How are Kentuckians going to remember Gov. Matt Bevin?
The outgoing administration is painting a portrait of a New England peasant, who after serving in the U.S. Army and becoming a wealthy investment capitalist, swooped into Frankfort to clean up corruption.
Bevin shattered economic development records, removed red tape, protected the unborn and fully funded the state pension system, spokeswoman Elizabeth Kuhn told me.
Beyond creating “unprecedented opportunities for Kentucky families,” she said we should note how he invested in the state’s long-neglected state parks and drew attention to “our most vulnerable” by making changes to the state foster care and adoption system.
“Over the coming years, the governor’s legacy will be self-evident as more Kentuckians take advantage of the opportunities created by his steadfast leadership,” Kuhn said.
Die-hard conservatives, such as retired Army Sgt. Dudley Walden, of Elizabethtown, agree. He told the governor via Twitter this week he was, “Gonna miss you leading our state!”
But now that he’s out of power, a lot of Republican legislators admit Bevin blew it, denying the GOP’s chance to have total control of state government.
“In the case of Gov. Bevin, he would not listen to those around him telling him he needed to be a little more humble and show some contrition over things he said,” said Rep. Jerry Miller, R-Louisville.
“Politics — just like life — is a relationships business,” he added. “And he was not good at that. He was not good at building relationships and that ultimately cost him.”
Cue Lt. Gov. Jenean Hampton, a tea party favorite with whom Bevin never made amends after dumping her from the ticket and firing her staffers. She wouldn’t even say if she supported her former friend at the ballot box when asked by the newspaper in Bardstown.
“I voted for the person I thought was best,” Hampton told the Kentucky Standard this week. “I’m not going to say right here. I did not vote Democrat. I can say that.”
Does that mean Libertarian candidate John Hicks? Probably.
GOP lawmakers are already writing off Bevin, saying they deserve more of the credit for conservative wins such as right-to-work legislation, charter schools and eliminating prevailing wage on construction projects.
Those legislators still grit their teeth at how Bevin resisted and insulted them when they lowered the state income tax and expanded the sales tax in 2018.
“The way many people are looking at it in our world is it’s such a damn shame that he had so much momentum from a policy standpoint,” Miller said. “It’s sad he’s not going to realize those policy benefits that he drove.”
Jefferson County Public Schools teacher Jessica Dueñas doesn’t think there is a major policy accomplishment Kentuckians will remember.
“I believe the Bevin legacy is going to be the poor and childish way in which he carried himself,” she said.
Dueñas, who is Kentucky’s 2019 Teacher of the Year, said Bevin put a final stamp on his time in office by making sketchy claims of voting “irregularities” for more than a week after losing the election.
“At least for public educators and the students who care for their teachers and vice versa, we’re going to remember him as the model of what not to be like when people disagree with you,” she said.
As Gov.-elect Andy Beshear’s transition team measures the drapes, fellow Democrats hope Bevin’s legacy will be their revival.
The governor’s bitter battle with public educators mobilized them in an unprecedented way for Beshear in urban centers and their outlying suburbs. But it also wounded the governor in exurb areas too.
In Oldham County, for instance, Bevin beat Beshear by about 1,400 votes. That’s considerably less than the roughly 6,400 margin he won by in 2015.
Beshear nearly doubled the Oldham turnout of Democrat Jack Conway, who ran against Bevin four years ago. The soon-to-be-governor received 12,115 votes compared to Conway’s 6,403.
Republican and Democratic consultants alike told me many voters in those areas lost their stomach for Bevin’s style, and may feel the same way about President Donald Trump, who was often compared to the governor.
“Coming out of 2019, we’ve expanded the map and we’ve got a narrative going into 2020,” said Marissa McNee, spokeswoman for the Kentucky Democratic Party. “We have a lot of Republican state representatives where Gov.-elect Beshear won their district, and that’s something they need to take seriously in 2020 when they’re up for reelection.”
Whether you believe in a state Democratic revival or nah, the immediate impact of Bevin’s loss appears to be a more cooperative tone in Frankfort as Beshear enters.
Just look at Republican state Rep. Jason Nemes, whose district spans across the Jefferson-Oldham border. He outlined in a series of tweets how the 2020 legislative session is a chance for bipartisan buy-in on issues such as medical marijuana, sports gaming, college affordability and diversifying the state’s energy options.
I didn’t vote for Beshear. I disagree with him often. But I’ve got his back. He’s my Governor and I’ll fight with him to improve our Commonwealth. Good luck, @AndyBeshearKY. As you said today, let’s get to work.
— Jason Nemes (@jmnemes) November 14, 2019
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Written by Phillip M. Bailey. Cross-posted from the
Courier-Journal via the Kentucky Press News Service.