LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - About this time last year, Matt Bevin had a campaign rally where no one showed up.
The Louisville businessman was running against U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell in the Republican primary, where he raised millions of dollars but was undone by a series of missteps that included speaking at a pro-cockfighting rally. At a campaign stop in Frankfort just four days before the primary, the only people he could find who would listen to him was a group of elementary school children touring the Capitol.
But Thursday, Bevin had no trouble attracting a crowd of about 50 people on a workday afternoon at Shillito Park in Lexington now that he is among the front-runners for the Republican nomination for governor. It’s a remarkable turnaround for someone who has never held public office and whose political life was left for dead.
“I’m like a zombie to some people,” Bevin said. “When I show up, there is a look of terror like, ’My gosh, was $20 million not enough to destroy that guy?’”
Bevin failed in a one-on-one race with an experienced opponent, allowing McConnell to focus on Bevin without other distractions. But Bevin has thrived in a four-way primary that has been consumed with sniping between the top two contenders. James Comer has blamed Hal Heiner’s campaign for pushing a story that Comer physically and emotionally abused his college girlfriend, allegations that Comer denies. Heiner apologized to Comer’s campaign after the Lexington Herald-Leader published emails between KC Crosbie, Heiner’s running mate, and her husband with a blogger that has been pushing the story on social media for months.
Last year, Bevin attacked McConnell wherever he went, building a reputation as a Tea Party contrarian and making enemies among the state’s Republican establishment. This year, Bevin has harshly criticized Heiner in public forums. But his breezy TV ads have portrayed him as a smiling conservative businessman. He has a TV ad with actors portraying Comer and Heiner sitting at a children’s table throwing food at each other while Bevin shakes his head and smiles while offering himself as an alternative.
“One candidate (Heiner) represents the big city, another candidate (Comer) represents the more rural ambitions of Republicans. You could believe this would have become a two person race,” University of Kentucky political science professor Stephen Voss said. “Bevin would have seen his support erode significantly if it were not for all that nastiness keeping him viable as a way to avoid the mudslinging.”
The strategy from the other Republican candidates has been to remind voters of Bevin’s 2014 flailings. Heiner tried to do as much during Monday night’s statewide televised debate on KET, saying that Bevin has done nothing but attack other Republicans for two years. And former U.S. Rep. Anne Northup, a Comer supporter, echoed that during a news conference Wednesday on the statehouse steps.
“Matt Bevin was the one who was leveling all of the garbage out against our wonderful senior senator and was creating as much division in our party as he possibly can, so I just think that’s amusing as he has a food fight commercial when he was the one actually creating the food fight last year,” she said.
Public polls show Republican voters are divided more than ever in a state primary for governor, meaning whoever wins will have to unify the party quickly to take on likely Democratic nominee Jack Conway and his the nearly $1.4 million he hasn’t had to spend in a contentious primary. If Bevin wins, could his polarizing past unite the base to give him a chance in a state that has only had one Republican governor in the past 40 years?
Bevin says yes. Thursday, Bevin said he expects McConnell to support him if he wins the nomination. That’s despite the fact that Bevin never publicly endorsed McConnell in his general election campaign against Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes. Bevin drew a distinction between endorsing McConnell, which he did not do, and supporting him, which he said he did.
“When people asked me, I told them who to vote for,” he said. “Fill in the blanks.”
A spokesman for McConnell’s office said the senator would address the question after a nominee is chosen.
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