Beshear encouraged a crowd of cheering U of L students to take advantage of early voting at the rally. Jack Harlow joined the Democratic incumbent, who is seeking a second term as governor against Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron in next week’s election.
Harlow said he and Beshear have spent the last year keeping in close contact.
“I just want to say this is a hell of a stand up guy right here,” Harlow said. “So I think y'all are on the right side. And I want to encourage everybody to get out there and vote. You know what to do.”
Other Democratic candidates in this year’s general election were also at the rally, including attorney general candidate Pamela Stevenson, state treasurer candidate Michael Bowman and agriculture commissioner candidate Sierra Enlow.
More than a dozen protesters in support of Palestine chanted behind the crowd while Beshear spoke. A small police presence stood in front of the group while they called for Beshear to “wake up” and declare a formal stance against what they called “genocide” following Israeli airstrikes that have killed at least 8,700 people in Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel. Beshear did not react to the demonstration.
U of L was one of many stops on Beshear’s Go Vote Tour. He said Louisville played an important role in his gubernatorial campaign, noting he won the governor’s seat by a nearly 100,000 vote margin in Jefferson County in 2019.
“We got to do it again,” he said.
Polls have consistently shown Beshear with a lead over Cameron in this year’s race for governor. Both candidates are traveling across Kentucky in a final push ahead of Election Day.
Kentuckians are eligible to cast their ballots during early voting through Saturday or on Election Day this Tuesday. Early voting locations can be found on the State Board of Elections website. Information about the candidates is in the Kentucky Public Radio Voter Guide.
