POLITICS

Daniel Cameron taps 'true conservative' Sen. Robby Mills as his running mate

Louisville Courier Journal

Republican gubernatorial candidate Daniel Cameron has tapped Sen. Robby Mills as his running mate.

"When I was searching for the right person to serve beside me as your next lieutenant governor, I was looking for a true conservative with a strong track record of getting things done - someone who shares our values and fights for what is right," Cameron said during a press conference Wednesday morning.

Mills represents a swath of Western Kentucky - Henderson, Hopkins, Union and Webster counties - in the state Senate, where he chairs the Senate State and Local Government Committee.

"As a member of the General Assembly, I've seen Andy Beshear push his radical agenda into our schools, into our businesses and our homes," Mills said. "He has failed to support our values, and it's time for change in the Kentucky governor's office."

Robby Mills, second from left, thanks Kentucky Attorney General and Republican candidate for governor Daniel Cameron, second from right,, as he was introduced as his running mate during the announcement at the Republican Party headquarters in Frankfort, Ky. on July 19, 2023. Mills wife, Vickie Mills, was at left, and Cameron's wife, Makenze Cameron, was at right.

Mills "was the first person in Frankfort to sound the alarm about radical gender ideology," Cameron said, mentioning his primary sponsorship of a 2022 law that prohibits transgender girls from playing on girls' sports teams.

Culture war issues came up repeatedly in Wednesday's announcement, signaling they're likely to remain a key flashpoint heading into the fall. When asked, Mills defended his support of Senate Bill 150 - a sweeping anti-trans measure impacting schools and health care that became law this year - but clarified he didn't think trans people themselves are "experiments."

The ticket also touted Mills' experience building relationships and finding consensus while lawmaking - an area where Republicans accuse Beshear of being lacking.

Mills represents Dawson Springs - one of the towns most devastated by the 2021 tornadoes that killed dozens of Kentuckians. He helped carry a relief package a month later, bringing $200 million in help to the region.

"Andy Beshear wants you to believe that is a one-person relief effort," Mills said. "In reality, we all know in here what happened: It was the General Assembly that stepped up."

Robby Mills, left, makes remarks as Kentucky Attorney General and Republican candidate for governor Daniel Cameron, right, looks on after introducing Mills as his running mate at the Republican Party headquarters in Frankfort, Ky. on July 19, 2023.

Mills could give the Cameron ticket a boost in Western Kentucky, particularly an area where Beshear performed well in his narrow 2019 election victory.

Beshear managed to win Mills’ home county of Henderson by 4 percentage points over Matt Bevin in 2019, one of three counties he won in the region. Though Beshear won Henderson that year, it typically votes conservative, as Donald Trump won the county by 24 and 28 points in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, respectively.

Mills served nearly two decades as a city commissioner in Henderson before running for state House in 2016 and narrowly defeating a longtime Democratic incumbent, aiding his party’s takeover of the majority in that chamber for the first time in nearly a century.

Mills then narrowly defeated another longtime Democratic incumbent when he ran for state Senate in 2018 before winning reelection in 2022 by a wide margin.

This year was the first time gubernatorial candidates could wait until after the primary elections to name a lieutenant governor candidate. Beshear, a Democrat who is running for reelection, opted to stick with Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman early in the race.

Cameron had until Aug. 8 to name a running mate and had previously said he wanted to pick someone before the annual Fancy Farm picnic, which is on Aug. 5.

When asked Wednesday, Mills confirmed he will be at Fancy Farm. "You know, being a Western Kentucky guy, I told Daniel, I'm kind of looking forward to it," he added.

Kentucky Attorney General and Republican candidate for governor Daniel Cameron, center, introduced his running mate Robby Mills, left, as Cameron's wife Makenze Cameron looked on during the announcement at the Republican Party headquarters in Frankfort, Ky. on July 19, 2023.

Reacting to Cameron's choice of running mate Wednesday, Beshear campaign spokesman Alex Floyd said Mills "helped lead the charge to enact Matt Bevin’s plan to slash pensions for our teachers, police and firefighters," which "shows how Daniel Cameron does not care about hard-working Kentuckians."

Mills voted for Bevin's controversial pension bill in 2018 that was later struck down as unconstitutional by the Kentucky Supreme Court, then supported passing an identical bill in a special session called by Bevin later that year, which failed.

A statement from the Kentucky Democratic Party also noted Mills' support for that pension bill, along with his votes in the 2023 session against a bill to legalize medical marijuana and for a bill to repeal Beshear's executive order that had expanded dental, vision and hearing benefits for Medicaid recipients.

Who is Robby Mills?What to know about Daniel Cameron's running mate

Reach Olivia Krauth at okrauth@courierjournal.com and on Twitter at  @oliviakrauth. 