One name that can't be ignored is Mike Harmon, the state auditor. He's got that Mike Pence-like lane for the socially conservative Republicans and also has ties to the old Tea Party movement. He's also done a good job in the state auditor role and there's not much left for him to do in state government except run for the top job.
I think the strongest GOP candidate is either James Comer or Ryan Quarles. Both have good ratings in the state, avoid the extremes that other GOP candidates can be tied in with, and can point to accomplishments as agriculture commissioners, which can boost their numbers in Kentucky's rural areas.
For Beshear to win he's going to need to get big margins from Louisville and Lexington and then repeat a lot of the map against Bevin. Problem is, any candidate that doesn't have Matt Bevin's baggage is going to make that tough. For example, I can't see Beshear winning the same number of votes in Northern Kentucky that he did in 2019.
And he’s officially running now
https://mobile.twitter.com/mikeharmonky/status/1512610724497043456?cxt=HHwWgMC90...
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