While gubernatorial debate season might not have officially begun in Kentucky, the Republican and Democratic nominees have already made a joint appearance.
Jack Conway and Matt Bevin released their debate schedule this week, but missing from that list was one event – a closed-door forum with about a hundred coal industry representatives in Virginia earlier this month.
No invitations or alerts were sent to media.
While he stopped short of labeling the event a debate, Kentucky Coal Association president Bill Bissett told the Lexington-Herald Leader the two gubernatorial hopefuls did field questions and challenge one another on issues surrounding the coal industry. He added that Conway and Bevin staked out some common ground on the coal industry’s economic importance in the state, but soon diverged on other topics.
Both candidates are officially signed on to six debates and forums over the next five months.
