Kentucky Attorney General, Daniel Cameron, visits Hancock County
Daniel Cameron (37), 51st Attorney General of Kentucky and 2023 candidate for KY Governor was traveling through Hancock County on Thursday, January 12th and stopped in the Clarion for an interview.
Cameron is the first African American AG of KY and has served in the office since 2020. He was also one of only 20 potential Supreme Court nominees on President Donald J. Trump’s shortlist in 2020.
“I think, from my perspective, what we’ve tried to do in the AG’s office is stand up for folks’ constitutional rights and the sheer values of our state,” Daniel said. “Whether it was standing up to the governor when he tried to shut down churches or limit travel and getting those things overturned and having those things found unconstitutional, or our office standing up to the Biden Administration when they tried to force vaccine mandates on the state, or holding companies accountable for the way in which they helped exacerbate the opioid crisis in KY, we feel like we’ve done a lot over these last 3 years to stand up for the values of the men, women and children of all 120 counties.”
Cameron said he made the decision with his wife, Makenzy, to enter the race for governor because he wants to restore the common sense, shared values that people across KY understand and share.
“We think we’ve done our job over these last three years without fear or favor,” Cameron said. “We think you need a governor who’s going to stand up for the energy interest of KY, a governor who’s going to stand up for those shared values and who’s going to stand opposed to the excesses we see coming out of the Biden Administration.
When you have an administration in Washington, D.C. that labels you a domestic terrorist because you care about the educational opportunities of your kids, you need a governor that’s going to speak out and say that that’s not o.k. Our governor was eerily silent when that happened.
When the Biden Administration tells you that they want to destroy the fossil fuels industry, you need a governor that’s willing to stand up and speak out against that because if we lose our fossil fuels industry that would devastate the economy of Kentucky.”
Cameron said one of his goals as governor would be to build an alliance of governors with Ron DeSantis, Glenn Youngkin, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and others. “I want to build that alliance who can stand up for the collective values of our state,” he said, “but also push back against the excesses of the federal government.”
He said he feels strongly about having a “governor in the governor’s office that will use the bully pulpit to say to the Biden Admin. that we need to secure that southern border.”
He added, “I think we started that work during the Trump Administration and at the top of that there was some immigration policy – Title 42, that was reducing the amount of free flowing illegal immigration into this country. The Biden Admin. has stopped that and in the role of AG I’ve gone and worked with my colleagues across the country to prevent them from stopping that policy.”Cameron said he has asked the Biden Admin. to label Fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction, “but that hasn’t happened and our governor hasn’t asked the Biden Admin. to do that. I think we started to see some of the work of securing our southern border happen during the previous administration. But, again, you need somebody in the governor’s office that recognizes the impact that illegal immigration is having. Not only is it a national issue but it’s a local issue. Fentanyl is pouring in across our southern border. It’s making its way to KY. It contributes to the large overdoses that we see in the commonwealth of KY.”
Growing up, Cameron’s parents owned a small coffee shop in Elizabethtown and working there, he said, “I got to see the intersection of a lot of different communities in KY. I got to see folks from all walks of life that came into that business. It was really fundamental in understanding just how people connect and bond.”
He attended Central Hardin and John Hardin High Schools and then earned his undergraduate degree at University of Louisville, where he also played football. He graduated from Brandeis School of Law and started as clerk for U.S. District Judge Greg Van Tatenhove. He then worked at a private law firm, Stites & Harbison.
From 2015-2017 he went to D.C. to be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s council, and then came back to Kentucky and worked for the law firm Frost Brown Todd.
He ran for attorney general at the end of 2018/beginning of 2019 and said he was, “fortunate to win the office and have the honor bestowed upon me to serve as attorney general for a little more than 3 years now and it’s been a wonderful experience.”
Daniel and his wife, Makenzy, married in July of 2020. They are blessed with one son, Theodore. He is almost one. “He’s just a special young man,” Daniel said. “Makenzy grew up in Oldham County and her family is still there. My mom is still in E-town so it’s been an amazing ride these last few years.”
By Jennifer Wimmer
