Governor Beshear takes tour as public gets first look inside Blue Oval SK battery plant

Oakdale, Ky (WAVE) - Just under 3 months before election day, Governor Andy Beshear returned to the Blue Oval SK battery plant in Hardin County, the site of his administration’s biggest economic development victory.

”It didn’t just put us on the map, overnight it made us a leader,” Beshear said after touring one of two massive buildings where the batteries for Ford electric vehicles will be assembled. “And these plants up and operational are only going to bring in more suppliers, more jobs, and more national attention to Kentucky.”

A $5.8 billion investment and a promise of thousands of jobs are numbers that are hard to beat.

Governor Andy Beshear is counting on that to win re-election as the Blue Oval Battery Park continues to take shape.

Polling by Morning Consult showed Beshear’s popularity on the rise at the end of June, demonstrating his “highest approval rating since Biden took office in January 2021.”

64% of all voters said they approved of the job Beshear is doing. That included a surprising number of Republicans, with 49% approving.

Since then, GOP attacks on all of Beshear’s records have been constant. On Monday, challenger Daniel Cameron attempted to link Beshear to the less popular President Joe Biden.

”He embraces Joe Biden, and he lectures from a podium in Frankfort,” Cameron said. “Neither is getting it done for you and Kentucky families.”

When asked about the criticism, Beshear said, “Daniel Cameron knows that if they actually talk about my record and what’s going on in Kentucky, the people of Kentucky are going to re-elect me. That’s why they’re trying to distract, that’s why they’re trying to lie, and that’s why they’re trying to tie us to other people.”

Regardless of who wins the election, the Blue Oval SK Park will be the gift that keeps giving as it is on schedule to begin operations in 2025.