FRANKFORT, Ky. — Former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin won't be entering the already crowded field of Republicans vying for the party's nomination in the upcoming governor race.
Bevin spoke in Frankfort, telling the GOP candidates who have already filed -- including Attorney General Daniel Cameron, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft, and Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles -- "let's not eat each other up."
"Let's not tear each other up and bring each other down," he said on Friday. "Yeah everyone wants to be the nominee, but at what cost?"
He told Republicans not to make Gov. Andy Beshear (D), who is looking to be elected a second term, the enemy.
"He's not the boogeyman, his party isn't the boogeyman," Bevin said. "We're all Kentuckians, let's celebrate that fact."
Ultimately, Bevin spoke for 20 minutes on what he called multiple failures within the state, including a "broken" Jefferson County Public Schools district and the level in which kids are learning.
"It isn't the fault of the teachers, it's not the fault of the students," he said. "The problem is in the same antiquated, broken, incompetent governance that has existed for generations. We have, for generations, failed these kids."
The former governor said the district's board is "the same bunch of people...the same tired, pathetic ideas producing increasingly less and less results."
WHAS11 reached out to JCPS for comment, but the school district said it wasn't going to comment on Bevin's statements.
Bevin also called on lawmakers to be out in the community more and to make common sense changes including fixing Kentucky's foster care and juvenile justice system, and getting rid of the state's car tax.
He said for generations, officials have failed the commonwealth's urban communities, citing west Louisville as "one of the most prime pieces of real estate in America" plagued by violence.
"It continues to be an economic desert and it is dangerous. There are innocent children, and some who are perhaps not as innocent, but nonetheless, are being slaughtered every single week," Bevin said.
He urged officials to talk with people raising families in the community, rather than taking pre-arranged visits by what he called "self-ordained leaders."
"These communities are getting worse and worse, they're not getting better, they're not getting safer, their not becoming more economically sound at all, they're not. They're getting worse."
Bevin challenged elected officials across the state to not only represent the people they were elected to serve, but to take on challenges that may not directly impact their community.
"The reality is when there's a hole in the boat, everyone's feet are gonna get wet. We're all in the same boat...it is the boat of Kentucky," he said. "No matter where their success is in the state, everyone benefits."
After his appearance, Bevin did not take questions from the media, rather walking out of the State Capitol Rotunda, with reporters following.
Once outside, he told us to, “be bold out there, wear the legislature out on these issues.”
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