistant sports editor Akhila Nadimpalli, designer Travis Fannon, assistant photo editor Gracie Moore, digital editor gmoore@kykernel.com Savannah Kennedy, social media manager Nate Lucas, broadcast & podcast manager Bryce Towle, TikTok manager Kaci McCarthy, newsletter manager KENTUCKY KERNEL OFFICE 9 Blazer Dining University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 40506
On the front cover: ILLUSTRATION BY AKHILA NADIMPALLI
© OCT. 25, 2023 KERNEL PRESS, INC.
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Fall 2023
ELECTION DAY: TUESDAY, NOV. 7, 6 a.m. – 6 p.m. By Ethan Wallace news@kykernel.com
There is a common misconception that your vote is unimportant. This is patently untrue; in the last gubernatorial election in Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear won by only about 5,000 votes, according to ABC News. Governors are elected by popular vote, so every vote cast for your preferred candidate will be another step towards victory.
Kentucky requires voter ID, but you should need little else than a valid form of Kentucky identification with a photograph. Your UK student ID card will work for this. Remember, voting is not an exam. You can take out your phone and look up details about names on the ballots or bring a copy of this page, if you so desire (just don’t call anyone for advice). But don't be an electioneer — you cannot advocate for a candidate while in line or share persuasive information. Generally, these things run smoothly, so don’t be worried about breaking some obscure rule. Simply do your best to vote with confidence.
In-person, no-excuse early voting will happen in Fayette county from Thursday, Nov. 2 to Saturday, Nov. 4 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Unlike normal election day, you will not vote at your usual precinct, but at any one of the following three centers: • Eastside Branch Library - 3000 Blake James Drive • Northside Branch Library - 1733 Russell Cave Road • Tates Creek Branch Library - 3628 Walden Drive • The Lexington Senior Center - 195 Life Lane Voting early is safe, convenient and counted all the same as votes cast on election day.
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For students, this question may be difficult to answer. Registered voters can look up their polling place and find other relevant information on Kentucky’s voter information portal. If you are registered in the city of Lexington, it should be only a short walk or drive away. You also have the option to go to a voting center, which is available for any resident of Fayette county.
Attached is an image of a sample ballot for Fayette County, but it may look different depending on where in the county you are registered. In the 93rd State House district, which covers parts of south Lexington, there is a contested special election. There is also a contested election for the Board of Education’s first division. These will only appear on your ballot if you are registered in those districts. On your ballot, you are also not just voting for the election of governor, but additional statewide constitutional offices, such as secretary of state, attorney general, auditor, treasurer and agriculture commissioner. There will also be an option for straight ticket voting, meaning you need only check the box for your party of choice to select every candidate from that party. Notably, this will not autofill nonpartisan races. If you are unsure how to vote on a specific race, you can leave it blank, it will not invalidate your ballot. But, be sure to completely fill in each box to ensure your ballot is not disputed.
VOTING LOCATIONS NEAR THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
ABBEY CUTRER | STAFF A sign for the Newtown campus stands outside on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, outside of the Bluegrass Community & Technical College in Lexington, Kentucky. BCTC represents voting precinct A109.
ABBEY CUTRER | STAFF A sign for Maxwell Elementary School stands on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, in Lexington, Kentucky. Maxwell Elementary represents voting precincts C105 and C128.
ABBEY CUTRER | STAFF A sign for the Catholic Newman Center stands on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky. The Newman Center represents voting precinct C115.
ABBEY CUTRER | STAFF A sign for Salvation Army stands on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023, in Lexington, Kentucky. This Salvation Army represents voting precinct A143.
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What if I forget my ID?
If you get all the way there and somehow forget your ID, fear not! You can still vote with a provisional ballot, the validity of which is to be determined by the county Board of Elections. Should this happen, simply ask a precinct officer for help.
What if I go to the wrong place?
Ask a precinct officer for some assistance if you are struggling to locate your correct polling place. Make sure to get to the right location before polls close, though.
What if I don’t know who to vote for?
If you so wish, you could just leave that particular race blank. You could also quickly google the candidates and make a decision thereafter.
