2023

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Heading into a tough election year, Gov. Andy Beshear asserted Wednesday evening that Kentucky’s future is “brighter than it has ever been” while touting a record of economic development and resilience to make his case.

The Democratic governor, delivering his fourth annual State of the Commonwealth address, cited record economic gains during his tenure and hailed the state’s ability to overcome the tragedies of tornadoes, flooding and a global pandemic that repeatedly turned his job into crisis management.

Beshear confronted the headwinds of Republican supermajorities in the legislature, urging lawmakers to pump more money into education, raise pay for public school teachers and achieve his goal of universal access to pre-kindergarten learning.

The governor used the statewide television address, on the second day of this year’s legislative session, to urge lawmakers to legalize access to medical cannabis. He already took executive action to allow Kentuckians with certain debilitating conditions to legally possess medical marijuana, provided the cannabis is purchased legally in other states.

But he said legislative action is still needed.

“Treating people right … dictates that this session and that this General Assembly finally legalize medical cannabis,” the governor said.

Beshear, whose term has been marked by policy disputes with lawmakers, also called for additional funding and other changes to shore up the state’s troubled juvenile justice system.

The governor, fresh off a morning appearance with President Joe Biden to mark the promised makeover of a dilapidated Ohio River bridge linking Kentucky and Cincinnati, punctuated his remarks by citing Scripture. He also called on state leaders to put aside partisan differences to pursue common goals in moving the Bluegrass State forward.

“As Kentuckians, we share more than divides us,” Beshear said. “We share the values of faith, of family and of community. And if we double down right now, if we lead with our values, and we push politics aside, there is nothing that we cannot achieve. Our future is brighter than it has ever been.”

The speech comes as Beshear prepares for a tough reelection campaign in a state that continues to trend toward Republicans. The governor has remained popular while leading the state through the series of tragedies but has drawn a crowded field of GOP candidates eager to unseat him.

Beshear’s efforts to stave off that GOP momentum is one reason the Kentucky governor’s race in 2023 will be closely watched nationally, coming the year before the next presidential election.

In his speech, the governor harkened back to the state’s tragedies that overshadowed his term — the COVID-19 pandemic, tornadoes that tore through parts of western Kentucky and floodwaters that inundated portions of eastern Kentucky.

“In the face of some of the greatest challenges imaginable, time and time again Kentuckians have shown up for one another,” Beshear said. “Scripture tells us that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. And that’s exactly what folks across the commonwealth have been doing.”

The governor touted unprecedented economic growth over the past two years, saying it provides the “promise of a better Kentucky.” He said the legislature can continue the momentum by making additional investments in education and other priorities.

“This General Assembly has the opportunity to make great progress on each of these issues we’ve discussed tonight, and you have the funding to do it,” Beshear said. “If we can just find our way to do what is right for the people of Kentucky, then we will be the generation that changes everything for the better — the generation that ushers in a new era of prosperity.”

Afterward, Republican House Speaker David Osborne sounded reluctant to reopen the state’s budget to make sweeping changes during this year’s legislative session.

“I think it’s unlikely we’re going to make wholesale changes in any budget document,” Osborne said during an interview on Kentucky Educational Television.

The speaker said the current budget made crucial investments while providing lawmakers the flexibility to reduce the state’s individual income tax rate. Lawmakers are considering a measure aimed at cutting the income tax rate by another half-percentage point to 4%, effective Jan. 1, 2024.

The budget the GOP-led legislature passed last year poured money into teacher pensions and infrastructure and increased the state’s main funding formula for K-12 schools. Lawmakers declined last year to fund pre-K for every 4-year-old in Kentucky. And they left it up to school districts to decide whether to use additional state funding to provide higher pay to teachers and other school staff. Most districts awarded pay raises, Republicans say.

Osborne signaled Wednesday evening that shoring up the state’s juvenile justice network could be an issue where lawmakers find common ground with the governor. Beshear announced a series of changes late last year that were aimed at bring security problems under control.

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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — After much anticipation, Louisiana’s U.S. Sen. John Kennedy told supporters he will not run for governor in October.

Kennedy, a Republican, had long indicated an interest in running for governor, but he made it official Wednesday afternoon, in an email to supporters, that he will not seek the position. Kennedy, who has mostly provided a safe Senate vote for Republicans and been a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump, easily won reelection to Congress November, fending off 12 challengers and securing himself a second six-year term.

“I have looked hard into my heart and decided to remain in the Senate and not to run for Governor,” Kennedy said in the email to supporters. “Senator and Governor are very different jobs.”

Kennedy added, “At this juncture, I just think I can help my state and my country more in the Senate.”

Louisiana’s current Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, is term-limited, making him unable to run this year. That opens a huge opportunity for Republicans hoping to capture the state’s top government post. But with the election about nine months away, only one person, Attorney General Jeff Landry, has officially launched a gubernatorial bid.

Similar to Kennedy, in November, the state’s other U.S. Senator— Bill Cassidy— announced he would not launch a gubernatorial bid, opting to focus on his role in Congress.

“For the last several years, I have been working on specific legislation that is critical for the future of our state and country. I don’t know if these will pass, but I know they will not pass if I decide to run for another office,” Cassidy, who is in the midst of his second six-year term in Senate, said in a statement. “I have chosen to remain focused on the job I was sent here to do and to see these efforts through.”

With the two GOP senators deciding not to enter the gubernatorial race, all eyes are on other possible candidates.

Louisiana State Treasurer John Schroder, Republican, said in December that should Kennedy not choose to run, he would plan “to announce and pursue the title of Governor in 2023.”

Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser confirmed to reporters he plans on making an announcement on possible gubernatorial plans in early January. Additionally, U.S. Rep. Garret Graves and state Sen. Sharon Hewitt have indicated they are considering the contest for the state’s highest position.

Landry, the only candidate thus far, is a conservative Republican and staunch supporter of Trump. Landry has already received an early endorsement from the Louisiana Republican Party — an announcement that sparked outrage from potential candidates who have yet to officially throw their hats into the ring.

It remains unclear who will emerge as a Democratic candidate. However, during Gov. Edwards’ monthly radio call-in show, in November, the Democrat was asked what he thought about Shawn Wilson — the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development — as a possible Democratic gubernatorial candidate.

“I have tremendous respect for him and his ability,” Edwards said. However, Edwards added that he does not know whether running for governor is something Wilson “fully intends to do or not.”

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McCarthy is under growing pressure from restless Republicans, and Democrats, to find the votes he needs or step aside, so the House can open fully and get on with the business of governing. His right-flank detractors appear intent on waiting him out, as long as it takes.

“No deal yet,” McCarthy said late Wednesday before the House abruptly adjourned. “But a lot of progress.”

In fact, McCarthy saw his support slipping to 201, as one fellow Republican switched to vote simply present.

“I think people need to work a little more,” McCarthy said Wednesday as they prepared to adjourn for the night. “I don’t think a vote tonight would make any difference. But a vote in the future could.”

When the House resumes at noon Thursday it could be a long day. The new Republican majority was not expected to be in session on Friday, which is the anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. A prolonged and divisive speaker’s fight would almost certainly underscore the fragility of American democracy after the attempted insurrection two years ago.

“All who serve in the House share a responsibility to bring dignity to this body,” California Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker, said in a tweet.

Pelosi also said the Republicans’ “cavalier attitude in electing a Speaker is frivolous, disrespectful and unworthy of this institution. We must open the House and proceed with the People’s work.”

Some Republicans appear to be growing uneasy with the way House Republicans have taken charge after the midterm election only to see the chamber upended over the speaker’s race in their first days in the new majority.

Colorado Republican Ken Buck voted for McCarthy but said Wednesday that he told him “he needs to figure out how to make a deal to move forward” or eventually step aside for someone else.

McCarthy has vowed to fight to the finish for the speaker’s job in a battle that had thrown the new majority into tumult for the first days of the new Congress.

The right-flank conservatives, led by the Freedom Caucus and aligned with former President Donald Trump, appeared emboldened by the standoff — even though Trump publicly backed McCarthy,

The disorganized start to the new Congress pointed to difficulties ahead with Republicans now in control of the House, much the way that some past Republican speakers, including John Boehner, had trouble leading a rebellious right flank. The result: government shutdowns, standoffs and Boehner’s early retirement.

A new generation of conservative Republicans, many aligned with Trump’s Make America Great Again agenda, want to upend business as usual in Washington, and were committed to stopping McCarthy’s rise without concessions to their priorities.

But even Trump’s strongest supporters disagreed on this issue. Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert, who nominated Donalds the second time, called on the former president to tell McCarthy, “Sir, you do not have the votes and it’s time to withdraw.’”

By McCarthy’s own calculation, he needs to flip about a dozen Republicans who have so far withheld their backing as he presses on for the job he has long wanted.

To win support, McCarthy has already agreed to many of the demands of Freedom Caucus members, who have been agitating for rules changes and other concessions that give rank-and-file members more influence.

Mostly, the holdouts led by the Freedom Caucus are seeking ways to shrink the power of the speaker’s office and give rank-and-file lawmakers more influence in the legislative process — with seats on key committees and the ability to draft and amend bills in a more free-for-all process. McCarthy conceded to some changes in a Rules package released over New Years weekend, but for some it didn’t go far enough.

“I am open to whatever will give me the power to defend my constituents against this godforsaken city,” said Texas Republican Chip Roy, a leader of the conservative group, told reporters after leaving a lengthy meeting late Wednesday.

And a McCarthy-aligned campaign group, the Conservative Leadership Fund, offered another concession, saying it would no longer spend money on elections “in any open-seat primaries in safe Republican districts.” The far-right lawmakers have complained that their preferred candidates for the House were being treated unfairly as the campaign fund put its resources elsewhere.

Pennsylvania Republican Scott Perry, the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, said the latest round of talks was “productive.”

But those opposing McCarthy do not all have the same complaints, and he may never be able to win over some of them. A small core group of Republicans appear unwilling to ever vote for McCarthy.

“I’m ready to vote all night, all week, all month and never for that person,” said Florida Republican Matt Gaetz.

Such staunch opposition carried echoes of McCarthy’s earlier bid for the job, when he dropped out of the speaker’s race in 2015 because he could not win over conservatives.

“We have no exit strategy,” South Carolina Republican Ralph Norman said.

“There’s nothing he can give me or any of our members that’s going to be a magic pill,” Norman said. “We’re here to vet a speaker. Vet the person third in line for the presidency and that’s a good thing.”

Not since 1923 had a speaker’s election gone to multiple ballots. The longest fight for the gavel started in late 1855 and dragged on for two months, with 133 ballots, during debates over slavery in the run-up to the Civil War.

Democrats enthusiastically nominated and renominated their House leader, Hakeem Jeffries, on all six ballots for speaker over the first two days. He repeatedly won the most votes overall, 212.

If McCarthy could win 213 votes, and then persuade the remaining naysayers to simply vote present, he would be able to lower the threshold required under the rules to have the majority.

It’s a strategy former House speakers, including Pelosi and Boehner, had used when they confronted opposition, winning with fewer than 218 votes.

One Republican, Victoria Spartz of Indiana, voted present on Wednesday’s rounds, but it only ended up lowering McCarthy’s total.

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