The Republican Governor’s Association is out with a memo outlining the “state of the race” and rallying support for Kentucky gubernatorial GOP nominee Daniel Cameron, the Kentucky Attorney General who won his party’s nomination this week.
The memo, sent to “interested parties,” predicts a “competitive race with vulnerable incumbent Democrat Andy Beshear,” noting that “unlike 2019, Andy Beshear now has a record that he will be held accountable for by voters.”
It describes Beshear as “a liberal who is woefully out of touch with Kentuckians.”
The memo then goes on to outline its take on Beshear’s record, including that he “would allow sex changes for children as young as eight and nine years old.”
The claim cites Beshear’s veto of a bill that would ban gender transition surgeries for minors, as well as prohibit school discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity and prevent teachers from being forced to use a student’s preferred pronouns. It links to a Fox News article about the veto.
Legislative Republicans, who hold a majority, overrode Beshear’s veto.
The memo also criticizes Beshear for shutting down churches during the pandemic; closing schools; supporting unions; endorsing President Joe Biden; appointing liberals to key posts; radicalizing the Kentucky Department of Education; failing to protect children; and supporting “extremist radicals who want to include sexually explicit graphic novels in public school libraries.”
Each claim is linked to a citation. On the explicit graphic novels, the memo links to a tweet from the Fairness Campaign thanking a school board for keeping the book “Gender Queer,” one of the most banned books in the nation, in its libraries. Neither the tweet nor the article it shares mentions Beshear. But Beshear has expressed support for the Fairness Campaign.
The claim about failing to protect kids links to a video of Beshear saying he would bring Kentuckians a new board of education.
The memo also claims Beshear would allow critical race theory to be taught in public schools, linking to a CNN article about Beshear’s veto of a bill that would incorporate “anti-critical race theory” instead. The bill would have required curriculum to teach that “an individual, by virtue of the individual’s race or sex, does not bear responsibility for actions committed by other members of the same race or sex.”
The memo then contrasts Beshear to Cameron, noting that Cameron is “well-positioned with a positive message of why voters should vote for him.”
It lists several attributes, including taking on Beshear’s “government overreach during the pandemic;” standing up against the Biden administration’s “liberal immigration policies;” fighting to end the opioid epidemic; leading the fight against critical race theory in schools; and working to “protect girls’ and women’s sports.”
It notes the “different environment” facing Beshear this election cycle, including “a significant shift” in the GOP’s favor in voter registration, which the memo notes saw the Democratic advantage shrink from 7.2 percentage points to just 1.4 percentage points.
“This is a competitive race, and with Republicans having increased their margins in the state, the focus will be on bringing all Republicans home and uniting behind Daniel Cameron,” the memo concludes.
