Ron DeSantis joined a lot of other Republican public figures with his endorsement of Kelly Craft for Kentucky’s Republican nominee for governor. Today is election day in Kentucky and voters will go to the polls to select their choice for the party’s nomination. Will Republican voters choose former U.N. ambassador Kelly Craft or Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron?

DeSantis made the last-minute endorsement for Craft as the likely outcome of Tuesday’s primary election is up in the air. The endorsement, done without fanfare, is being billed as the first square-off between Trump and DeSantis in a test of endorsement power. The interesting thing here is that Craft worked for the Trump administration. She was appointed by Trump to be his ambassador to Canada, and then his U.N. ambassador after the resignation of Nikki Haley. Why was she capable and qualified for those substantial jobs but not governor of Kentucky?

Maybe it is because Trump endorsed early in the race and it was before Craft entered the race. But, he stuck with Cameron. Trump has not appeared with Cameron in person but he did hold a tele-rally for him earlier this week. Craft, in the meantime, has a lot of big endorsements – GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Mike Pompeo, Ted Cruz, House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-KY), and National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd. The race is seen as a bellwether for Republican chances at winning the White House and taking back the Senate in 2024. The winner of the primary race goes on to face Democrat incumbent Governor Andy Beshear in November.

There are 10 other Republican candidates in the race, including Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, who is endorsed a large number of Kentucky farmers and 235 local elected officials, including one-third of all county judge executives. This is what Republicans do, right? An embarrassment of riches in candidates and yet the party divides and supports various candidates instead of uniting around one – preferably, the most solid candidate to beat the Democrat in November’s general election.

The Wall Street Journal points out that the Democrat governor is popular and will be difficult to beat. He’s not a crazy progressive like Gavin Newsom or Kathy Hochul.

Whoever wins the GOP nomination will face a challenging opponent in Mr. Beshear, who was rated the most popular Democratic governor in the country by survey firm Morning Consult in January. Though he heads a state that has become solidly Republican in presidential elections, he has cultivated a brand as a nonpartisan and compassionate leader who has steered the state through disasters including the Covid-19 pandemic, deadly tornadoes and devastating flooding, according to strategists in both parties.

“Andy Beshear will not be easy to beat,” said Bill Stone, the former Republican chairman in Jefferson County, Ky., which includes Louisville. “Andy has conducted himself with dignity.”

Cameron is thought to be the frontrunner but Craft is a serious contender. Cameron is surely counting on the Trump endorsement to help him win. Trump is popular in Kentucky, according to latest polls on the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

In his endorsement, DeSantis noted that Craft is a warrior against wokeism.

“Hello, this is Governor Ron DeSantis, coming to you from the free state of Florida. You’ve had a woke, liberal governor who’s put a radical agenda ahead of Kentuckians. The stakes couldn’t be higher. I know what it takes to stand up for what’s right, and Kelly Craft’s got it. She’s proven it,” DeSantis said in a recorded statement shared with Fox News Digital.

“I’m strongly encouraging you to go out and vote for my friend, Kelly Craft. Kelly shares the same vision we do in Florida. She will stand up to the left as they try to indoctrinate our children with their woke ideology. Kelly will fight against crazy ESG policies that are trying to end the coal industry in Kentucky. And Kelly’s going to do everything in her power to end the fentanyl crisis that is hurting Kentucky families,” he said.

“When you vote tomorrow, Tuesday, May 16th, vote for my friend, Kelly Craft, and get Kentucky on the path to becoming a free state like Florida,” he added.

This primary race is a chance for Trump to improve his record on major endorsements after suffering some embarrassing losses in the 2022 midterm elections. We’ll see what happens tonight. Neither of Kentucky’s two Republican senators, Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, have endorsed in the race.