Democratic candidates for constitutional offices in Kentucky are mounting a united offensive aimed at sending Republican Governor Matt Bevin and members of his administration home in November. Gubernatorial candidate Andy Beshear joined candidates for Treasurer, Auditor and Secretary of State Friday night in Murray for the annual Purchase Area Jefferson Jackson Dinner.

Governor Candidate Andy Beshear

“This is one united party,” Beshear said to applause from an enthusiastic attendance of around 150 people. “Before May 21 there were three teams. It doesn’t matter which one you were on. Because this is one team moving forward and there’s room for everybody at this table. We need each and every one of you to win this fall.” Earlier this week, Beshear’s former Democratic rival House Minority Leader Rocky Adkins called on his supporters to ‘flip’ for Beshear.

Beshear touted the fact that despite major challengers (Adkins and former state auditor Adam Edelen), he still had more votes on Primary Election night than Bevin (Beshear’s 149,348 to Bevin’s 136,060).

“Kentucky families aren’t getting ahead with Matt Bevin as governor. We are falling behind,” Beshear said, launching into a version of his campaign speech. “We need a leader who listens more than he talks, solves more problems than he creates and spends less time bullying and attacking people and more time talking about action and how we move our families forward. That’s the kind of governor that I promise you I will be.”

Beshear touched on familiar campaign topics, calling health care “a basic human right,'' said it should be illegal for someone to be kicked off their medical coverage for pre-existing conditions, said it’s wrong to charge women more for the same health care coverage as men and wrong to institute life-time caps. “We’re going to put all the most important protections of the ACA into state law. Let’s make it illegal in Kentucky to kick someone off their coverage.” He also said under the Beshear administration “it will be illegal to not treat mental health like physical health” and to deny people substance abuse treatment. He said health care costs too much and would work to bring costs down. He also discussed his efforts as attorney general combating the opioid epidemic and his work eliminating the state’s rape kit backlog.

He said he wants to make sure everyone gets a good paying job and noted the importance, particularly in west Kentucky, of investing in agriculture technology. “We have a growing world population, yet we have changing weather patterns we cannot deny. The ability to feed that growing world population, the technology it takes to do it, the data analytics about when to plant and when to harvest - because we can never get it wrong going forward - are never going to be more important.” He said these six-figure jobs would be connected to universities and advanced manufacturing.

He said public education needs to be strengthened and pointed to the fact that his running mate, Jacqueline Coleman, is a teacher. Earlier this week, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that Bevin didn’t do anything wrong in 2017 when he overhauled several state boards that deal with public education. Beshear had sued Bevin over this, but told the audience despite the court ruling in favor of Bevin, it was ultimately good news: “They told me that the next governor on day one can create an entirely new board of education. So I’m going to promise you that we will,” Beshear said to applause. “And on day two, we’ll get a new commissioner of education!”

Beshear said Bevin is campaigning with negative ads because he can’t win on his record. “What has he done? He has bullied teachers, first responders and our social workers. He has called them names and he has shut them out of the capitol. Folks, those of us who were raised here in Kentucky know that we were raised better than this. And when we elect a new governor, we will start acting better than this, too.” Beshear said his campaign’s message is simple and positive: “that we are in this to make people’s lives better.”

Beshear closed his speech asking, “So are you ready? Are you ready to win this election?” He called on supporters to knock on doors and “send a resounding message to the governor ‘you do not govern this way.’”

Treasurer Candidate Michael Bowman

“We have an opportunity to send a reckless governor home,” said Treasurer candidate Michael Bowman. “We have an opportunity to send the other constitutional officers that have enabled him from day one home.”

Bowman said Democrats need to make sure everyone is involved in the election because, “if we do not, we’re going to lose the ability to lead this state effectively for nearly a generation. The Census is in two years, the legislature gets to draw those district lines and they will do their best to draw us out of existence.”

Bowman took aim at his opponent, Republican incumbent Allison Ball. He said she supports charter schools, which he described as giving tax dollars to for-profit companies that ‘pick and choose’ students. He said public education equals the playing field for anybody, regardless of where they are from. He also said Ball endorses a governor’s budget that “consistently cuts our education. She supports taking money away from our children.”

Bowman briefly touched on his experience as a bank manager and how balancing a checkbook is “the easy part.” He noted that the Treasurer also serves on several boards, including the Kentucky State Investment Commission and the Kentucky Teachers Retirement Board. “And we have a Treasurer today who has not stood up one time and brought a solution to the table about our pension problem,” Bowman said.

Bowman called on Democrats to get involved and to have conversations with friends and family, “That’s where it starts. You throw a pebble into a pond, it starts a little ripple. But, that ripple eventually becomes a huge wave and we have to have that wave come November. If we don’t, we’re going to be in a lot of trouble come the beginning of next year where the Republicans will be able to run roughshod over not only us as a party, but us as a state.”

“This is going to be an election that requires all hands on deck,” Bowman said.

Auditor Candidate Sheri Donahue

Sheri Donahue described her background as a Naval auditor. She said, if elected, she would “stand up to the entrenched special interests in Frankfort.” She said people are losing faith in government because it is not taking on a moral obligation to stand up for people. She criticized Bevin’s appointment of his friend Charles Grindle as the state’s chief information officer, and then his giving Grindle a raise, making him the highest paid official in state government. She also criticized Bevin for his efforts to rollback Medicaid and for his rhetoric involving teachers.

Donahue said she’d audit the state’s electronic voting machines, would audit IT security and would work to improve state cybersecurity audits. “Kentucky must put greater emphasis on cybersecurity. It’s not a question of if we are attacked, but when? And are we ready?”

“For so long, politicians like Mitch McConnell and Matt Bevin have tried to scare us, telling us that government doesn’t work. Now that they’re in charge, they’ve set out to make sure it doesn’t work. And that’s just wrong. The commonwealth deserves better. You deserve better. And the government that works for you is exactly what this Democratic ticket will provide,” Donahue said. “We will put you first.”

Secretary Of State Candidate Heather French Henry

Heather French Henry noted the significance of Flag Day and the American flag. She described her background in advocating for veterans. She said a price was paid for the right to vote and often thinks about the importance of making sure that right is secure. She also talked about the right for businesses to start, grow and be sustainable and how that’s an important aspect of the Secretary of State’s office.

Henry said 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote. “And it is time to celebrate,” she said. “I want to make sure that in the year 2020 we lead that celebration. It would be a privilege and an honor to be able to show our daughters around the commonwealth what strong women can do because we are standing on the shoulders of what strong women did do over a century ago by not only giving us the right to vote but now we can run and hold office. It is 'ladies night out' in 2020 and here we come!”

Henry called on voters to make a difference in November.

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In closing remarks, Calloway County Democratic Party Chair David Ramey said, “We need leadership in Frankfort and with Andy Beshear at the top of this ticket - and with this great ticket - we have an opportunity to make a correction in November.”

The general election is on November 5.