U.S. Sen. Rand Paul joined GOP gubernatorial nominee Daniel Cameron at a campaign event in Louisville, whipping up supporters over incumbent Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s COVID-era policies and public safety issues.
Cameron has touted his numerous legal battles against Beshear’s pandemic response, especially his defense of a GOP-sponsored law that clipped the governor’s emergency powers during the height of the pandemic.
Paul and Cameron held several events across Kentucky Friday, attempting to drum up support for the Republican ticket a little more than two weeks before Election Day.
Paul said Cameron led the charge against Beshear’s use of emergency powers during the pandemic.
“The head of the attorney general's office [was] fighting our cases, winning, overturning these at every turn, making sure that these [policies] were declared unconstitutional,” he said.
Paul is one of the top COVID-19 policy critics in the country. He opposed masking, vaccine and testing requirements, calling them “unscientific.” He also told people who had already been infected with COVID to not take the vaccine, in stark contradiction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advice.
This is not the first time the libertarian-leaning Republican has backed Cameron during this year’s race. Protect Freedom, a super PAC associated with Paul, has spent $146,000 on advertisements supporting Cameron this week, according to ad tracking firm Medium Buying. That’s the same amount the Cameron campaign spent on TV and radio ads this week.
In one ad Paul looks into the camera as he talks about Beshear’s vetoes of anti-trans legislation, including this year’s bill banning gender affirming medical care for trans minors and last year’s measure banning transgender girls from girls sports.
Paul’s wife Kelley Paul joined Makenze Cameron at a Moms for Cameron event in Bowling Green earlier this year, characterizing Beshear as a “drunk-with-power tyrant.”
During the Louisville event, Cameront touted his endorsement from the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we need to stand up for our law enforcement. And we don't need to defund the police. We need to defend the police,” Cameron said.
Bluegrass Freedom Action, one of the major PACs supporting Cameron’s bid, released a GOP-sponsored poll showing Beshear leading Cameron by two percentage points – much closer than recent polls suggest. But 8% of the 1,845 likely voters polled are still undecided.
A poll from earlier this month showed Beshear witha 16 point lead over his opponent. Several other polls over the last few months have also shown Beshear leading with a significant margin.
Cameron said the new poll shows he’s within striking distance of Beshear.
“If you all work hard and call your neighbors, walk neighborhoods, make phone calls, knock doors — if you all do those things, we are going to win this race in a landslide,” he said.
Beshear’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the event and the new poll.
