EXCLUSIVE — School Freedom Fund is targeting Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) for his crime policies, the focus of Republicans nationwide as crime rates continue to increase in several Democratic-controlled cities and states.
The organization, allied with Club for Growth Action, will release its second 30-second advertisement on Tuesday as part of a $2.9 million TV ad buy in the Louisville and Lexington markets that began airing on Aug. 1. The goal of the ads is to target Beshear’s release of criminals during the COVID-19 pandemic as he campaigns for reelection in 2023.
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The ad, “Signature,” was exclusively shared with the Washington Examiner ahead of its release, focusing on the release of Ashley Lewis, a 31-year-old woman who had her sentence commuted by Beshear in August 2020. She was in jail for drug-related convictions. Four months later, Lewis was arrested in connection to the Dec. 20, 2020, fatal shooting of Jeremy Caldwell. She pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal facilitation murder in September 2022.
“Convicted felon Ashley Lewis should have been in jail that day. Jeremy Caldwell, a young father, should have been safe as he sat in his car,” the ad says.
In August 2020, Beshear signed an executive order commuting the sentences of Lewis and 645 other inmates who had been identified as being either vulnerable to COVID-19 or were currently serving nonviolent sentences with less than six months remaining.
“When a governor’s signature becomes a death warrant for innocent Kentuckians, take away his pen,” the ad says.
David McIntosh, president of School Freedom Fund, said in a statement to the Washington Examiner that Beshear “wrongly betrayed” Kentucky victims and residents after he “recklessly released criminals early.”
“There’s a long, tragic, and avoidable record because of his decision,” McIntosh said. “Beshear is a rubber stamp for the radical, pro-criminal, anti-family groups that support him. He should have focused on issues that matter to his voters, not just Randi Weingarten and other socialist education bureaucrats.”
This is the second ad that School Freedom Fund has released. The first ad, “Means and Motives,” focused on Beshear’s commutations, claiming that one-third of those released had committed a new felony.
Beshear is running against Republican gubernatorial candidate nominee Daniel Cameron, who serves as Kentucky’s attorney general. He is running with the full might of Kentucky Republican lawmakers behind him, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), as well as an endorsement from former President Donald Trump.
Cameron has made Beshear’s policy stances toward crime a major focus of his opposition campaign, blasting Beshear for his attempts at criminal justice reform during the pandemic. He had pegged himself as the most pro-law enforcement candidate during the primary and does not support gun control reform.
“While he was locking down our schools, he was unlocking our jails,” Cameron said in July.
“The job these guys have to do is hard enough without having a governor who opens the doors of the prisons and allows criminals to walk free,” Cameron continued, speaking to law enforcement officers.
In July, Cameron released a sweeping public safety plan that would do anything from award recruitment and retention bonuses to bolster police force numbers to requiring the death penalty for anyone convicted of killing a police officer.
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Since May, Beshear has been leading Cameron in the polls. A recent poll from Public Policy Polling between Aug. 9 and 10 shows Beshear with 49% of the vote compared to Cameron’s 41%. The general election is set for Nov. 7.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Beshear and Cameron for comment.
