FANCY FARM, Ky.—Once a year, it’s polite to talk politics with company over dinner in this usually sleepy village of around 500 in western Kentucky,
Held the first weekend every August, the Fancy Farm Picnic is a tradition that is billed as the world’s largest one-day barbeque and a political spectacle where candidates and elected officials exchange zingers and jabs before raucous crowds who respond with cascades of boos and taunts.
On Aug. 5, more than a dozen candidates in statewide races delivered stump speeches. Kentucky Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear and Trump-backed Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron were the featured attractions, trading insults under a crowded pavilion and a statewide television audience.
Fancy Farm is a place where American flags fly outside houses along Route 80, locals gather at Droopy’s Restaurant for hamburgers and conversation, and people come and go at Toon Small Engines, a hardware store and garden center near the middle of town.
Started in 1880, the Fancy Farm Picnic is viewed as a rite of passage for politicians in the Commonwealth. St. Jerome Catholic Church is the longtime host of an event that features bingo, family-friendly fair games, 5k runs, and thousands of pounds of barbeque chicken, pork, and mutton. But it’s the political speeches that draw the largest crowds.
In the early 1900s, politicians would visit for informal campaign talks. The Fancy Farm Picnic evolved into a tradition that is viewed as the kickoff to campaign season.
The crowd is divided between Republicans and Democrats. Both sides strive to outdo the other with chants.
The Kentucky governor’s race, one of the nation’s most closely watched elections this year, could provide hints of what will happen in presidential and congressional campaigns in 2024.
Mr. Beshear, the son of a former Kentucky governor who serves in a state that former President Donald Trump won by 25 points in 2020, is running for a second term after winning in 2019 by less than a percentage point in a contentious race against former Gov. Matt Bevin.
An October 2022 poll from Morning Consult showed that Mr. Beshear was rated one of the 10 most popular governors in the United States with a 59 percent approval rating.
At the Fancy Farm Picnic, Mr. Beshear reflected a message from President Joe Biden, pointing to job creation from economic development and record-low unemployment rates.
“When you’re on a historic winning streak, you don’t fire the coach,” Mr. Beshear said. “You don’t sub out the quarterback. You keep that team on the field.”
Mr. Beshear does not link himself to national Democrats and focuses more on local and state issues.
In an interview with The Associated Press in late December, Mr. Beshear criticized Mr. Trump as well as Mr. Biden. He insisted that he did not need or seek Mr. Biden’s help for his gubernatorial re-election campaign.
Republicans have criticized Mr. Beshear’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, claiming that he did not work with the GOP-controlled state legislature in enacting mandates.
Republicans have also reminded voters that Mr. Beshear vetoed a bill banning transgender youth from medical treatment, which was overridden by the GOP-controlled legislature.
At the picnic, Mr. Cameron said there is a “TV Andy” and a “Frankfort Andy,” referencing Kentucky’s capital where the governor resides.
“He vetoes tax cuts. He fights for the Biden agenda. He demands that boys play in girls sports. He protects transgender surgeries for kids,” Mr. Cameron said. “I’ve been watching Frankfort Andy up close for nearly four years. And I have just one question. ‘Governor, are you auditioning for a job with Bud Light’s marketing team?’”
Mr. Beshear has said that he intends to focus on making the general election race about helping families and not attempting to “rile people up.” After Mr. Cameron won the Republican primary, Mr. Beshear criticized his opponent for the tone of his victory speech.
“I think sadly from the other side, what we saw last night and what we’ll see is name-calling, stoking division, trying to incite fear or anger or maybe even hatred. And that’s not how we’re supposed to run these elections,” Mr. Beshear said.
At the picnic, Mr. Beshear added, “Let’s remember we’re told not just to talk about our faith, but to actually live it out. I’m reminded of the Golden Rule, which is that we love our neighbor as our self.”
History has shown that political speeches at the Fancy Farm Picnic are far from light-hearted banter. Mr. Cameron continued to chastise Mr. Beshear’s record, presenting a connection between the governor and Mr. Biden, and slamming Mr. Beshear for COVID-19 pandemic policies the attorney general says favored large companies over small businesses.
“He closed down Main Street and bent over backwards for Wall Street,” Mr. Cameron said at the picnic. “Governor, I know you guys are obsessed with pronouns these days, but come November, yours are going to be ‘has’ and ‘been.’”
Mr. Beshear praised infrastructure projects that are underway, including a new bridge spanning the Ohio River between Kentucky and Ohio.
“People here know there’s no Democrat or Republican bridges, that a good job isn’t red or blue,” Mr. Beshear said. “And the most important thing for a governor is getting the job done.”
A few hours before Mr. Beshear took the stage, a caravan of more than two dozen cars pulled into a church parking lot next to the picnic grounds. The group of supporters included James Coley, who sported an Andy Beshear T-shirt and matching flags atop his car.
“He shows up when there’s problems. It doesn’t matter who’s having the problem. He’ll show up with resources,” Mr. Coley said, referencing the tornado that hit nearby Mayfield in 2021 before talking about how the governor helped with another challenge.
“At a function last night, I shook his hand and told him that I am one year cancer free. The governor signed the medical cannabis law, and it is cannabis that helped save my life,” Mr. Coley added.
Mr. Beshear’s father, Steve Beshear, served as governor of Kentucky from 2007 to 2015. Mr. Bevin completed one term in that role before Mr. Beshear was elected in 2019.
“I voted for Andy Beshear’s father, and then we had an unfortunate governor between then and now,” Mr. Coley said. “We’re working people. I’m a chef and have a food trailer. Andy Beshear is a governor who cares about the working people.”
Mike Johnson drove to the Fancy Farm Picnic from Louisville. Wearing a T-shirt adorned with Mr. Cameron’s name and logo, the retired truck driver climbed out of his car parked near Mr. Beshear’s caravan, shook his head, and smiled.
“I’ve been coming here for a few years now,” Mr. Johnson said. “This small town turns into a place where thousands of people from different political thoughts gather in a small pavilion and try to hear candidates talk over all the shouting.
“It’s quite the spectacle,“ he added. ”And this is Kentucky, so people will brave any conditions for some good barbeque.”
