Governor candidates face off in The Kentucky Debate

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - The Kentucky Debate was held Tuesday night in the WKYT studio.

Democratic incumbent Governor Andy Beshear went head-to-head with Republican opponent Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

In the final debate before voters head to the polls, Incumbent Democratic Candidate Andy Beshear and Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron debated key issues like Kentucky’s economy, education and abortion.

Governor Andy Beshear started off the debate touting economic advancements in the state.

“We are coming off our two best years of economic development in our history. This administration set a record $27.5 billion invested in us, invested in Kentucky,” Beshear said.

When asked about the state income tax, Beshear said he would not totally eliminate it. Cameron continued to promise to do just that, saying he believes it’s necessary to battle rising costs.

“Inflation is rocking your wallet, and it’s killing your savings. It’s more expensive to buy groceries, gas, more expensive to buy everything,” Cameron said.

The two again went back and forth on their plans for education. Beshear says he wants to invest in the public education system by giving an 11% raise to school employees across the board.

“My opponent supports vouchers, which would take money from public schools and send them to fancy private schools. Tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars sucked out of a system that already has such challenges,” Beshear said.

When repeatedly asked, Cameron would not say whether he supports school vouchers. He instead described a 16-week after-school and summer school program to address gaps in education.

“You’re going to hear the Governor in his rebuttal talk more about vouchers, but you, the parent, should know that with the ‘Cameron Catch-Up Plan,’ we’re going to catch your kids up on disastrous decision that Andy Beshear made to shut down our schools for nearly two years,” Cameron said.

Another question repeatedly asked Tuesday night and throughout this race is whether each candidate would support an abortion ban that includes no exceptions to rape or incest.

“No child should ever have to carry the child or her rapist,” Beshear said.

“I’ve said repeatedly that if those exceptions were brought to my desk, I would sign them immediately,” Cameron said.

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