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Fall 2023
ANALYSIS: CRITICAL ISSUES By Alexis Baker, Casey Sebastiano and Hannah Stanley news@kykernel.com
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h Public Healt declared a placing strict as w 9 -1 COVID 2020, HE) in March ase. The Emergency (P prevent widespread dise g to a in to rd co , ac guidelines May 11, 2023 on d de en E PH until ebsite. government w sistance will be provided as Funeral . an SerSept. 30, 2025 tment of Health and Hum s Proes ar cc The Dep Bridge A announced a with the vices (HHS) ide uninsured Americans the end ov nc ents si e gram to pr ines and treatm cc va of on ti op OVID-19 ic. of the pandem will continue to cover C st sharing d co “Medicai -pay or without a co nerally covvaccinations mber 30, 2024 and will ge t beneficiaos te m ep ines for through S mended vacc er ACIP-recom the HHS website said. workers was ,” ries thereafter y mandate for health care ls choosing ck ita The Kentu ith some hosp early August w to Kentucky Health News. terminated in g in te, Kentucky ace, accord to keep it in pl piration of the federal manda and the deciSince the ex r individually ndle the matte of vaccines once the Bridge ha to ve ha ill w e copay or cost sion to cover th s on Sept. 30, 2024. sing stances on re Program expi orial candidates hold oppo which case it The gubernat -19 vaccine mandates, in VID e th federal CO decide who they support. to rs te vo is up to
HIG HE R
UC
In 2021-2022, funding students has grown more for full-time, higher education tha one of the highest increa n 10%, succeeding in being ses in last decades, acc to state records. ording Within the last 10 years at the University of Kentu President Eli Capilouto sai d there has been a steady gro cky, of graduating students, inc wth reasing each year with the tion of COVID. excep“We now have 2,400 more degrees that we award more certificates than we awarded ten years ago, ste , 1,000 crease,” Capilouto said. ady inwere underrepresented min “Back then, 9% of our graduates ori Such growth can be pro ties, now it's 15%.” ruling in June that ended affi mising amidst the Supreme Court the admission process as we rmative action, removing race from ll as in scholarship opportuni “We had one or two rac ties. weren’t exclusive, but a hig e exclusive (scholarships), or they h pri ori ty was placed on rac like we can adjust those sch olarships,” Capilouto said. e. We feel a factor in those, and the “Race was wa respecting the law, but stil y we will recruit and enroll students, l committed to having a everyone feels they belong campus where , rem The dueling candidates sta ains a priority.” nd on opposite sides of affirm tion, leaving it up to voters ative acto decide their fate.
ED
Fall 2023
FACING KENTUCKY VOTERS MEN'S TEAM
LGBTQ+
In the 2023 gubernatorial election, focus around LGBTQ+ rights is prominent after the passing of Senate Bill 150 in March 2023. Acting Gov. Andy Beshear vetoed the bill in March but was overridden by the Senate in a 29-8 vote and the House of Representatives in a 76-23 vote. The bill regulates the education of gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation in the classroom and diminishes confidentiality between a student and their parent(s). Schools are also prohibited from enacting policies towards preferred pronouns and threatening discipline, if not abided to. However, the bill “does not prevent teachers and students from voluntarily referring to students by their preferred pronouns if they choose to do so.”
TIPOFF TRIVIA
Fall 2023
Student organizations promote political activity on campus By Laurel Swanz features@kykernel.com
With the gubernatorial election coming up in Kentucky, groups on campus are leading efforts to ensure students are educated about how to get involved in hopes to relieve stress of yet another responsibility on their plate. Side-by-side in the Gatton Student Center, UK’s chapter of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and UK College Democrats have worked individually to engage with students when passing between classes, encouraging them to take action. “I know a lot of times it’s hard to get people around our age to care about what’s going on with politics and what affects our community,” NAACP Co-President Mya Howell said. “We try to get people involved in a way that shows them that poli-
tics and elections can directly affect them. If you are not reading up about what’s going on, at least you can hear about it from your peers.” Throughout the electoral season, NAACP members can be seen flagging down students and giving guidance to them about the voter registration process as well as NAACP registration for those interested. “We try to recognize ourselves as a political advocacy (organization) for the minority community, so politics is very important when it comes to the NAACP,” Howell said. Regardless of individual members’ political beliefs, Howell emphasized that the organization as a whole is not endorsing a candidate for the upcoming election. The NAACP’s priority is educating students through general body meetings and tabling events. “We haven’t focused on a specific candidate because we don’t want to be
too biased, we just want people to make their own opinions and decisions,” Howell said. “We just bring light to voting and how important it is.” Similar actions could be seen during the College Democrats’ tabling event, where they welcomed all prospective voters despite their left-leaning affiliation. For students who didn’t know whether they were Republican or Democrat, the organization offered them quizzes, which Rice described as “fun,” to assess their values and assign them a party to register with. College can already be stressful enough, so when adding a state election and the possible expectation to vote, the process can seem more overwhelming and troublesome. The timing within the
“If you are not reading up about what’s going on, at least you can hear about it from your peers.” peers.”
