Democratic Governor Andy Beshear is odds on to win a second term as governor of Kentucky on Tuesday, beating Republican challenger and current state attorney general Daniel Cameron, according to the latest odds from a leading bookmaker.
The U.K.-based Betfair Exchange gives Beshear odds of 1/5 on securing re-election versus 7/2 for Cameron pulling off an upset. This means a $5 spend on Beshear is likely to return a $1 dollar profit as opposed to $2 on Cameron gaining $7 if the Republican wins.
Speaking to Newsweek, Betfair Exchange spokesperson Sam Rosbottom said: "For the Kentucky governor election, Andy Beshear is the clear 1/5 frontrunner to serve a second term, with Republican Daniel Cameron 7/2 to upset the odds in the race." Newsweek has contacted Governor Beshear and Cameron for comment by online inquiry form and email respectively.
An Emerson College poll released on Friday put Beshear and Cameron tied at 47 percent of the vote, with four percent of respondents undecided and two percent opting for someone else. The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted between October 30 and November 2.
This contrasted with an earlier Emerson College poll, of 450 registered voters conducted between October 1 and 3, which gave Beshear a 16-point lead, with the governor on 49 percent against 33 percent for Cameron.
Commenting on the latest poll, Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said: "Cameron appears to have gained ground by consolidating Republican voters who supported former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election. In October, 54 percent of Trump supporters supported Cameron; now, as election day approaches, that number has jumped to 79 percent—a 25-point increase.
"Notably, October's poll was of registered voters in Kentucky, while this final election poll includes only those who are very likely or have already voted in Kentucky."
If Cameron wins, he will become the first Black Republican governor since Reconstruction, as well as the first Black governor in Kentucky's history.
The Mississippi Gubernatorial Election
Tuesday also sees a key gubernatorial election in Mississippi where Democrat Brandon Presley is hoping to unseat incumbent Republican Governor Tate Reeves. Betfair Exchange is currently offering odds of 4/7 on a Presley victory, versus 11/8 for Governor Reeves.
On Wednesday, Reeves and Presley clashed in a fiery debate, in which each candidate accused the other of lying.
Referencing his Democratic challenger, Reeves said: "When he qualified to run for governor, he couldn't make it an entire hour without lying to the people of Mississippi. And on this debate stage, he couldn't make it one full minute without lying to the people of Mississippi."
Presley shot back: "I told somebody recently that asked me about negative ads, 'If he'd quit lying on me, I'd quit telling the truth on him.'"
Reeves also took aim at Morgan Freeman after Presley posted a photograph of himself posing with the acting legend, at a property he owns.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, the governor said: "Some folks fight for endorsements from Hollywood liberals, I prefer endorsements from truck drivers."
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James Bickerton is a Newsweek U.S. News reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is covering U.S. politics and world ... Read more
