McConnell rival wins GOP primary for Kentucky governor

Matt Bevin (R-Ky.), a former Tea Party challenger to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has officially secured the GOP nomination for governor after his main opponent conceded defeat Friday morning in a primary battle that turned ugly.

Bevin led state Agriculture Commissioner James Comer by a razor-thin margin in last week’s primary, which triggered a recount. 

That recount finished Friday and confirmed that Bevin won by just 83 votes.

{mosads}“Within minutes of receiving the results of the recanvass, I called Matt Bevin to concede and congratulate him on a hard fought victory,” Comer said in a statement, according to the Kentucky Courier-Journal. 

“I enthusiastically endorse Matt Bevin for Governor and pledge to do everything I can to see that he wins in November.”

But the contentious primary unearthed brutal allegations against both candidates. Comer was accused of domestic abuse by a college girlfriend earlier this month, an accusation that defined the race’s last few weeks.

Democrats and Bevin’s political opponents also rehashed Bevin’s charged Senate bid against McConnell last year, where one of McConnell’s aides referred to Bevin as an “East Coast con-man” and a pathological liar. 

The state’s Democratic Party echoed those criticisms in a statement Friday in response to Bevin’s victory. It announced a new website, BevinSelfPortrait.com, which plays up those and other comments from state Republicans.

“We agree with top Kentucky Republicans who have said that Matt Bevin is a ‘pathological liar,’ an ‘east coast con man,’ and a ‘selfish, angry’ politician who is only ‘running to satisfy his ego,’ ” Kentucky Democratic Party Chairman Patrick Hughes said in a statement.

“This site will be a valuable resource for Kentucky voters to learn what Kentucky Republicans really think about Matt Bevinoccio, and why so many of them believe that Bevin’s self-interested agenda and record of deceit is wrong for Kentucky.”

Both the Republican Governors Association and the Senate Conservatives Fund released statements supporting Bevin, a sign the establishment wing and Tea Party will come together behind his candidacy.

McConnell also said he would back Bevin. “I congratulate Matt Bevin on his victory and endorse him for governor,” McConnell said in a statement to The Hill

Bevin will face state Attorney General Jack Conway (D) in the general election this November. A Courier-Journal/Survey USA poll from earlier this month found Conaway leading the hypothetical match-up by 11 points, but the poll came before the primary election.