Beshear and Cameron spar over COVID-19 effects on education in Kentucky

The latest governor’s debate between Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) and Republican nominee Daniel Cameron sparked heated exchanges over key issues such as the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on education.

With only two weeks until Kentucky’s gubernatorial election, Beshear and Cameron faced off for the third time on Monday evening for a wide-ranging debate after months of releasing dueling campaign ads and attacks.

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Debating in Lexington, fiery exchanges occurred over questions of COVID-19 restrictions and abortions, two concerns that remain among voters’ top priorities. Beshear defended implementing sweeping restrictions during the pandemic, which included mask mandates, capacity restrictions, and certain work requirements, all of which ended more than two years ago.

“I showed people during the pandemic I was willing to make the hard decisions, even if it cost me,” Beshear said when asked if he regrets his COVID-19 restrictions. “I put politics out the window, and I made the best decisions I could to save as many lives as possible.”

Cameron pushed back against Beshear defending his decision to shut down schools because it was the best and safest option at the time, arguing he would have lifted restrictions on schools and businesses sooner to prevent learning loss.

“I was the first governor in the country to prioritize teachers for vaccines,” Beshear said. “This attorney general is saying he would have sent teachers into classrooms, poorly ventilated, old buildings, before they could get even the option to get a vaccine.”

“Wait a minute, you were for shutting our schools down for two years. Did you shut our schools down for two years?” Cameron said. “Do we have learning loss because of those shutdowns?”

When asked about learning loss strategy and how education in Kentucky will recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, Beshear pointed to his billion-dollar plan to implement an 11% pay raise for all Kentucky school personnel, which would need approval from the legislature.

Cameron discussed his proposal released in August, called the Catch-Up Plan, which aims to reverse COVID-19-related learning loss through initiatives such as a 16-week program taught by teachers in the summer and after school. Cameron’s plan also proposes an increase for teachers’ starting pay to $41,500.

Other heated exchanges came after questions about the state’s abortion ban, with each candidate accusing the other of having extreme positions on abortion policy.

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Cameron was questioned about his stance on legal abortions in Kentucky in cases of rape or incest. He avoided the question of if he would push to include those exceptions personally, saying he would sign a bill that adds those expectations if the Kentucky legislature voted through new legislation. Cameron called himself Planned Parenthood’s “worst nightmare.”

“Andy Beshear is a pro-abortion candidate. He wants more abortions and wants you, the taxpayer, to pay for it again,” Cameron said. “Planned Parenthood is running so hard against me because I am their worst nightmare. I am the type of person that Margaret Sanger, the person who founded Planned Parenthood, said didn’t deserve to live.”