Who will be Andy Beshear’s opponent in 2023?

[Flyersfan232]

My bet's on Allison Ball, Cameron is very controversial.

the type of people who hate cameron or our turn off by his controversial are not republican voters

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Andy Beshear is a Blue🐶 DOG and can win again just like Laura Kelly can win again

[Flyersfan232]

Cameron has been essentially promised to have Mitch’s seat, so honestly Matt Bevin will run again, and because he’s so trumpy he could win the primary. He’d lose the General again though

bevin could very well win no gop in the white house and he list was less then 1%

[KYRockefeller]

I expect a very crowded primary and with low primary turnout in an off-year, it really could be anyone's game.  The nominee might not even crack 30% of the vote.

[Alben Barkley]

I still really don't think it's gonna be Cameron. I think he's holding out for Mitch retiring. He's only 35 now. He will certainly be re-elected in 2023. That lines up perfectly with a 2026 run if Mitch steps down if he wants it. All signs so far are that's the plan. Why would Cameron risk an election against Beshear? Even if we assume he has a 60% chance of winning, that means he has a 40% chance of losing and thus possibly torpedoing his career just a couple years before he likely could own a lifelong Senate seat. Historically, the KY governorship has not been much of a launching pad to power while a KY Senate seat is a very valuable prize; I see no reason why he'd even want to bother with the former when he has the latter practically lined up and guaranteed for him.

I still would bet on Maddox if forced to choose. She has the base hyped up behind her, so the types of people who will vote in a GOP primary for the KY gubernatorial race will likely like her best (which is how Bevin won the nomination also by the way). And she is young, crazy, and egotistical enough to think she deserves it and can win it easily. My gut tells me she goes for it, wins the nomination, loses to Beshear in the end by slightly more than Bevin.

Oh and the 9 people who actually voted for Matt Bevin are nuts. He did well in the GOP primary in his first race because he had the same kind of grassroots Tea Party hype that's now behind Maddox instead. But in his second race, he embarrassingly underperformed even in the primaries against the relative no-name Robert Goforth who got nearly 40% of the vote against him. (In hindsight, and to some of us a sign even at the time, that Bevin was screwed in the general.) He's persona non grata in Kentucky nowadays, even among the GOP. They know he is political cancer. It's not like Trump where the cult outlives his administration. His own party was chomping at the bit to be rid of him ASAP.