From the Beshear-Coleman campaign: Republicans Tell Herald-Leader They’re Voting For Beshear At Pence Event in Southeastern KY

Trump-supporting Republican voters who came to see Mike Pence speak in Clay County told the Lexington Herald-Leader that “they’re supporting Beshear this fall because of Bevin’s marginalizing comments about teachers and his efforts to overhaul their pension system.” 

Recently, Beshear has gained the endorsement of Republican State Senator Dan Seum, among other “Republicans for Andy Beshear and Jacqueline Coleman.” 

Read this passage from the Lexington Herald-Leader: 

Voters in the southeastern Kentucky county threw their full weight in 2016 behind Republican President Donald Trump, but their support for Bevin has been tepid. In the May primary, Bevin earned just 25 percent support against his opponent, state Rep. Robert Goforth, R-East Bernstadt.

To help bolster his campaign, Bevin is linking himself closely with Trump.

Some Republicans in the region said Thursday that Trump’s support won’t be enough to win them over. Republicans Ben Webb, 22, and Ailenea Sexton, 25, who live in Manchester, said they’re supporting Beshear this fall because of Bevin’s marginalizing comments about teachers and his efforts to overhaul their pension system.

Both said they still plan to vote for Trump in 2020.

“We just don’t like what he’s doing with the teacher retirement system,” said Webb, whose mother taught chemistry for almost 30 years at Clay County High School before she retired in 2015.

Sexton, whose father is superintendent of Clay County schools, said there’s no way she would vote for Bevin again, and neither would “most” of the teachers she knows. Her dad declined to comment.

“I would vote for anybody before I would vote for him,” Sexton said.