Bevin teases possible Kentucky gubernatorial bid but leaves Capitol without filing

Former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin took filing deadline drama to new heights Friday.

Bevin, a Republican who lost his seat to current Gov. Andy Beshear in 2019 but had been rumored to file again, took to social media early in the morning to tease an announcement. He posted a tweet on his personal account for the first since September, saying, “A beautiful day dawning,” with an image of the sun rising.

Then, just before 1 p.m. ET, he tweeted he would hold a 2:45 p.m. press conference in the Capitol rotunda in Frankfort “before proceeding down the hall.”

Many interpreted that as him filing paperwork with the Secretary of State’s office to run for his old office before the 4 p.m. deadline for this year’s state elections. Instead, he gave a monologue for more than 20 minutes about issues he said plagued the state.

He railed on Jefferson County Public Schools for failing to educate the children in the state’s largest school system. He called for a new highway in Northern Kentucky to spur more development in the state’s Cincinnati suburbs. He called for a simpler vehicle registration tax and applauded the push toward no income tax – although on the latter issue, he said that would also require increasing consumption-based taxes.

“Good things are happening now, but there’s so much more that needs to be done,” Bevin said.

But he never said he was running. Instead, he exited the rotunda to his right, walked out the main entrance of the Capitol and, as the Lexington Herald Leader reported, rode away in a van.

Bevin has been a controversial political figure in the state, even among other Republicans. He issued hundreds of pardons in the weeks after he lost his re-election bid. Several of those were controversial, including one for a man convicted of reckless homicide. That person’s brother had hosted a campaign fundraiser for Bevin.

The former governor’s speech drew a crowd of media from across the state, some of whom had been camped out at Secretary of State Michael Adams' office for any last-minute filers. His impromptu press conference even attracted several political consultants and former politicians, including former Secretary of State Trey Grayson, who strolled into the rotunda behind the press gaggle with a bag of popcorn.

“I thought I’d bring a meme to life,” Grayson said.

And when 4 p.m. came, the former governor had not returned.

Instead, there were 12 Republicans whose names will appear on the ballot for the May 16 primary. That includes Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, former U.S. United Nations Ambassador Kelly Craft, Auditor Mike Harmon and Somerset Mayor Alan Keck. Other GOP candidates include Jacob Clark, David O. Cooper, Eric Deters, Bob DeVore, Dennis Ray Ormerod, Johnny Ray Rice and Robbie C. Smith.

Beshear drew two challengers for the Democratic primary on the same date. They are Geoff Young, who lost to incumbent U.S. Rep. Andy Barr in November for the state’s sixth congressional district seat, and Peppy Martin, who ran for governor in 1999 as a Republican and lost to then-Gov. Paul Patton.

The 2023 ballot will also feature candidates for Secretary of State, Agriculture Commissioner, Attorney General, Auditor and Treasurer. Democrats and Republicans running for those races also needed to file by 4 p.m. Friday.

Technically, Bevin could still run. The deadline for independent candidates to file for the governor’s race is April 3.