Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear, whose father is Gov. Matt Bevin's immediate predecessor, won with nearly 40 percent of the vote. | Timothy D. Easley, File/AP Photo elections Matt Bevin, Andy Beshear set for Kentucky clash The incumbent prevailed in a closer-than-expected GOP primary race.

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin will face Democratic state Attorney General Andy Beshear in a closely watched general election this November after both men won competitive primaries Tuesday.

Beshear, the son of former Gov. Steve Beshear, prevailed over two main challengers for the Democratic nomination: state House Minority Leader Rocky Adkins and former state Auditor Adam Edelen. When The Associated Press called the race, Andy Beshear had 38 percent of the vote, Adkins was at 32 percent and Edelen had 28 percent.


Adkins, a conservative Democrat who opposes abortion rights, ran up big margins in rural counties in Eastern Kentucky, his political base. But he had little support in the Democratic-leaning cities of Louisville and Lexington, and Beshear ran stronger in rural counties in Western Kentucky, too.

Beshear was the front-runner for much of the primary, but he found himself battling off attacks from a pro-Edelen super PAC about his tenure as attorney general and had to watch both his left and right flanks on topics like contraception.

Meanwhile, on the Republican side, Bevin defeated state Rep. Robert Goforth in a closer-than-expected primary race, winning with 52 percent of the vote. Bevin was weakest in the eastern part of the state, parts of which Goforth, who finished with 39 percent of the vote, represents in the state House.

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Tuesday’s primaries preview what is likely to be a competitive race in the fall. Despite Kentucky’s Republican lean, public polling shows Bevin with low approval ratings that could hamper his reelection bid.

Noam Lee, executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, said the GOP primary results proved that Bevin was “damaged and deeply unpopular."

Meanwhile, Republican Governors Association spokeswoman Amelia Chassé Alcivar called Beshear “a liberal politician and insider who thinks he’s entitled to the state’s highest office just because of his last name.”

The Kentucky governor’s race is one of three gubernatorial elections in 2019. Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards is facing a challenging reelection campaign in Louisiana, while both parties will hold primaries in Mississippi in August to set up a race for that state’s open governorship.