LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- There are less than five weeks until voters will select Kentucky's next governor, and the campaign is heating up.

The base of Gov. Andy Beshear's stump speech easy to understand in a football reference.

"When you are on a historic win streak, you don’t fire the coach," he said at a candidate forum in Louisville earlier this month hosted by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce. "You don’t sub out the quarterback. You keep that team on the field."

Beshear's opponent in November's primary election, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron argues that — as a Republican — he'd work better with the Republican supermajority in the legislature.

"Who has the relationships with the legislature to get things done as it relates to solving those problems?" Cameron said at the candidate forum. "I firmly believe that I do."

On the education topic, Lt. Gov. Jaqueline Coleman at Fancy Farm in August warned against coming for teachers like former Gov. Matt Bevin did in the 2019 campaign.

"He is attacking our schools again," Coleman said. "It didn't work then and it's not going to work now."

Ten days later, Cameron's campaign announced his education "Cameron: Catch-Up Plan." And on Tuesday, Cameron's wife, Makenze, who has an active Kentucky teacher's certificate and worked with Oldham County Schools for about five years, is on the campaign trail vouching for Cameron's support of educators.

"How do I know Cameron will listen to teachers? Because he's married to me," she said in a new TV ad.

Cameron said he wants to see removal of income taxes in Kentucky. To counter, Beshear's campaign released a new ad in which he touted his lowering of the income tax earlier this year.

"Andy cut the income tax," the ad says. "That's a big deal."

Beshear did sign that bill as governor, but the Republican legislature is the body that writes legislation like that one.

And after weeks without much mention on the topic, Beshear's campaign recently released two ads talking about Kentucky's abortion law not having exceptions for rape or incest. One features a rape victim herself.

"I'm speaking out because women and girls need to have options," the woman says. "Daniel Cameron would give us none."

Cameron released a video statement in response.

"I've said if the legislature would send me a bill with exceptions I would sign it," he said.

And when it comes to combatting crime, Beshear has touted a Kentucky State Police report that showed serious crime under his administration decreased. But in a WDRB investigation, the Louisville Metro Police Department said the KSP report Beshear was referencing wasn't a complete set.

The story published Tuesday evening, and by Wednesday morning, Cameron's campaign had used the issue in a new campaign email, saying Beshear's crime data doesn't add up.

WDRB found with all the proper data included, crime in Kentucky still would be down by 2.1%, which isn't as much of an improvement as the 9.2% that Beshear originally touted. 

There's plenty more to digest and debate. You can see both candidates face off at 7 p.m. Oct. 16 on WDRB, WDRB.com and WDRB+. 

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