Matt Bevin teases on governor’s race deadline, drives away without filing

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WAVE) - Former Kentucky governor Matt Bevin appeared in Frankfort on the deadline to file and run for governor to speak about the Commonwealth and leave without filing.

Bevin teased another run for governor through Twitter on Friday, stating he would share thoughts before “proceeding down the hall” to the Secretary of State office, suggesting he would file his paperwork to run.

At 2:45pm in the Capitol rotunda (primarily for space reasons and because some of you are probably tired of sitting on the floor outside the SOS office 🙂), I will share a few thoughts before proceeding down the hall…
— Matt Bevin (@MattBevin) January 6, 2023

The Republican was Kentucky’s 62nd governor, holding the office from 2015 to 2019. Bevin was defeated by Democrat Andy Beshear, the current Kentucky governor.

On Friday, Bevin sat down with reporters at the State Capitol for a 20-minute discussion on the Commonwealth, mentioning topics such as teacher pensions, infrastructure, economy and crime.

“These communities are getting worse and worse, they’re not getting better,” Bevin said. “They’re not getting safer, they’re not becoming more economically sound at all. They’re not. They’re getting worse. So the people who are the leaders are not the people you need to be taking guidance from.”

Bevin finished his speech without taking questions, seemingly heading to the Secretary of State’s office to file to run for Kentucky’s governor.

However, as reporters and photographers waited within the office, Bevin was seen walking out and driving away.

The 4 p.m. deadline came and went without Bevin filing to run.

The website for the Kentucky Secretary of State shows 12 candidates have filed for the GOP primary. They are Daniel Cameron, Jacob Clark, David Cooper, Kelly Craft, Eric Deters. Bob DeVore, Mike Harmon, Alan Keck, Dennis Ray Ormerod, Ryan Quarles, Johnny Ray Rice, and Robbie C. Smith.

The 2023 Primary Election Day is Tuesday, May 16.