Gov. Andy Beshear: It’s ‘OK with me’ if I don’t hold another elected office

Just a week into his second term as Kentucky governor, Andy Beshear says only one political job matters to him: The one he now has.

Since winning re-election over Republican challenger Attorney General Daniel Cameron last month by 5 percentage points, Beshear has generated significant buzz in national political circles, both as a potential candidate for future office and the architect of a victorious election strategy that could be replicated elsewhere, including the race for the White House.

“It’s OK with me if this is my last political job,” the 46-year-old Beshear said Tuesday in an end-of-the-year interview with the Herald-Leader.

“I’m at peace with that, if that’s what it’s going to be. I just want to do my very best each and every day. Being governor is an incredible job. I love being governor because I love this state. My only plans right now are to do the very best I can for our people and to try to finish raising my kids the best I can.”

The Hill, a Washington, D.C.-based news and politics site, has declared Beshear’s “profile has skyrocketed nationally,” and Vanity Fair has reported President Joe Biden’s campaign team is “intrigued” by the governor’s winning strategy in the GOP stronghold of Kentucky. It’s a campaign blueprint that “can be replicated nationally in 2024,” the magazine reported.

On Tuesday, Beshear did say he believes his win can be a road map for “anybody who not only wants to get elected, but wants to get things done.”

“People don’t wake up in the morning and think about Democrat or Republican, or Trump or Biden,” he said. “They think about their job and the salary that they make. The roads that they’re driving. The school that they’re dropping their kids off. On their safety. And if we can focus on those things, they’re not red or blue.

“There’s an opportunity to truly show people that you care about them, about their biggest concerns and moving forward.”

Prior to his Nov. 7 victory, Beshear had committed to serving the full term. That would rule out a run for U.S. Senate in 2026 when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s term runs out.

Beshear reiterated that promise Tuesday, saying he doesn’t know what comes next for him as a politician.

“I’ll have two kids in college or going to college, and that will be one of my priorities, to make sure we can send them where they want to go,” he said.

“Being governor is really special, and everybody always thinks, ‘What’s next? What’s next?’ This is an incredible job, and it’s one where you can do so much, so I don’t have any future political plans.

“I did this job because I thought that I could help, and I thought we needed a change from the example that was set by my predecessor,” Beshear said of Matt Bevin, the controversial Republican governor Beshear defeated in 2019.

Beshear said he will look for opportunities to help in races elsewhere, like in North Carolina where Democratic Attorney General John Stein is running for governor in 2024. Stein and Beshear were attorneys general of their states at the same time, as Beshear was Kentucky’s attorney general prior to becoming governor.

“If I can help individuals like that, then good. That helps the people of North Carolina,” Beshear said. “But most all, my attention is right here.”

Kentucky’s ‘dramatically different’ reputation

Compared to where it stood four years ago, Beshear sees the perception of Kentucky transforming on the national stage. It’s now one of “an economic up-and-comer, or an economic leader.”

Beshear cites economic development projects, such as the BlueOval SK battery park in Glendale and Nucor Steel mill in Brandenburg, as some of the “exciting things” driving that image.

“Right now, we’re one of the first places that businesses look, especially in emerging industries,” Beshear said.

Beshear, who has routinely drawn the ire of legislators in the Republican-controlled House and Senate, insists there’s enough credit to go around.

“It certainly starts with an economy that is booming, with us winning some of the biggest projects, well, in the history of the United States, and then us being able to do big things as a state,” he said.

Kentucky is no longer a “flyover state” that can be ignored, the governor insisted.

“We’re going to be the destination, and it’s pretty exciting,” he said.

“This is where I’m from. This is where I grew up. I love Kentucky, and to see the rest of the country talking about us in such a positive way, it makes me proud, not just as a governor, but as a Kentuckian. It also makes it more likely that my kids, and other people’s kids, choose to call this home in the future.”

But Beshear also cautioned that good business policy relates to more than just the tax code.

“I believe if you want to be a business friendly state, you have to be welcoming and accepting,” he said.

“If we are going to claim that we’re business friendly, it’s not just tax policy. It’s how we present ourselves to a CEO that might be a member of the LGBTQ+ community.”

Following the 2023 legislative session, national LGBTQ groups deemed Kentucky’s Senate Bill 150 among the “worst” and most “extreme” anti-transgender bills in the country. Heading into the 2024 General Assembly, some lawmakers have indicated their opposition to diversity and inclusion initiatives on college campuses — a hugely controversial target of laws in other states, like Florida.

“When we look at all those pieces of legislation, we absolutely have to look at what type of economic impact that they could have,” Beshear said. “Also, I’d like for us to be more of a leader in terms of kindness. You don’t have to agree with someone to be kind to them, to be empathetic, to say, ‘This piece of legislation is going to hurt people.’

“Whether or not, again, you agree or disagree, knowing that somebody else is going to feel pain because of something you pass, that’s something we ought to taken in consideration.

“I believe that we’re not supposed to do mean things.”