One of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s strengths in the race to become Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate is that he could appeal to centrist voters as a Democrat who won re-election in a state that Donald Trump carried by more than 20 percentage points in 2020.
Beshear won his campaign last year, in part, by leaning into his support for abortion rights in a state where the procedure is almost entirely banned. Yet for some reproductive rights advocates in Kentucky, Beshear has not done enough on an issue that is critical for the party nationally — which could factor into his chances of joining the presidential ticket.
“The low bar here doesn’t help him,” said Savannah Trebuna, the abortion fund director at Kentucky Health Justice Network, a Louisville-based reproductive rights organization, referring to the expectations for a Democratic governor in a red state.
“Yes, he’s doing better than a conservative would, and I’m thankful for that,” she continued. “But I worry about how that record will look on a national stage.”
Abortion was perhaps the top issue propelling Democrats to a better-than-expected showing in the 2022 and 2023 elections, and it’s expected to be a major factor again in November. It’s one of Harris’ signature issues, as well. With a president who was not naturally comfortable talking about abortion, Harris has been the public face for the White House in advocating for expanded access.
Beshear’s less clear-cut record, especially from the years before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, already appears to be a topic of discussion in Democratic and reproductive rights circles as he gets vetted as a potential vice presidential nominee.
Critics point to Beshear’s choice of a self-described “personally pro-life” Democrat, Jacqueline Coleman, to be his lieutenant governor; his focus on rare exceptions when he talks about abortion; and the fact that his administration has avoided working closely with reproductive rights groups in the state.
During his first campaign for governor in 2019, Beshear’s allies clashed behind the scenes with reproductive rights groups over what message to run in ads, with Beshear’s team wanting to focus less on abortion and more on his unpopular Republican incumbent opponent, according to a source involved in the effort.
“He’s no hero, especially among reproductive rights organizations,” said an activist on the issue who requested anonymity to speak candidly.
The question is whether Beshear’s approach would be a liability for the ticket by muddling Democrats’ message or a benefit by having a governor who has won on the issue in a red state.
A longtime Democratic operative familiar with the concerns of several reproductive rights groups said some of Beshear’s views and public stances on abortion are viewed negatively and could hurt his chances of being chosen as Harris’ running mate. The operative said some in the reproductive rights community view Beshear as a “B-minus” on abortion issues.
“I don’t think it’s like, ‘Oh, my gosh, Andy Beshear is an anti-abortion Democrat,’” the person said. “He’s definitely pro-choice. … He’s just not the best of all those candidates.”
Eric Hyers, a political strategist for Beshear, said that he “is pro-choice and believes this is a decision that should be between a woman and her doctor” and that he “has governed as a pro-choice governor.” Hyers added that both Beshear and Coleman supported Roe v. Wade when it was the federal precedent and back codifying it into federal law.
In response to a request for comment about Beshear’s abortion record, Harris campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz shared a statement he released last week saying that the search for a running mate “has begun in earnest” and that campaign figures officials “do not expect to have additional updates” until the announcement is made.
Another Harris campaign official said she is “choosing her running mate based on similar qualities to those that President Biden believed were important when he chose her four years ago, a choice the president calls ‘the best decision he has ever made.’”
The official said Harris is looking for someone with “shared values of fighting for the middle class, protecting democracy and freedoms, treating people with respect and dignity and creating an America where everybody gets a fair shot.” The person also said Harris is looking for a “governing partner who has the experience to step into the job and be effective on day one.”
Harris is considering “about a dozen” vice presidential candidates, according to two people familiar with the process. They include Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Mark Kelly, of Arizona. And, like Beshear, their records are facing more scrutiny. Kelly recently came out in favor of a pro-union bill that he had previously expressed concerns about, and Shapiro’s support for school vouchers and pro-Israel stances have been getting an extra look.
After a campaign event in Georgia on Sunday, Beshear directly addressed criticisms that he had not done enough on abortion.
“I’m the first Democrat in Kentucky that has ever run an abortion ad during an election,” he told reporters. “I’ve vetoed five separate anti-choice bills. I’ve stood up every single time, knowing that it would be one of the No. 1 attacks on me.”
Allies of Beshear pointed out that he vetoed four anti-abortion bills before Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. One bill imposed a 15-week abortion ban with no exceptions for rape and incest ( it was enacted after Republicans’ supermajority in the Legislature overrode the veto). Two more bills from 2021 allowed Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron to penalize abortion facilities and stripped the governor of power to suspend laws related to abortion. The Republican supermajority overrode both of Beshear’s vetoes.
