Kentucky's bitter GOP governor primary comes to a head

Kentucky’s contentious GOP gubernatorial primary is drawing to a finish Tuesday in a race that poses high stakes for the party looking to unseat Gov. Andy Beshear (D).

State Attorney General Daniel Cameron, former U.N. ambassador Kelly Craft and Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles have regularly polled as the three main front-runners in the crowded Republican primary field jockeying to take on Beshear this fall, with Cameron widely viewed as leading the field.

But Cameron and Craft have largely used their ammo on each other between the debate stage and millions of dollars in attack ads, leaving Republicans eager to move past the bruising primary and focus on the more challenging test ahead: taking down a popular red-state Democrat.

"I still think that Cameron's in a really strong position. He's just a very popular figure," said Republican public affairs consultant Tyler Glick.

While he noted Craft's attacks had "eaten into his numbers a bit," Glick argued that didn't mean voters were heading toward Craft instead. "I think he's weathered the worst of it," he said, pointing to the establishment of the super PAC supporting him and spending to be able to counter those attacks.

Kentucky Republicans will head to the polls next week to choose their candidate to go head-to-head with Beshear in November in a race