Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear will be back in office for a second term in Kentucky after defeating Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron. Beshear won by more than 60,000 votes, compared to only 5,000 when he won back in 2019.

But in Calloway County, Cameron took the majority of the vote at just under 54%. Greg Delancey, with the Calloway County Republican Party, was proud that Calloway voted red, even though the overall result wasn’t the outcome they wanted. He described the night as disappointing, but hopes the future will bring better luck for the Republican party in Kentucky.

Although Beshear didn’t win Calloway County, supporters are excited by his reelection and look forward to what he has in store for the next four years.

“I think Calloway has a long way to go, but we have already come a long way,” said David Pool, a Democratic political strategist. “I’m very proud of the work that we have done in this county. I’m very proud of the way that we carried ourselves, and the plans that we have for the future… I think that Calloway County has an opportunity to try and keep the momentum going and make a lot of positive changes in the future.”

Calloway County Clerk Antonio Faulkner was surprised by the turnout on Tuesday, with just over 11,000 votes cast. Faulkner estimated voter turnout at 38%. This year, Calloway County offered early voting as well, with an estimated 11% turnout.

“We’re busy as bees,” Faulkner said. “Voters really turned out in Calloway County, which was unexpected, but we were prepared, which was the most important thing… I’m anxious to see what the numbers were.”

In his speech following his reelection, Beshear talked about what some of his goals for Kentucky are. His main message has focused on the state being viewed as one team instead of being viewed as a battle between two sides. 

“Tonight, Kentucky made a choice,” Beshear said. “A choice not to move to the right or to the left, but to move forward for every single family. A choice to reject Team [Republican] or Team [Democrat] and to state clearly that we are Team Kentucky.”