Apparently, even the GOP realizes that both Governor Beshear AND his policies are popular across Kentucky. So popular, in fact, the two Republican candidates for governor have stolen part of Beshear’s platform.
Ryan Quarles and medical marijuana
Ryan Quarles announced on Tuesday that if elected, he would work to legalize medical marijuana in Kentucky.
According to Kentucky Health News, Quarles said “provisions should be made to benefit production from Kentucky farmers, including those who already grow hemp, and medical marijuana should, like other medications, be exempt from sales tax.”
Quarles believes that his experience as Ag Commissioner, along with being a fellow Republican, makes him uniquely suited to work with the General Assembly to get a bill passed.
Daniel Cameron and education
Meanwhile, Daniel Cameron laid out his plan to raise teacher pay, a proposal that Beshear has made repeatedly since becoming governor.
According to WHAS, Cameron said “In my first budget I will propose legislation that raises the starting pay for teachers and ensures that no teacher’s salary is below the new starting-pay benchmark.”
Cameron also said he would propose giving a stipend to every Kentucky teacher to help offset the personal expenses they incur when purchasing school supplies.
Of course, even with the proposal to raise teacher pay, no one is going to confuse Cameron’s education plan with Beshear’s. Not after Cameron pledged to stop “woke idealogies.” (Got to get that phrase into every speech and press release.)
Democrats react
In a press release sent out after the announcements by the Quarles and Cameron campaigns, the executive director of the KY Democratic Party, Sebastian Kitchen, released this statement.
“In the last two days, two Republican candidates for governor have come out in support of major planks of Governor Beshear’s agenda. Thankfully, we already have a governor who is fighting for our public schools, supporting those battling chronic medical conditions and who is putting people before politics every day, which is why 60 percent of Kentuckians stand with Governor Beshear. After almost four years of silence, it’s good to see Daniel Cameron following Governor Beshear’s lead calling for a pay raise for Kentucky teachers. It’s unfortunate that Cameron’s allies in the legislature rejected Governor Beshear’s proposal to raise wages by 5% for all school employees while Kentucky ranks 44th in the nation in starting teacher pay and 48th for education support professionals. They’re happy to open the budget for plenty of other expenses, but not well-deserved raises for our educators and support staff.”
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