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Democrats are ramping up ad spending in the Kentucky governor's race, with an outside group tied to the Democratic Governors Association reserving millions on the airwaves, doubling its investment from 2019.
The group, Defending Bluegrass Values, has reserved $11.9 million on ad buys for the last three months before the November election, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact, as Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear runs for a second term.
“Reelecting Gov. Andy Beshear is the DGA’s top priority this year, and these major TV reservations will be critical to keeping our foot on the gas heading into the final months of this election,” DGA Executive Director Meghan Meehan-Draper said in a statement.
School Freedom Fund, an outside group linked to the conservative Club for Growth, has reserved $2.5 million in ads over the same period.
Although some GOP groups have yet to make future ad reservations, Republicans have been engaged in the race. The Republican Governors Association's affiliated outside group, Kentucky Values, has spent $4.2 million on ads since the May 16 primary targeting Beshear, and are expected to spend millions more as they look to take back the governor's mansion in a state that former President Donald Trump won by 26 points in 2020.
Beshear and allied Democratic groups have spent a combined $11 million on ads as of Thursday, nearly twice as much as Republicans. Beshear's opponent, state Attorney General Daniel Cameron, has only spent $80,000 on ads so far.
The DGA's spending in Kentucky underscores how the race is a top contest this year. Beshear is running for re-election in a traditionally Republican state after defeating GOP Gov. Matt Bevin in 2019 by just 5,000 votes. That year the DGA spent more than $5 million on the Kentucky governor's race.