'Disgusting': Beshear strategist says Republicans 'should be ashamed and embarrassed' by KY loss

Eric Hyers – who managed Kentucky Democratic Governor Andy Beshear's successful 2019 and 2023 campaigns — had harsh words for Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron following Tuesday's gubernatorial election.

"I think Daniel Cameron should be ashamed and embarrassed by the race he ran and so should his team," Hyers said of Beshear's Republican opponent in an interview with the Lexington Herald-Leader. "It was gross, disgusting, and just very, very craven, and I’m glad they lost and it wasn’t that close. They deserve to be embarrassed. They deserve to be made an example of of how you lose with a Republican in a red state."

Hyers pointed to Cameron's attacks on transgender students, and ads Cameron ran suggesting Beshear favored gender reassignment surgery for teens, as examples of key mistakes the campaign was able to capitalize on.

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"I think it was a massive error, they did it poorly and it’s good they overshot in the way they did it," Hyers said. "We learned this: you can’t make someone believe something about someone that is clearly false."

Similar to Ohio, abortion played a key role in Beshear's reelection, and Hyers — who also managed the gubernatorial campaigns of former governors Steve Bullock (D-Montana) and Gina Raimondo (D-Rhode Island) — said Cameron's biggest weakness was his "no exceptions" stance on abortion, even in the cases of rape and incest. Hadley Duvall, who was sexually assaulted by her stepfather at age 12, agreed to tell her story for an ad attacking Cameron for his hard-line stance on abortion. Hyers said that ad was a "critical turning point" for the Beshear campaign.

"This is to you, Daniel Cameron," Duvall said in the ad. "To tell a 12-year-old girl she must have the baby of her stepfather who raped her is unthinkable. I’m speaking out because women and girls need to have options. Daniel Cameron would give us none."

"There were not many dry eyes in the room," Hyers said of the day Duvall told her story.

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Ultimately, Hyers said the "secret sauce" for Democrats hoping to win campaigns in red states lies in both telling and showing constituents how a candidate would positively impact their lives.

"Democrats can win tough states when they do a good job in the office and they show people they give a hoot about them,” Hyers said. "They have to communicate why they’re doing what they’re doing and make it clear they make decisions based on what’s right for the place and not just politically."

“Hopefully other Democrats will look at this race, and see how it was done, and be able to do that elsewhere," he added.