Beshear, Cameron said a lot in final debates. Here's what they didn't want to talk about

Gov. Andy Beshear loves to speak about his work to build an "economy on fire" in Kentucky. And Daniel Cameron, Kentucky's attorney general, could talk all day about his relationship with the state's GOP-dominant legislature.

But recent debates have shown both men — Beshear, the incumbent Democrat, and Cameron, his Republican opponent in the upcoming gubernatorial election — would prefer to change the subject when certain topics come up.

And each candidate has relished the opportunity to push the other when those questions have been asked.

Both campaigns pushed out press releases in the hours after Monday's debate, highlighting questions their opponents had dodged. And they went at it again Tuesday in the final debate before the election.

Beshear's team hit Cameron on his stance on abortion exceptions and school vouchers, while Cameron's backers noted Beshear had been unclear on whether he has regrets about some of his decisions at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As Election Day approaches, here's a quick look at topics Beshear and Cameron have shown they'd rather avoid:

Abortion exceptions

Does Cameron support exceptions to Kentucky’s near-total abortion ban in cases of rape and incest?

Beshear hammered his Republican opponent over the issue during the debates Monday and Tuesday, noting Cameron had been asked that question several times over the course of several debates and had not offered a clear answer.

When asked Monday, Cameron twice said he would sign off in approval “if the legislature brings me those exceptions” but did not give a clear answer when directly asked whether he supports those exceptions as a personal conviction. Instead, he launched into a monologue that branded Beshear as the “pro-abortion candidate” and mentioned Planned Parenthood seven times in under a minute.

Cameron, who's long touted himself as "the pro-life candidate" in the race, has settled on his stance — that he would approve the exceptions if they were put forward by the legislature, which he repeated Tuesday — after some confusion earlier in his campaign.

He said he supports Kentucky's current abortion ban as it's written during the Republican primary earlier this year and has gone to court to successfully defend the law. But his stance shifted in September when he told WHAS radio he would sign legislation to provide exceptions for rape and incest if it were brought to him from the legislature.

On Monday, he also noted he'd opposed a bill earlier this year that would have let the state file criminal homicide charges against a person who had undergone an illegal abortion.

In that debate, Beshear reiterated that he believes rape and incest victims "deserve options," while adding he supports "reasonable restrictions on abortion, especially late-term abortions."

In Tuesday's debate, Beshear did not say at what specific point in a pregnancy abortion should be outlawed after repeated questioning from Cameron, saying he wanted to abide by standards "set by Roe v. Wade."

In an interview earlier this month with the Lexington Herald-Leader, Beshear said he supports abortion as an option up until fetal viability (about 24 weeks into a pregnancy).

Joe Biden, Donald Trump and the Jan. 6 insurrection

As he has with most political issues over the past several years, Donald Trump looms large over the upcoming election.

The former president and front-runner for the GOP's 2024 nomination backed Cameron early in the race, and the attorney general was sure to note Monday that he's "proud to be endorsed by President Trump."

But he pivoted when he was asked if he agrees with Sen. Mitch McConnell's assertion that Trump was responsible for the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, instead noting Trump was still "such a big deal" in Kentucky that Beshear's campaign recently released an ad centered around a Trump supporter who plans to vote for Beshear.

Cameron has previously acknowledged that Biden was "legitimately elected as the President of the United States," the catalyst behind the 2021 insurrection attempt, but said earlier this year he would "let others in the Department of Justice" determine whether Trump should be charged over the incident (he's since been indicted on four federal criminal counts).

When KET debate moderator Renee Shaw asked Beshear whether the recent ad had been an attempt to "make some kind of connection with President Trump," Beshear said the commercial is aimed at showing voters they can vote regardless of party. The governor also downplayed his relationship with Biden, noting he's pushed back against the president's administration on proposed changes to EPA regulations.

"My job as governor is to stand up for Kentuckians, whether that is for or against any president," he said. "There were times I agreed and disagreed with President Trump. There are times I agree and disagree with President Biden."

Cameron has devoted plenty of time during the campaign to align Beshear with Biden. An Emerson poll earlier this month found Trump's approval rating in Kentucky is 28 points higher than Biden's.

Kentucky's COVID-19 response

Beshear has earned his share of supporters from his actions when the coronavirus came to Kentucky, with near-daily televised press conferences for more than 15 months in 2020 and 2021.

Some of his actions, though, have drawn criticism in the years since the onset of the pandemic. For instance, Cameron and other Republicans have come after Beshear time and time again over an order he issued in April 2020 that pushed for Kentucky State Police troopers to record license plate numbers of cars at Easter Sunday church services, with notices later mailed to owners requesting they self-quarantine for two weeks.

When Beshear was asked whether he regretted that decision or any other restrictions, the governor didn't directly answer, instead touting himself as a leader who was "willing to make the hard decisions" in the face of an unprecedented viral outbreak and one who'd followed guidance from Trump's infectious diseases experts.

He doubled down when asked if he'd gone too far, saying officials "made the best decisions we could with the information we had" without clarifying if any decisions had been incorrect in hindsight. He then accused Cameron of being willing to put lives at risk by sending teachers into poorly ventilated schools before vaccines were available.

Cameron, who as attorney general opposed many restrictions put in place by Beshear with mixed results, said he would have "done what a lot of red-state governors did" and work to reopen the state "as quickly as possible," while accusing Beshear of refusing to note any regrets due to pride.

School vouchers

Beshear is fully opposed to school voucher programs, which are not legal in Kentucky but have been promoted by some Republicans in the legislature. He went out of his way to voice his opposition in Monday's debate.

Cameron, though, would rather talk about public education — and about school shutdowns put in place while Beshear was governor amid the pandemic. That's what he did Monday when directly asked whether he supports bringing vouchers to Kentucky.

Cameron was quick to note his education plan unveiled in August is aimed specifically at improving conditions in the state's public schools, through efforts like improving teacher pay and offering additional tutoring programs for kids who are behind in reading and math, and does not include any reference to vouchers (tax dollars diverted from public schools to cut the cost of private school tuition).

When pressed, he twice acknowledged he wanted to "expand opportunity and choice" for students and said he would sign a bill that included private school vouchers if it were put forward by the legislature when directly asked by Shaw, before immediately noting that his education plan "is about our public schools."

Beshear took so many opportunities to bring up vouchers in Tuesday's debate that Cameron at one point dubbed him "Robot Andy, talking about vouchers again."

Tuesday night's debate on WKYT was the last time the two candidates will share the stage. Voters will decide who will hold the governor's office for the next four years on Nov. 7, with early voting beginning Nov. 2.

Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: 2023 Kentucky Governor election: Andy Beshear, Daniel Cameron debate