After backlash against ‘empty seat’ opioid ad, Craft reframes & doubles down

Kelly Craft’s campaign for governor is moving forward with its messaging on addiction in Kentucky despite recent pushback against an ad that some say misleadingly insinuated that she lost a loved one to addiction.

The initial ad – Craft’s second on television in a recent ad blitz – saw the 2023 GOP candidate for governor referencing “a spot missing” at the kitchen table due to “fentanyl and other dangerous drugs,” adding that the issue was personal to her “as a mother:” Craft later revealed that the person was a living family member who struggled with addiction, which caused some critics to call it insensitive, pointing out that many interpreted the “empty chair” as a reference to a lost loved one.

Lexington television station LEX18 ran multiple stories highlighting the opinions of those who had family members pass due to an addiction taking offense to the campaign’s ad, and the Herald-Leader posted an op-ed critical of the ad in a similar vein.

In response to the criticisms, the campaign told Kentucky Health News: “It’s insensitive and malicious to think an empty chair implies only death, and shows that those implying such don’t understand the pain caused by the drug epidemic.”

In newly released videos, supporters of Craft, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, respond to those criticisms. That includes Heather Wise, the wife of Craft running mate Sen. Max Wise, R-Campbellsville. The supporters in the clips explain that their understanding of Craft’s “empty chair” at the table includes loved ones who have struggled but have not necessarily died of addiction. Heather Wise said that she has both lost close family members to addiction and had some, like her father, recover.

The videos also take aim at “the media.”

“I think that the media’s portrayal of an empty seat is very insensitive. That means something different for every family. Not every family has had the worst-case scenario – that permanent empty seat at their table that we’ve experienced,” Heather Wise, who is a dentist in Campbellsville, said.

The videos are accompanied by a callout from the Craft campaign for supporters to share their stories experiencing a “loss due to an addiction.”

A statement from the campaign on the latest videos and callout stated that Craft’s story is “touching the hearts of Kentuckians” who have been affected by addiction.

Along with Wise’s story, the campaign posted a video interview with Jefra Hines, another Campbellsville resident best known for being a former Miss Teen Kentucky USA and her appearance on a season of popular reality TV show Survivor.

Hines recounted her experience growing up with a father who was an addict, who later got clean and eventually opened up a rehabilitation center with her.

“I do understand their perspective and probably why (the media) is trying to twist this and spin this… However, it is disheartening to me because I feel like I was that kid with that empty seat. Yes, that seat is full now, but that pain never goes away,” Hines said.

Western Kentucky University political science professor Saundra Ardrey said that the move by the Craft campaign is a potentially savvy one.

“I think she’s reframing as well as reaffirming her stance. I think she’s following campaign management protocol. Whatever criticism comes your way, you must respond. It’s so early in the campaign that she does not want this to define her,” Ardrey said.

Ardrey added that as the only woman in the race – Rep. Savannah Maddox, R-Dry Ridge, dropped out late last year – Craft is likely to face more criticism than the 11 men running for the GOP nomination for governor. “Her message gets more scrutiny and her appearance gets more scrutiny,” Ardrey said.

Related to the addiction ad, Craft also released and aired a video of her standing in front of a section of U.S.-Mexico border wall decrying “our own border crisis: criminal and illegal drugs like fentanyl are flooding into our state, ravaging our communities.”

Addiction and the problem of drug abuse, Ardrey said, allows Craft to “walk a tightrope” between affirming that she’s ‘tough’ enough to be governor while also leaning on some of the positive stereotypes voters often associate with women.

Fentanyl and addiction are issues that other gubernatorial candidates have addressed, but none on the Republican side have the public megaphone that Craft’s television ads.

The Craft campaign has been all over television across the state since launching its introductory ad in early January, and it’s spending record amounts of money to amplify its message.

On one television station alone – WKYT, Lexington’s highest-rated station – the campaign has spent nearly $71,000 on ads in one month.

Craft is expected to have the fundraising advantage throughout this primary, given her access to immense wealth through her husband Joe Craft, a billionaire coal magnate and philanthropist.

The first independent poll of the cycle put Craft down against Attorney General Daniel Cameron by 26 percentage points, though it also showed that Craft has risen from relatively unknown to second place in the GOP primary in four months. However, Craft fared the worst of any Republican candidate polled against Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, according to the poll.

Heather Wise said that Craft and Wise’s focus on the issue in ads and other messaging shows that “they can relate” to everyday Kentuckians.

“I think it shows that they can relate – that they’re real people, real individuals that have families that have life experiences just like everyone else,” Heather Wise said.