Herald-Leader endorses two clear, qualified choices in Ky’s gubernatorial primaries | Opinion

It’s still a long way from the general election for governor in November, but it’s becoming clear who will be the best picks from each political party. In the Republican primary, the Herald-Leader endorses Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, and in the Democratic primary, we pick Gov. Andy Beshear.

The Republican primary

Kentucky’s Republican gubernatorial primary has been a tit-for-tat battle of expensive negative advertising between the alleged top two contenders, with dueling ads about teddy bears and “woke” teachers that fail to address Kentucky’s real and pressing issues.

Luckily for GOP voters, there is a better and more qualified choice: Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles. As a former legislator who has already been elected to statewide office, he knows that Kentuckians are tired of division and want someone who is committed to solving our numerous problems, regardless of party politics. Judging from the campaign so far, Quarles is the adult in the room.

“I think Kentucky deserves a robust dialogue about the issues,” he told the editorial board. “Let’s for once have a governor’s race based on the best ideas.”

Raised on a family farm in Scott County, Quarles intimately understands rural life and the numerous pressures on family farms that affect so many in this state. Thanks to his numerous degrees in education and law, including a masters and a doctorate in higher education from Harvard and Vanderbilt, respectively, Quarles knows that being governor requires more than who can bow the lowest to Donald Trump. He is a strong conservative who also knows that Kentuckians are tired of division. As a state legislator from 2010 to 2014, in the then-minority party, Quarles worked across the political aisle on legislation like community college funding and measures to address Kentucky’s drug problems. As Agriculture Commissioner, he started a statewide hunger initiative that has raised hundreds of thousands for hunger programs across the state, and opened new markets for Kentucky farmers.

Quarles is now campaigning on issues like more support for career and technical education, more avenues to improve mental health and ways to improve Kentucky’s dismal workforce participation rate. He also supports Kentucky’s now legal program for medical marijuana, and is clearly the best positioned to make sure that legislation can somehow benefit Kentucky farmers. He could navigate the rough waters of our legislature to get important work like this accomplished.

It is disappointing that he does not support exceptions to Kentucky’s current abortion laws; we hope that is a position he feels is required for a GOP primary, but could soften in the future. It’s short-sighted because that kind of draconian hold on healthcare was already denied by a majority of Kentuckians who defeated a proposed Constitutional amendment on abortion last year.

For that view, you would have to turn to another candidate, Somerset Mayor Alan Keck, who has impressed us with his clear, logical and more moderate views on issues such the need for abortion exceptions and to support, not attack, our public educators. He is a bright light in the Kentucky Republican Party and we look forward to his future success as he becomes better known across the state.

We wish we could say the same of the other front runners in the race, both of whom declined to meet with the editorial board. Attorney General Daniel Cameron shows a certain political dexterity in being the protege of both Sen. Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump, despite their enmity for one another. But aside from trumpets of “law and order,” and anti-LGBTQ snipes he seems to have little depth to his positions.

Kelly Craft is trying to prove that statewide elections can indeed be bought by the highest bidder, having so far spent millions on unscrupulous and deeply silly TV ads. She has doubled down on the chimera of coal production without acknowledging that more coal means more revenue for her husband, magnate Joe Craft. Her positions on closing Kentucky’s borders, fighting China and firing Education Commissioner Jason Glass make it clear that she (or her highly paid campaign consultants) either have no understanding of a governor’s job or cynically assume that Kentucky’s voters are too dumb to understand what’s behind the curtain.

Quarles has more respect for his constituents. He stayed above the fray and out of negative advertising against his primary opponents, which is both the right thing to do and a canny political play. He is running what he calls a grassroots campaign, which is reflected in endorsements from more than 200 local officials.

Quarles is the best choice in the current field to be the Republican nominee for governor.

The Democratic primary

The incumbent in any race starts out with a huge advantage in fundraising and name recognition, and Andy Beshear is no exception. But more than those things, it is the experiences of his first term that make Beshear the best choice in the Democratic primary.

Few politicians anywhere have been tested as he has. Just a few months into his first term. COVID struck. As we emerged from that, Western Kentucky was blown away by devastating tornadoes; a year after that, people lost lives and livelihoods in the Eastern Kentucky floods. Then just a few weeks ago, he had to call a mentor’s wife to tell her that her husband had been killed in a mass shooting in Louisville.

Through all of these, Beshear has been a warm and comforting presence on TV and in person. He has not been afraid to show his own tears. He has learned on the job about death and destruction and utter loss. He has dropped the politician’s persona to hold Kentuckians in literal hugs and a larger embrace of warmth and security. When he said a somewhat kitschy phrase: “We will get through this together,” people could believe that he meant it. And we did.

When not navigating some of the worst disasters in this state’s history, Beshear helped bring a major automotive battery plant, along with thousands of other jobs throughout the state. His steady leadership, his support for public education and the needs of Kentucky’s most vulnerable provide an important counterweight against the GOP supermajority of the General Assembly.

It’s easy for his opponents to say they would have done better during COVID. He was the leader of a state facing a completely unknown horror that we had seen decimate entire populations in places like Italy and New York City. If he sometimes overreacted, it was to keep us safe.

With due respect to his primary opponents Peppy Martin and Geoff Young, it would be hard for anyone to argue they are a better candidate than Beshear. He is the clear choice to run again for a second term.