ABBEY CUTRER | STAFF A "Putting the Blue back in Bluegrass" pin rests on a table while UKYDems shares information with students on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023, in the Gatton Student Center at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.
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school year can also not be the most ideal with midterm season approaching. In order to help alleviate some of that burden, the College Democrats assisted out-of-state students in their decision of registering to vote in Kentucky or order mail-in ballots from their home cities. “It's midterms. So it's not like a big thing that everybody knows about,” College Democrats President Hallie Rice said. “So we want to focus on just making sure people are aware that there's an election and then knowing what's on the ballot, knowing who's on the ballot.” In the interest of promoting civic engagement, the College Democrats hosted a fall carnival on Friday, Oct. 13. Rice said this was to try and attract students who are not necessarily interested in politics or College Democrats as an organization. “It’s not set up in a way that's focused on politics specifically, because we want everyone to show up, regardless of political affiliation,” Rice said. “And it's a way for students to learn about political organizations, resources, candidates, all that without really having to come to something that's specifically College Democrats focused.” The work doesn’t stop there for the organization. For the rest of October and all of November, the College Democrats meet every Thursday to focus on the current state of the election and how students can get involved. Many members of College Democrats are canvassing for Andy Beshear. Continued on page 9
Fall 2023 Continued from page 8 Rice, a senior political science major, said she believes even those who aren’t interested in canvassing or being active members of political groups on campus should at least vote. “We're the future. All the legislation that is going through right now, we're the ones that it's really affecting,” Rice said. “And so I think it's really important just to encourage college students to be civically engaged, because if they're not civically engaged, then basically the political future is gonna fall apart.” In similar efforts, UK’s Student Government Association (SGA) tabled for voter registration outside White Hall Classroom Building on Oct. 10. Equipped with stickers, donuts and informative brochures, SGA members hoped to pique students’ interest while also representing nonpartisan efforts and gain attraction from students to show them how to vote. “A lot of students don’t know that if you go to school at a college campus in Kentucky, you can register to vote as a student on that campus,” said Bailey Pierce, director of government relations and civic engagement for SGA. “We’re trying to spread the word about that. We’re just trying to make sure that Wildcats know how to get involved and stay involved in local elections.” Pierce said SGA plans to table again on Oct. 24 to help students order absentee ballots. SGA is also organizing a shuttle service to take students to the early voting locations at the Lexington Senior Center on Nov. 4. This way, those who are unavailable or lack transporta-
tion on Election Day can still vote. “No matter how young you are or how uninformed that you feel that you are, it’s always important to have your voice be heard,” Pierce said. “We want students to be empowered to know that these issues are facing them and have the confidence to go boldly into those polling locations and cast their vote.” Differences aside, these organizations share a common goal: increasing the number of students at the polls. Their goal may not be unrealistic, despite the fact that this is a smaller-scale election than what typically yields the highest turnout. According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), 21.8% of Kentuckians ages 18-29 voted in the 2022 midterm election. While this number may not sound high, CIRCLE cited it as an upward trend in the youth vote over the past decade. Whether or not this trend will be reflected in the 2023 gubernatorial election is yet to be seen, but the driving factor for the increase in young voter turnout was cited by CIRCLE to be abortion, a hot topic in Kentucky’s current political scene as well, according to the Associated Press. The fate of abortion in Kentucky has been heavily debated since the overturn of Roe v. Wade, with each gubernatorial candidate expressing opposing views on the matter. Gov. Andy Beshear has said that the current abortion law banning the procedure except when carried out to save a pregnant woman’s life or to prevent a disabling injury needs to change, the Associated Press reported. Attorney General Daniel Cam-
“We're the future. All the legislation that is going through right now, we're the ones that it's really affecting.”
