Ohio and Cincinnati face some tough calls in their elections, but Kentuckians have at least one easy choice on their ballot. While Democratic candidate Jack Conway has had a somewhat sleepy campaign in many regards, he hasn’t made any missteps major enough to make Republican contender Matt Bevin look any less extreme or any more capable of actually governing. Coming from the same well of tea-party ire that has currently ground the nation’s House of Representatives to a halt, Bevin represents a nearly-nihilistic anti-government approach to conservativism.
Meanwhile, as Kentucky attorney general, Conway has experience to suggest he would lead the Bluegrass State well. He has spearheaded efforts to fight the heroin epidemic in the state and has shown that he understands it is a public health crisis as much as a law enforcement one. He’s directed millions toward treatment efforts that we feel represent the right approach to one of this region’s biggest and grimmest problems.
Conway has also shown integrity. As Kentucky’s attorney general, he refused to waste state taxpayers’ money fighting an unwinnable and morally untenable battle against same-sex marriage. If only Ohio was lucky enough to have an AG who didn’t bow to political pressure from a few hardliners desperate to resist the forward march of progress when it comes to gay rights.
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While Conway took what may have been a controversial stand on that issue, he’s been very collaborative in reaching across the aisle and across the river on many other more vexing problems, from finding a way to replace the aging Brent Spence Bridge to shoring Kentucky’s ailing state pension system. In an age of combative gridlock, Conway’s experience suggests he’s at least capable of working to find common ground.
While Conway has a proven track record navigating state politics, Bevin has touted only the fact that he owns businesses as proof that he’s qualified for office. He’s also proven divisive, not unifying, even among members of his own party. At least 24 prominent Kentucky Republican donors and activists have even endorsed Conway over Bevin, an embarrassing situation for any Republican gubernatorial nominee. Bevin also supports positions we believe are well outside the mainstream, including arming school teachers and drug testing Kentuckians on public assistance.
And yet, for all his far-right vitriol, Bevin’s been hard to pin down on some of his proposals. He says he would roll back Kentucky’s Medicaid expansion, which would cost thousands of Kentuckians their health care. Except when he says he wouldn’t actually do that and would work with the federal government to improve Kentucky’s system. Bevin has also said he believes those on Medicaid have worse health outcomes than people without any insurance at all, despite refusing to name the data he says proves this.
Conway lacks Bevin’s flash and thunder, but more than makes up for it with common-sense proposals and a track record of bipartisan efforts to help solve some of the state’s big problems. He may not have every solution to those problems, but at least he’s taking them seriously.
This article appears in Oct 28 – Nov 3, 2015.