Good morning! In contrast to the national scene, where there are many story lines to talk about, our state political scene is somewhat dormant at the moment. But, there are a few interesting items to note.
The coming 2023 GOP battles
As I noted in a story on the site yesterday, the race for governor on the Repub side seems to be between Quarles and Cameron. The fact that Ryan Quarles continues to pile up endorsements from Republicans currently in office, while Daniel Cameron gets Trump’s endorsement, just adds steak to the sizzle.
The question, to me, is Why. Why are all these people lining up behind Quarles? The obvious answer is race, since Cameron is Black. But while I’m sure race plays a factor for some of these people, I don’t think it is the main reason.
Some possible reasons for Quarles already having over 100 endorsements from electeds across the state:
- Think he has a better chance of winning the primary and beating Beshear.
- Think Quarles has paid his dues, and “it’s his turn.”
- Think Cameron is too young and/or too inexperienced to be governor.
- Some anti-Mitch sentiment, since Cameron is his protégé.
- Desire to leave Trump behind, including anyone Trump endorses.
And yet, Cameron has more name recognition than any of the other candidates, he has the Trump endorsement, and he has McConnell’s money and machine behind him.
It’s going to be a wild 2023 on the GOP side.
The silence of the Dems
(Hmm – that’s a pretty good headline)
On the other side of the ballot, if you go to KREF and search for Dem candidates who’ve filed intent-to-spend statements for 2023, you find one: Andy Beshear.
No one has filed to any other statewide office, even though some of the seats are going to be open. No attorney general filing, no Ag Commissioner filing, none zip nada.
Yes, I know it’s early days. But is no one on the Dem side even raising money yet? It’s too early to file with the board of elections, but you can file to raise money at any point. And yet, there’s no one listed except the Gov. (Who, it seems, is sucking up all the money that’s out there on the Dem side.)
There are rumors that Rocky Adkins is considering running for Ag Commissioner. I hope he does; I think he would beat Richard Heath handily. But so far, it’s just a rumor.
As I said, it’s early days. But I still find it interesting/depressing that there are no Dems currently running in 2023 except for the one lone entry for governor.
Miscellanea
- Any writer will tell you that it is gratifying to have people read what you've written. And since the Daily Take is quite limited in its email readership (only Partner-level members who have opted in for the emails), it is especially gratifying to see how high the open rate is for each email. It means (I hope) that you find value in what I'm turning out. (Or, you just want to see “what crazy stuff Bruce wrote today.” 😉) You keep reading, and I'll keep writing.
- I should have mentioned this earlier – but today I have a phone conversation with a certain Republican state senator, to talk about a possible public event called a “Commonwealth Conversation.” This would not be a debate; instead, it would be a conversation about certain issues facing our state, with a goal of turning down the rhetoric and turning up the understanding. If you have feedback about the idea, good or bad, drop me a note. The phone call is at 2 PM, so feedback before then would be especially helpful.
All for today. Thanks, as always, for reading – and for supporting the work.
Bruce
Today’s Don’t-Miss Stories
Bruce Maples
And the home page ...
15 Jun 2022
--30--
The Daily Take is a newsletter containing observations and thoughts of publisher Bruce Maples, and is only available to Partners of Forward Kentucky. It is available via email, and is also available on the web site to logged-in Partners. The email version is sent to Partner members who have opted-in to receiving it via the Newsletters section of their profile.
Comments
