From a Republican to Republicans: Say no to Matt Bevin’s second run for Ky governor

Matt Bevin was a failed governor, a failed candidate, and will never be governor again. All he can do is play spoiler for Republicans, and help reelect an even worse governor, Andy Beshear.

Republicans should consider that as a cautionary note. A crowded primary field increases the likelihood of Bevin being the nominee, which increases the likelihood of Andy Beshear serving a second term.

The fundamental failures of Bevin’s 2019 campaign began the moment he won the election in 2015. He never built a political operation, he abandoned his governing philosophy, surrounded himself by unqualified people and he betrayed key elements of the base that elected him in the first place.

He didn’t establish a supportive political entity, he didn’t retire his debt from 2015, and he never really gained any operational control of the state and local Republican Party organizations.

Bevin’s failures as governor on the issues began with Braidy industries, they continued with the Kentucky One/Jewish Hospital debacle, and they ended with his temper tantrum pardons on the way out the door.

When Bevin finished a primary as an incumbent governor with an embarrassing 52% against a lackluster primary candidate, he later described his opponent as, “a name so easily forgotten…”. The reality was, Bevin was extremely vulnerable, didn’t recognize his vulnerability, and did nothing to address it. He had created his own vulnerability but was still in a position to correct course. Instead, the reality was a serious primary challenger would have won a race against Bevin easily. What was lost in that moment is that Matt Bevin was an extremely weak incumbent and was facing the defeat that he later suffered. Matt Bevin became “a name so easily forgotten”.

During the 2015 campaign Jack Conway was ecstatic when Bevin won the primary because he believed Bevin to be the weakest adversary. He was proven wrong. Not only was Bevin running a strong campaign, Bevin’s message, message discipline, appeal on the issues and to Kentuckians was strong.

Fast forward to 2019, Bevin and his team were excited to face Andy Beshear. They took the race for granted and the result speaks for itself.

One of the most important things to remember about Matt Bevin’s time in office is his treatment of his own Lieutenant Governor. For starters, Matt was turned down by more than five people when he sought a running mate in 2015. But he was blessed with the best running mate he could have. Jenean Hampton served Bevin and Kentucky well, and she was a great and loyal Lieutenant Governor. Matt decided he wanted to replace her and never articulated or had a reason why. He started looking for a replacement amongst the swamp of people who would not return his phone calls when he was a failed senate candidate looking to run. He also lacked the courage to tell her that. It delayed the start of his reelection campaign, delayed the start of fundraising, and was one of the many fatal wounds to his reelection campaign. One of his many self-inflicted wounds.

Key to this part of the story is the extreme level of dishonesty Bevin displayed. He made the decision to replace Hampton on the ticket at the same time he was telling people, including her, that he hadn’t. And culture drives culture. Matt Bevin’s dishonesty served as a model to those around him that dishonesty on that level was somehow acceptable.

He treated her office and staff with an equal amount of dishonesty and disrespect. He allowed staff to be terminated, then pretended that he had no idea it was going on. He knew. He asked for it. He approved it.

Bevin treated many people this dishonestly and this unfairly, both as a candidate and as governor. It is why he should not be a credible candidate for governor ever again.

On election night 2019, I was in Matt Bevin’s war room. His political team wasn’t, his close advisors weren’t, and he was helplessly uniformed. The night before, when then President Trump arrived to try and bail Matt out of an apparent loss, Matt told the President he “was up by ten points”. The saddest part of that statement is Matt actually believed it. Whether he was lied to by his team about the reality on the ground or whether he was just that naïve (the more likely scenario), he was that hopelessly uninformed.

That was why President Trump called Matt Bevin a “pain in the ass” that night. On the eve of his loss, his President called him a “pain in the ass”. Mr. President, I understand and I agree.

Andy Beshear didn’t win in 2019. Matt Bevin lost. The worst performing down ticket candidate on the Republican side won by more than sixty thousand votes. If Matt Bevin can somehow capture the Republican nomination for governor in 2023, Andy Beshear can celebrate on primary night because he will have secured his second term.

Ben Hartman is a partner for political consulting at PG Targeting, and served as campaign manager and chief strategist for Matt Bevin’s successful campaign for governor in 2015. He did not work for Bevin in 2014 or 2019 and is not currently retained by any candidate or potential candidate in the upcoming KY Governor’s race.

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