KENTUCKY — On this week’s In Focus Kentucky program, Mario Anderson sits down with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., for a wide-ranging conversation from the state capitol reception room in Frankfort.
During this segment, Gov. Beshear discusses his campaign’s winning strategy that allowed him to defeat Republican Daniel Cameron in Nov. 2023, in a deep-red state that former President Donald Trump carried by about 25 points in 2020.
“First, I’m grateful. Grateful to the people of Kentucky who continue to put their trust in me to lead this state forward. I think what you saw are people that are just tired of the conflict, that they recognize the focus on their concerns, their worries, what they think about when they get up in the morning, the quality of their job, the safety of their roads, and the everyday challenges that we all face. That’s what they’re looking for, somebody that can work to make their life better. And I think what you also saw is they rejected the negativity. We saw some of the most negative, concerning, anger filled commercials that I’ve ever seen in my life and the areas where they played the most, people reacted to them. And that’s where we saw our biggest vote totals,” explained Beshear.
The governor also looked back on his recent inauguration festivities on Dec. 12 that included a daylong set of events that celebrated his administration’s reelection victory to Kentucky’s highest statewide office for another four-year term.
“It’s hard to put into words. You go from everything from the worship service, where we had people of so many different faiths all coming together, the swearing in and the rest. It’s a moment in many ways of hope. It’s also very humbling at the same time. Only 63 people have ever taken that oath of office. I’m just the third, two consecutive governor we’ve ever had. And, what that means that we can do moving forward the consistency, a lot of the major announcements that we’ve had, we’re gonna be able to open the facilities or drive down the four lane Mountain Parkway the whole way down. I looked out, and I saw all the communities hit by flooding and tornadoes that had been a part of the parade and I felt grateful that I was gonna get to finish the job, the full rebuilding, what each and every one of those communities deserves. And I made a promise that we were going to do it and all that kind of flows in at once,” added Beshear.
You can watch the full In Focus Kentucky segment in the player above.