Judicial watchdog is wary of Beshear’s involvement in Kentucky Court of Appeals election
A Kentucky judicial watchdog group says it is concerned about Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s involvement in the upcoming Court of Appeals election.
The Kentucky Judicial Campaign Conduct Committee said in a Saturday statement that Beshear has been fundraising for Court of Appeals Judge Will Moynahan, who is currently facing Fayette Circuit Court Judge Lucy VanMeter.
Beshear appointed Moynahan to the bench in 2025 to represent the 5th Appellate District after Justice Pamela Goodwine was elected to the Kentucky Supreme Court. The district includes Fayette, Madison, Franklin, Scott, Jessamine, Woodford, Clark and Bourbon counties
The conduct committee said Beshear had appeared at a fundraising event for Moynahan. Also, Moynahan’s campaign website features a photo of him and Beshear, “which the committee considers to be an implied endorsement.”
“Partisan politicians shouldn’t raise money for Kentucky judicial candidates, and judicial candidates should not use endorsements by partisan politicians, implied or explicit,” said Committee Chair Charles Boteler, speaking for the unanimous committee.
A spokespersons for Beshear did not immediately return a request for comment Monday afternoon. A spokesperson for Moynahan referred the Lantern to a statement the campaign had shared with the committee.
“I was honored when Gov. Andy Beshear appointed me to the bench last year, and I am proud to have his support in this campaign along with many others from across the political spectrum,” he said. “In my campaign, I am reaching out to Republicans, Democrats, and independents throughout Central Kentucky, emphasizing my record of fair, impartial, and combat-tested judgment.”
The committee previously criticized Beshear’s involvement in a fundraiser for Goodwine in 2024, saying that may “further blur the line between judicial and partisan elections, and have the effect of eroding public confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary.”
Since her election, Republicans have criticized Goodwine’s rulings on the bench, particularly being the deciding vote in revisiting and then overturning a Supreme Court decision a 2022 law aimed at shifting power from the board to the superintendent of Jefferson County Public Schools. An impeachment petition was filed against her this year, but a Kentucky House committee did not act on it before the legislative session adjourned.
In 2022, the committee rebuked Joe Fischer, a former Republican state representative, for running an openly partisan campaign for state Supreme Court.
The Kentucky General Assembly approved an omnibus election law this year, House Bill 139, which includes allowing judicial candidates to publicly disclose their political party affiliation. Beshear had vetoed it for a number of reasons, including the changes to judicial elections which could be “setting a dangerous new precedent in the Commonwealth. However, the Republican supermajority easily overrode his veto.
“It is paramount to our judicial system that judges be impartial in all cases that come before them,” Beshear wrote. “As such, judicial candidates should have no role in partisan politics.”
The conduct committee also opposed those election changes.
A spokesperson for VanMeter did not immediately return a request for comment Monday.