A Republican state senator has broken with his party and thrown his support behind Kentucky’s Democratic candidate for governor.
In a Monday Twitter post, Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear announced that Republican state Sen. Dan Seum had endorsed him over current Republican Gov. Matt Bevin. Bevin is considered one of the least popular governors in the country.
Seum, 79, said in the video that the endorsement was “not about partisan politics” and went on to mention changes in the state’s pension system made by the Republican-controlled legislature last year that drew rebuke from the state teachers union. Several schools were closed last year when teachers went on strike.
“Today, I’m here to endorse Andy Beshear for governor.” – State Sen. Dan Seum, Republican. #KYgov pic.twitter.com/dMZJJaZdc6
— Andy Beshear (@AndyBeshearKY) July 29, 2019
“This is about who is going to lead this state in the next four years,” Seum said. “Today, we have a governor who has failed miserably in the pension issue and has spent the last year running around the state insulting everyone, including the four teachers in my family.”
“This race isn’t Right versus Left, it’s about right versus wrong,” Beshear said in the video of the two men standing side-by-side.
Davis Payne, Bevin’s campaign manager, went after Seum’s endorsement in a Monday statement to The Hill.
“If Senator Seum wants to support sanctuary cities and abortion up until the moment of birth, that’s his decision to make,” Payne said. “Governor Bevin has been endorsed by President Trump, the NRA, and Kentucky Right to Life.”
Beshear, the son of former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, is well connected and well known in Kentucky state politics. The elder Beshear served as the Democratic governor from 2007 to 2015, before being replaced by Bevin.
