page_title: Matt Bevin
section_title: 2015 gubernatorial primary
hierarchical_section_title: Matt Bevin / Political campaigns / 2015 gubernatorial primary
caption_attribution_description: English: JPG version of File:Matt-Bevin-AARP.gif. A screenshot of then gubernatorial candidate and now Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin from a 2015 AARP video voter guide.
context_page_description: Matthew Griswold Bevin is an American businessman and politician who served as the 62nd Governor of Kentucky, from 2015 to 2019. He was the third Republican elected Kentucky governor since World War II, after Ernie Fletcher and Louie Nunn.
  Born in Denver, Colorado, and raised in Shelburne, New Hampshire, Bevin earned a bachelor's degree at Washington and Lee University in 1989, then served four years of active duty in the U.S. Army, attaining the rank of captain. He became wealthy in the investment business and moved to Louisville, Kentucky, in 1999. He was president of Bevin Brothers Manufacturing Company, one of the last remaining American bell foundries.
  In 2013, Bevin announced he would challenge Kentucky's senior U.S. Senator, then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, in the 2014 Republican primary. Although Bevin gained the support of various groups aligned with the Tea Party Movement, McConnell attacked him repeatedly for inconsistencies in his public statements and policy positions and defeated him by almost 25 percentage points.
context_section_description: In June 2014, WKMS reported that Bevin had remained politically active in the aftermath of his defeat by McConnell, and an email to his followers calling on Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, a Democrat, to denounce new carbon regulations issued by the EPA fueled speculation that Bevin would seek the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2015. The station also cited an anonymous source that said Bevin would campaign for Rand Paul's Senate seat in 2016 if Paul's expected presidential bid kept him from running for re-election. An August 2014 survey by Public Policy Polling showed that 25% of Republicans wanted Bevin to be the party's gubernatorial nominee, ahead of declared candidates James Comer (20%) and Hal Heiner (18%).
  On January 27, 2015, the last day for candidates to file, Bevin announced he would seek the Republican nomination for governor. During his announcement, he introduced his running mate, Jenean Hampton, a Tea Party activist who lost her bid to unseat State Representative Jody Richards the previous year. Bevin joined a field that included Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer, former Louisville Councilman Hal Heiner, and former Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Will T. Scott. The National Journal predicted that Bevin would draw support away from Comer, the early front-runner, who had been appealing to Tea Party groups and already secured Congressman Massie's endorsement. The crowded primary was also projected to damage the Republican nominee's chances in the general election, since Attorney General Jack Conway was the only major Democratic candidate, allowing him to conserve resources for the general election. McConnell allies also predicted that Bevin's refusal to endorse McConnell would hurt him with primary voters.
caption: Bevin speaking in an AARP voter guide video, September 2015
exif: {}