Kentucky Gov.Andy Beshear (D) won a second term Tuesday against the State’s Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican’s rising star.
The 45-year-old governor won the race by a wide margin with a 52.5% vote compared to opponent Cameron’s 47.5%.
It was a remarkable feat given that the state went for Donald Trump by a margin of 26% in 2020.
“Tonight, Kentucky made a choice, a choice not to move to the right or to the left, but to move forward,” said Beshear in his victory speech. “Our neighbors aren’t just Democrats. They’re not just Republicans. They’re not just independents. Every single person is a child of God and they are all our neighbors.”
In a concession speech, Cameron started off by thanking his supporters and moved on to mention Beshear.
“I know from his perspective and all of our perspectives that we all want the same thing for our future generations,” he continued. “We want a better commonwealth.”
Beshear took office in 2019 after defeating incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin (R), who attacked teachers after they took to the streets on strike to demand a pay raise.
In his first term, Beshear was frequently blocked by the Republican majority in the legislature. A year into his term, Kentucky was hit with one problem after another, with the COVID-19 pandemic, a tornado that killed 80 people in western Kentucky and a catastrophic flooding that killed 45 individuals.
