Who is running for governor in Kentucky in the 2023 primary elections? Meet the 15 candidates

The 2023 Kentucky primary elections are just around the corner.

This year the Republican and Democratic primaries will be held Tuesday, May 16. There are six constitutional offices on the ballot this year, with races to determine Kentucky's next governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state auditor, commissioner of agriculture and state treasurer.

Independent candidates may also file to run later, with an April 3 deadline for their statement of candidacy and June 6 deadline to formally file with signatures.

Here's a quick rundown on each of the candidates running in the gubernatorial race.

Kentucky Democratic governor candidates

Three Democrats will face off in the gubernatorial primary.

Andy Beshear

Andy Beshear is the incumbent Democratic governor who is seeking a second term, after edging Republican Gov. Matt Bevin in 2019 by 5,189 votes. Republicans now outnumber Democrats in the red-trending state, though polls have shown Beshear continuing to have a high approval rating, nearing 60%.

Peppy Martin

Peppy Martin was the Republican nominee for governor in 1999, but is taking another crack at the office 24 years later as a Democrat. Martin is running on a platform of legalizing marijuana, allowing state-run casinos and rejecting "wokeness."

Geoff Young

Geoff Young is a perennial candidate from Lexington who pulled off an upset in last year's Democratic primary in the central Kentucky congressional district. He won 2% of the vote in the 2019 Democratic primary when he ran for governor.

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Kentucky Republican governor candidates

The Republican primary will field a dozen candidates for governor.

Daniel Cameron

Daniel Cameron the attorney general, won a blowout victory in 2019. Cameron was endorsed by former President Donald Trump soon after he announced his candidacy last year.

Jacob Clark

Jacob Clark ran for a seat in the state House in 2022 but lost his Republican primary to an incumbent. In 2021, he filed a petition to impeach Beshear over his pandemic executive orders, which was dismissed.

Kelly Craft

Kelly Craft was the former United Nations ambassador in the Trump administration and has long been a prolific Republican Party fundraiser along with her husband Joe, a coal magnate. Her campaign raised more money than any other GOP candidate for the office last year and has already spent more than $500,000 on advertisements.

David Cooper

David Cooper of Kenton County is an Army veteran and vows to have "the most transparent bipartisan administration" in Frankfort.

Bob DeVore

Bob DeVore is a perennial candidate from Louisville who has run unsuccessfully for half a dozen offices in Jefferson County.

Eric Deters

Eric Deters is a suspended attorney from Kenton County who announced his candidacy in late 2021. He hosted a large rally in Northern Kentucky last summer featuring speeches from Trump's two adult sons.

Mike Harmon

Mike Harmon is serving his second term as state auditor, for which he was first elected in 2015, and he previously served 13 years as a state legislator. His campaign touts him as an experienced government watchdog and a fiscal and Christian conservative.

Alan Keck

Alan Keck is the second-term mayor of Somerset. The 37-year-old is running on a platform of improving public safety, education, economic growth and "family-focused" initiatives like incentivizing paid parental leave.

Dennis Ray Ormerod

Dennis Ray Ormerod is from Louisville.

Ryan Quarles

Ryan Quarles is serving his second term as commissioner of the Department of Agriculture, first elected in 2015. His campaign leads his Republican rivals in cash on hand and boasts the most endorsement from state legislators and local elected officials.

Johnny Ray Rice

Johnny Ray Rice of Berry led a heavily armed rally outside of the Capitol in Frankfort in January 2021, days after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, protesting pandemic restrictions and Trump's election defeat.

Robbie C. Smith

Robbie C. Smith of Berea is running on a platform of eliminating most taxes, allowing local governments to legalize cannabis, keeping the Kentucky National Guard in Kentucky and fighting "woke insanity."

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Who is running for governor in Kentucky? Here are the 15 candidates