The contenders spent the bulk of the hour on issues related to education, pensions and teacher pay, energy, and ways to keep Kentucky competitive.
Republican state senator Robby Mills, a small business owner, and Democratic Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, who has a background in education, took on the issue of Kentucky's lagging workforce numbers.
"The policies that that they have put forward are encouraging people to stay at home," Mills said of the Beshear administration's Medicaid expansion and posture toward workforce issues. "They've had four years to solve that. They have not solved that."
"Over 50% of Kentuckians on Medicaid are working," Coleman replied. "When the governor expanded Medicaid to cover dental, vision, and hearing, it was for workforce purposes. If you can't get glasses, then you might not be able to drive to work... These are common sense solutions."
Mills credited the legislature's work in creating the state's large rainy day fund, making Kentucky attractive to business through lowered taxes and the right-to-work law, and called for an education catch-up plan that would emphasize one-time investments that won't continue to hamper the budget.
"We need to make sure that when we're investing... that they're one-time costs and we know what those one-time costs are," Mills said, after Coleman didn't offer an overall estimate for the cost of universal pre-k, which she supports.
Coleman, meanwhile, stressed the need to catch teachers up when it comes to pay, took Mills to task over backing the pension changes sought under the Bevin administration, and called for more long-term solutions.
"When we talk about making sure that kids have what they need, it is not a one and done. You cannot say this is a one-time investment and it's taken care of. That's not how education works," she responded.
Mills also said he would consider a constitutional amendment allowing a statewide school choice program, potentially allowing public dollars to flow into non-public schools. The Democrat said a statewide program of that kind would funnel public dollars into unaccountable private schools.
On energy, the Republican lawmaker argued for keeping more coal-fired plants open, warned of black outs under the current closure schedule, and said he believe climate change is "not as big as what it appears to be."
"I believe that there are effects that industry puts forward that could raise the temperature, but it's not as large of a raise as they're talking about," the Republican said.
Regarding environmental questions, Coleman said, "First, I'll tell you climate change is real," going on to say the commonwealth needs an "all of the above" approach to energy.
Coleman has been visible as at press conferences over her term, many focused on education. Mills has kept a low profile since being named Daniel Cameron's running mate.
Both answered that they are prepared to step into the top role were that to be necessary.
