Politics
Beshear asks Kentucky auditor for new ethics commission nominees by Oct. 28
Gov. Andy Beshear rejected three candidates submitted by Republican Auditor Allison Ball for the Executive Branch Ethics Commission, calling the list partisan. Ball said the nominees were qualified and argued the rejection undermines trust in the ethics process.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has rejected three nominees put forward by Republican Auditor Allison Ball for the state’s Executive Branch Ethics Commission and asked her to submit a new list by Oct. 28, escalating a dispute over appointments to the agency that oversees ethics rules for executive branch employees.
Ball said she submitted the names Wednesday and was disappointed Beshear rejected them within hours without an explanation. In a statement Thursday, she described the candidates as highly qualified and said rejecting them did a “profound disservice” to Kentuckians.
Beshear spokesperson Scottie Ellis called Ball’s slate “a clear political stunt,” saying it appeared focused on partisanship and publicity rather than selecting an appropriate ethics enforcer. Ellis said the governor hopes Ball will take her next round of nominations more seriously.
The nominees were Christine Trout Van Tatenhove, special counsel to Republican House Speaker David Osborne; former Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Laurance VanMeter; and David Beck, a former president and CEO of Kentucky Venues.
Their backgrounds intersect with recent political and legal disputes involving Beshear. Trout Van Tatenhove is married to former federal judge Gregory Van Tatenhove, whose appointment as dean of the University of Kentucky College of Law drew criticism from Beshear over what the governor described as partisan outside influence. Laurance VanMeter is married to Fayette Circuit Judge Lucy VanMeter, who is running for the state Court of Appeals against Judge Will Moynahan, a Beshear appointee. Beck was removed from his Kentucky Venues role this summer after the state Supreme Court struck down a 2021 law that would have shifted control of the state fair board away from the governor.
Ball praised the nominees’ legal, judicial and agricultural experience, saying any of them would serve with independence and distinction. Beshear’s office, in a letter to Ball, requested a replacement list by Oct. 28.
The nominations were made under a 2020 executive order that allows the attorney general and auditor to each provide the governor with three names for a commission appointment. State law permits the governor to reject a list and request another.
The commission’s appointment process has been part of a broader fight over executive authority. In June, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional a 2022 law that gave executive officials other than the governor appointment power over the ethics commission. The court also struck down a separate law concerning the state fair board. Republican lawmakers approved both measures during Beshear’s first term, and Republican executive branch officials later asked the court to reconsider its decision.