Op-Ed: Andy Beshear is the Best Governor in Modern Kentucky History

     A recent poll found Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat in the deep red state of Kentucky, had a 63 percent approval rating and a 10-point lead over his Republican challenger. Undoubtedly, his approval rating and his lead will shrink once the attack ads start and the race grows closer as November approaches. However, that his approval rating is so high is miraculous given the divisive party politics of today. So, how does he do it? Beshear has been called upon to heal the state of Kentucky time and time again, from COVID-19 to the tornadoes of 2021 and the floods of 2022 to the mass shooting in Louisville and the murder of Breonna Taylor and fallout that continues to this day. 

     However, in my view, it's more than that that is responsible for his bipartisan approval. He has been not only reacting to crises, but, in spite of a GOP-dominated legislature that has overridden all of his vetoes, working to actively move Kentucky in the right direction.

     For several years, Kentucky has broken the record for its highest budget surplus: this year, it was $1.55 billion, compared to $1.4 billion last year. The majority of these surpluses has been put into the state's Rainy Day Fund, which is now a record $3.7 billion. At the same time, Beshear is creating jobs. Kentucky has the lowest unemployment in state history, at one point dipping to 3.6 percent. Since then, it has remained on par with the national average (something unheard of in a state usually evoking images of abandoned coal towns and shacks in mountains), giving Kentucky its longest stretch with the lowest unemployment in state history.

     Unemployment rates and budget surpluses may seem to be just numbers, but jobs have tangible impacts on the lives of people who get them, providing security, dignity, and opportunity. Not only has Kentucky regained all of the jobs it lost during the pandemic, but it has added a record 60,000 new jobs on top of that, pushing Kentucky past two million total jobs for the first time in its history. These have included thousands of jobs in critical sectors like clean energy and manufacturing as well as signature industries like bourbon and totaled nearly $30 billion in investments since Beshear's administration began. For this, Kentucky was awarded the Golden Shovel Development Award.

     At the same time, Beshear secured two credit rating increases for Kentucky, the first such increases for the state in more than a decade. Meanwhile, wages are rising faster than the nationwide average, ensuring Kentucky workers are sharing in the prosperity. This economic news would be historic in its own right, but it's far from all that Andy Beshear has done to make Kentucky a better place to live.

     In 2022, Beshear announced, major crime and overdose deaths declined in Kentucky, a state plagued with both of these issues, for the first time in years. Recidivism rates dropped to the lowest level in state history as Beshear expanded education and treatment for incarcerated individuals. He signed first an executive order and then a law that legalized medical marijuana in the state. He legalized sports betting. With help from the federal government, he secured the largest investment in high-speed internet access in state history. Kentucky was ranked as having the cleanest drinking water in the country. As other states constricted voting rights, Kentucky passed a bipartisan law expanding them. He brought his signature efforts to protect children from sexual abuse to the governor's mansion. To top it all off, he became the gubernatorial co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission, helping to spread his vision to neighboring states. 

     Once considered a mockery of a state, Governor Andy Beshear is building a real future for Kentucky, one in which it is a major economic competitor and one that families want to call home, transforming the Bluegrass State from a straggler into a leader. So, why is Governor Andy Beshear so popular? The question answers itself: he is the best governor in modern Kentucky history. Kentuckians of all stripes would be wise to re-elect him.