Beshear unseats incumbent Bevin to be next Kentucky governor
Democratic candidate for governor Andy Beshear answers questions from reporters following the gubernatorial debate on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, at the Singletary Center for the Arts in Lexington, Kentucky. Photo by Jordan Prather | Staff
November 5, 2019
Democratic challenger Andy Beshear will serve as Kentucky’s new governor after defeating Republican incumbent Matt Bevin.
Beshear won the race by less than a percentage of the vote at the time the race was called with 99 percent of precincts reporting, multiple media outlets reported.
In November’s debate at the University of Kentucky, Beshear said that higher education would be a priority in the state’s budget, the Kernel previously reported.
“It is a key to achieving the American dream,” Beshear said.
The race has been nationally viewed as a final report card on a Trump-led Republican Party looking to maintain control of the White House in 2020.
“If you lose it sends a bad message,” President Donald Trump told a Lexington crowd at a stump rally for Bevin on Monday. “You can’t let that happen to me, you can’t let that happen to your great state.”
Beshear has served the past four years as the state’s attorney general.