His allies also highlighted a Beshear campaign ad that got national attention, featuring a Kentucky woman — Hadley Duvall — who said she became pregnant after her stepfather raped her when she was 12. A Beshear-championed bill named after her, which would have carved out exceptions in current Kentucky law for rape and incest, failed during this year’s legislative session.
Beshear won a “very tough re-election campaign” last year “with abortion access and communicating about abortion access being a major focal point,” said Meghan Meehan-Draper, executive director of the Democratic Governors Association. “He spent millions of dollars on ads talking about reproductive freedom and fundamental freedom. I’d say that is the definition of running on offense” on the issue.
Democratic state Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, who has fought for reproductive rights in the Legislature, said she felt Beshear “has always governed in a way that is pro-choice — and I know he’s gotten a lot of political pushback for that — but I’ve always felt like he has had our back on this issue.”
She pointed to his vetoes, as well as his maneuvering — during his time as attorney general and in his first months as governor — to grant a Louisville Planned Parenthood clinic a license to provide abortion care in the state (the clinic became only the second one to provide abortion care in the state at that time).
Kentucky’s GOP-controlled Legislature passed a so-called trigger ban on abortion in 2019 — the year Beshear ousted Republican Matt Bevin as governor — prohibiting the procedure in every situation except when a doctor has deemed a woman’s life to be at risk. That law snapped into full effect after Roe was overturned in 2022.
In November 2022, Kentucky voters rejected an anti-abortion-rights ballot measure that would have amended the state constitution to explicitly say it does not protect a right to abortion.
Noam Lee, former executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, pushed back against criticisms that Beshear was weak on abortion rights.
“That is bull—-,” Lee said. “He ran a campaign centered on reproductive rights in 2023.”
Beshear has been outspoken in his support for abortion rights, but he often focuses on the more extreme situations and exceptions, framing it around the need to protect victims of rape and incest and women whose health is at risk.
“My opponent’s position would give a rapist more rights than their victim. … It is wrong. We need to change this law. We need to make sure that those individuals have that option,” he said at a debate in October.
In May, Beshear lambasted a new sweeping abortion ban in Tennessee, telling The Associated Press, “Like Kentucky, Tennessee has some of the most extreme laws in the country, where victims of rape and incest don’t have the necessary options.”
The state reproductive rights activist critical of Beshear said: “He only ever talks about abortion through the lens of exceptions for rape and incest. He’s just focused on exceptions and not [broader reproductive] care.”
The person added that Beshear would “100%” be a liability on a national ticket seeking to advance broader reproductive freedoms.
But former Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., said that Beshear’s stance on abortion should be seen against its red-state backdrop and that it wouldn’t hurt Harris.
“I think everybody’s looking for the perfect candidate. There is no such thing,” Yarmuth said. “Voters who are persuadable at this point are not issue voters. If you’re an issue voter, you’ve already made up your mind. They’re more visceral voters, and that’s why I think Andy’s got a great strength — because he reeks of empathy.”
Another concern about picking Beshear is that if he is ultimately elected vice president, his lieutenant governor, Coleman, would take over as governor.
She gives reproductive rights advocates pause because in 2014, she described herself as “ a pro-life compassionate Democrat.” When Beshear chose her to be his running mate in 2019, her spokesperson said she was “personally pro-life” but “does not believe politicians should impose their views on others, which is why she supports each individual woman’s constitutional right to make her own reproductive and health care decisions.”
While some other reproductive rights advocates in the state were more forgiving of the tough political landscape Beshear has to navigate in socially conservative Kentucky, they agreed that, when it came to the national ticket, they would prefer someone with a far more substantive record on the pivotal issue of abortion.
Trebuna, of the Kentucky Health Justice Network, said Beshear had largely pushed a “milquetoast and broad” message of reproductive rights and choice.
“And to me, that just signals it would be more of the same” from a national ticket with Beshear, she added.
But another reproductive rights advocate said thought Beshear’s position was less important because any running mate would have to adopt Harris’ approach.
“I’m totally at ease with VP Harris’ position and her agenda,” said the advocate, who was not authorized to discuss the vice presidential speculation on the record, “and I believe that any vice president will take on her agenda.”
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