Kelly Craft bids record $5 million on charity ham, declines to share campaign ‘game plan’

It wasn’t exactly a surprise when Kelly Craft made the $5 million bid that ended up winning her, her husband Joe, and Central Bank the annual Country Ham Breakfast and Auction at the Kentucky State Fair. The group did the same thing at the popular political event last year, winning that ham for $4.8 million in the charity auction.

It also won’t be a surprise if Craft joins a growing field of GOP candidates for governor vying for a chance to defeat Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in 2023. Craft, a longtime Republican fundraiser and former U.S. ambassador to Canada and the United Nations under ex-president Donald Trump, has been rumored as a potential candidate in that primary field since before the event last year. Her campaign could be zeroing in on an announcement soon, as she deflected questions about a potential early September entrance.

“I’m not going to share my game plan. That’s why I’ve got my two coaches here, they’re not sharing their game plans,” Craft said, motioning to University of Louisville basketball coach Kenny Payne and University of Kentucky assistant coach Vince Marrow, who were sitting at her table. “I’m focused today on this auction, the excitement of the auction, and the people in need in East Kentucky.”

Craft and her husband – whose net worth has exceeded $1 billion – are top donors to the University of Kentucky basketball program, among other programs throughout the state.

The donation made on the ham will go to various charities, with the primary focus on addressing flood relief needs in Eastern Kentucky. One of those charities is the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky, Craft’s chief of staff Kristen Branscum said.

Central Bank President Luther Deaton of Leington was at the event to make the joint bid with Craft.

Deaton, who is a native of Haddix in flood-ravaged Breathitt County, said that this year was Central Bank’s seventh year in a row winning the auction. He expressed a desire to help his home region with the company’s donation. In 2016, Central Bank’s winning bid was $325,000 – a mere fraction of Thursday’s $5 million.

Craft, who said she was going to Eastern Kentucky after the breakfast, did not answer questions about the 2023 field.

But Sen. Max Wise, R-Campbellsville, did. Wise has been rumored to become Craft’s running mate, potentially joining the ticket as a lieutenant governor candidate.

Wise spoke of the importance of First Congressional District Congressman James Comer, who previously said he would be “very involved in the governor’s race,” and didn’t deny that his preferred candidates could be Craft and Wise – both, Comer said, are personal friends..

Comer’s endorsement would “go a long way,” Wise said.

“Whatever Jamie Comer does with that race with an endorsement I think would go a long ways in the Republican counties needed for a Republican primary turnout. Jamie Comer right now is probably the most popular U.S. congressman in Kentucky, and I think Jamie’s weight behind whatever candidate he gets behind is going to be a huge baseball swing for somebody to knock it out of the park.”

Like some of the counties that Comer represents, Wise is from an area that has long been held by Republicans and often plays an outsize role in GOP primaries relative to its population because so many there are registered as Republicans.

Most of the candidates who have announced remained neutral about the prospect of more candidates getting in the race, with some expressing a “the more the merrier” attitude.

One exception was Rep. Savannah Maddox, who openly criticized Craft. Maddox said that Craft’s wealth could lead voters to see her as unrelatable.

“I think that the vast majority of Kentucky’s families are going to have a difficult time connecting with someone that not once, but twice, has put well over $2 million into purchasing a country ham when so many Kentucky families are struggling to make ends meet and to buy groceries to put food on the table,” Maddox said. “I think she’s going to struggle to make that case with voters, that she’s going to put their interests first.”

Maddox recently scored the endorsement of another Kentucky congressman: Thomas Massie. Massie, who is from the same region as Maddox, often aligns more with Maddox’s ‘Liberty’ wing of the Kentucky GOP.

Two other Kentucky congressmen, Western Kentucky’s Brett Guthrie and Central Kentucky’s Andy Barr, were on site at the breakfast, but both stayed relatively mum when asked about supporting any one candidate in the GOP governor’s field.

Barr said that he doesn’t anticipate getting involved in the race, but that he’s encouraged by the level of talent in the candidate pool.

Somerset Mayor Alan Keck said that noted Somerset resident and Dean of the House U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers would “stay out” of the 2023 GOP gubernatorial primary. Keck is also considering a run, touting his strength as an executive.

Other candidates are playing the endorsement game in different ways. Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who attained a national profile within the GOP for a speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention and his office’s handling of the Breonna Taylor case, received the unusually early backing of former president Donald Trump in the primary. Trump called Cameron a “young star.”

Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles is leading the pack of GOP candidates in fundraising, and has officially announced the endorsement of more than 100 state and local officials, including more than 30 county judge-executives and 25 state legislators.