KENTUCKY — This past week, Kentucky’s only Democratic statewide elected official, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) sat down for an extensive one-on-one interview, covering a wide range of topics and issues affecting the Commonwealth.

During this In Focus Kentucky, Gov. Beshear discusses the ongoing rebuilding efforts following the Dec. 2021 tornadoes in Western Kentucky and the July 2022 Eastern Kentucky flooding event and says that even in the face of tragedy, there is plenty to be hopeful about in Kentucky.

“It’s just about love, right? We don’t tell people that we love them enough. And people really need to feel that when they’re struggling. For me, the tornado event was just very deeply personal. You know, my uncle by marriage lost two cousins in Bremen and Dawson is where my granddad put me on his tractor when I was little and drove me around and everywhere he drove me around on the church, he preached out for decades, knocked down. You know what? That church has been rebuilt. I still remember, I was somewhere in western Kentucky and somebody walked up to me, leaned in and said, I just completed the rebuilding of granddad’s church. I got chills. I went there as quickly as I could, nobody was there. I was staring in the windows. Pretty exciting to see people and communities get back up on their feet,” explains Beshear.

The 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election will be held on Nov. 7, 2023 to choose the governor and lieutenant governor of Kentucky. During this segment, Beshear re-affirms why he decided to run for re-election for another four-year term as governor. 

“I have to lead during some really tough times in Kentucky. A pandemic, tornadoes, flooding, inflation, the impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on our economy, people are living through a whole lot. It feels like more has happened over a short period of time than ever before. But I believe we’re turning the page and whether it’s the Christmas story light to darkness, whether it’s a proverb that there may be sorrow and weeping in the evening but joy in the morning. I believe what’s to come for Kentucky is as exciting as anything we’ve ever seen. And I believe we have more potential right now... And so I’m pretty fired up running for a second term, but that’s just what the election is. I’m really fired up to try to lead Kentucky into something really special,” adds Beshear.

You can watch the full In Focus Kentucky segment in the player above.