Kentucky voters saw the two front running candidates for the GOP nomination for governor together for the first time last night here on Katie.

Attorney general Daniel Cameron and former United Nations ambassador Kelly Craft top a recent public poll.

Three other candidates for the state's top job are also on hand for Katie's Kentucky tonight.

Today, our Kacey Parker Bell breaks down what the candidates had to say about their platforms and issues.

And each other.

As I understand, you have a coordination issue with your husband, Joe Craft, and that's under investigation right now.

But back to the real point.

Which is we are going to leave my husband out of it.

The night started with a sense of anticipation.

It was the first time leading Republican gubernatorial candidates Daniel Cameron and Kelly Craft would appear on a stage together.

But the appearance wasn't particularly notable for their policy debates.

They're from.

Glasgow.

What?

Oh, excuse me.

Allow me to speak.

The hour and a half episode of Kentucky tonight featured significant squabbles between the candidates civil discourse.

We've had this procedure across.

You attack the attorney general.

You run negative ads and you don't like when somebody calls or.

Mr.

Voters play.

The woman card.

Let's take the temperature down and turn back to some issues here.

The leaders in the polls took shots at one another over money.

But Kelly, again, has spent $10 million attacking me when I'm the nominee.

I just hope she'll be willing to part with some more of that money to help me beat Andy Beshear in November.

You recused herself.

So why didn't you return the $29,000 in contributions from Pacer Matic to your campaign and the $100,000 donation from Pacer Matic to your Super PAC.

While other candidates occasionally pled for civility?

Quite honestly.

The last 10 minutes are why people are sick of politics in America.

It's he said, she said, We're going to spend a pile of money to tear each other down.

I want to Kentucky, where we left each other up and we get stuff done.

Those pleas fell on deaf ears.

You try to buy politicians, you're trying to buy Kentucky, and it's not going to work.

There was still typical political failure.

Republicans took their opportunities to knock current Governor Andy Beshear, the governor.

Right now, Andy Beshear is irrelevant.

Particularly for his response to the COVID 19 pandemic.

Governor Beshear made a conscious decision to shut down our state.

The gravest disaster of the Beshear administration is he put people out of business and they didn't have the confidence to get them paid.

The decisions that were made by Andy Beshear lack common sense.

I think that the economic harm to Governor Beshear has done to Kentucky is reprehensible.

His family businesses shut down our schools and he violated our rights.

Five of the candidates for governor were invited to appear, but the candidate shaking up the debate most was former attorney Eric Dieter's.

The whole state of Kentucky is filled with a bureaucratic mess.

And I'm going to go in there and I'm going to tear it all apart and fix it.

While two candidates attempted to stay out of the fray, agriculture Commissioner Ron Corales and Somerset Mayor Alan Keck.

I'm running to unite our state.

It's been decades since we've had a governor that works with the Kentucky General Assembly and we need to be looking beyond a one year or two year kick the can down the road mentality.

We need to have a long term growth set, fix problems.

You know, Kentucky hasn't reached its potential.

This is an incredible place.

And all Kentuckians understand that.

But we're not reaching what we're capable of.

Candidates were put on the spot by moderator Rene Short.

The Kentucky agriculture commissioner wouldn't answer questions about who won the 2020 presidential election.

Is yes or no.

President Biden's our president.

Did President Biden win the election fair and square.

That Donald Trump won big in Kentucky?

And that I think that there's reason to question some of the things that we saw in various cities around the United States.

The campaign has been forced to answer questions after financial reports showed her husband, coal magnate Joe Kraft, contributed $1.5 million to a super PAC backing the former U.N. ambassador.

The Kentucky Registry of Election Finance has said the contribution raises concerns about collusion between the PAC and the campaign.

Kraft said this on the matter.

Did you know about the controversy?

Did not know.

I was not aware of my husband's contributions.

And Attorney General Daniel Cameron was forced to answer questions about his political ambitions outside of this year's governor's race.

If there was a vacancy in 2026 and Kentucky for a U.S. Senate seat, do you vow tonight that you would finish your term if elected as governor for the whole four years and not seek that open Kentucky U.S. Senate seat?

I'm running to be the governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and want to help serve for the remainder of this decade as the governor.

And the candidates appear to be working to earn back some votes from a large bloc of Kentucky voters.

Teachers.

Former Republican Governor Matt Bevin upset many teachers during his one term as Kentucky governor.

But the current candidates appear to be trying to fix that burnt down bridge.

Our cheers, our teachers.

We value you.

We appreciate you.

I understand the importance of having teachers that feel appreciated.

This may have been voters final chance to see the two leading candidates, Kelly Craft and Daniel Cameron, before casting their ballot.

We're exactly two weeks from primary Election Day and knowing the answer to who will represent the GOP against likely Democratic nominee Andy Beshear For Kentucky Edition, I'm K.C.

Parker.

Bill.

Thank you, Casey.

If you missed last night's spirited debate or you just want to see it again, you can online on demand at Katie Dawgs K-Y tonight.

The Kentucky Democratic Party responded to last night's GOP debate here at Katie Coleman.

Al Ridge, the chair of the Kentucky Democratic Party, says all of the candidates showed why Kentucky voters won't replace Governor Andy Beshear.

We saw a desperate and unhinged fight to appeal to the most extreme fringe of their party and an effort to divide Kentuckians and to tear each other.

Apart from Kelly Craft.

We saw that she thinks that the path to victory lies in attacking teachers.

But Matt Bevin should call her in on what a poor choice that is.

Arab leaders is proud to have pled guilty to chasing his nephew in a truck and for using homophobic slurs.

And both front runners, Kraft and Cameron, are facing ethics complaints with questions they refuse to answer.

Kentuckians deserve better.

We heard and saw lots of culture war distractions.

But what we didn't see was anyone who should be governor.

Elbridge went on to say that the candidates spent more time shouting at each other during the debate than actually talking about the real issues facing Kentucky.