ABBEY CUTRER | STAFF A "Cats Vote" sticker rests on a table while UKSGA shares information with students about voting on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023, outside of the White Hall Classroom Building at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.
eron, however, was a supporter of Amendment 2, the controversial proposition to declare abortion not protected by Kentucky’s constitution, defeated in last year’s midterm election, according to Ballotpedia. If students’ political motivations match that of the last midterm election, they may be more engaged in the 2023 gubernatorial one as well. Despite this, on-campus organization Pro-Life Wildcats is not one of the groups focusing on promoting voting in students. Rebecca Keith, co-president of Pro-Life Wildcats, said they haven’t been tabling for voting, working with a campaign, endorsing candidates or speaking about the election
at regular meetings. “We are very much a single-issue club and most of what we do is focused on trying to support pregnant women and parents on campus instead of strict political advocacy,” Keith said. “We do that too. It's just not our main focus.” The LGBTQ+ Center also stated that they are not taking action regarding the upcoming election either. Young Americans for Freedom stated that they are “focused on expanding conservative views, rather than getting people elected.” College Republicans and Turning Point USA could not be reached to comment regarding their preparation for the upcoming election.
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WE ENDORSE ANDY BESHEAR. A governor who will do the most for students at the University of Kentucky.
By Editorial Board opinions@kykernel.com
As students, we hope to have our voices heard, rights protected and a healthier future for the state of Kentucky, and Gov. Andy Beshear is the best fit to do so. In an unanimous decision of 15-0, the Kentucky Kernel editorial board chooses to endorse Beshear for re-election in the 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial race. Since 2019, Beshear has worked relentlessly to serve his community, being an active and dedicated leader to many Kentuckians in the midst of floods, tornadoes and even a pandemic. As a first-term governor, Beshear did more than just support his community, providing safety and care to those in times of crisis. While doing so, he actively supported legislation that stood for democratic values, such as public education, hu-
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man rights, COVID-19 and general healthcare. Six months ago, Beshear vetoed Senate Bill 150 despite being overridden by the Kentucky General Assembly shortly after. He stood against the General Assembly’s decision and said in his veto message that the bill “allows too much government interference in personal healthcare issues and rips away the freedom of parents to make medical decisions for their children.” Senate Bill 150 bans the education of sexual orientation and gender identity in primary and secondary schools as well as transgender students from using their preferred bathroom. Additional human rights around the decision to use
hormones, puberty blockers and partake in surgical procedures are banned as part of the bill, something that Beshear said “will endanger the children of Kentucky.” After the overturn of Roe v. Wade, Kentucky implemented what is called a “trigger ban,” which bans abortions no matter the stage of the pregnancy. In an interview with a Lexington television station, Beshear said he recognizes the extremity of the law and supports reasonable restrictions and exceptions, something the Kernel sees as a notable stance in contrast to his opponent. In the history of Kentucky, Beshear has also managed to
present the state's “highest and second-highest revenue surpluses,” grown the Rainy Day fund to nearly 2.7 billion and has had continual job growth post-pandemic, according to state records. As college students, we have lived and breathed education for nearly the last two decades of our lives, prioritizing our futures and what’s ahead. Since the start of his term, he has worked to remove financial barriers for first-time GED students and provide them with the opportunity to further their education. Beshear also allocated bonds valuing $200 million for the Higher Education Resurgence Fund, creating the opportunity to update older university infrastructure and improve our academic environment. There is nothing more important than having a strong leader at the forefront of our state government, and that is why we endorse Beshear for re-election.
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GET READY TO VOTE
Thursday, September 2, 2021
KENTUCKY EARLY VOTING IS NOVEMBER 2-4, 2023
ELECTION DAY IS NOVEMBER 7, 2023
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PAID FOR BY THE KENTUCKY DEMOCRATIC PARTY | PO BOX 694 FRANKFORT, KY 40602