Election officials double-checking Kentucky vote totals

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Republican Gov. Matt Bevin conceded to Democratic archnemesis Andy Beshear on Thursday, putting an end to Kentucky’s bitterly fought governor’s race and setting the stage for divided government in a GOP stronghold.

Bevin, an ally of President Donald Trump, made the dramatic announcement outside his statehouse office on the same day election officials across Kentucky double-checked vote totals at the governor’s request. Bevin, trailing by several thousand votes, acknowledged the recanvass wouldn’t change the outcome.

“We’re going to have a change in the governorship based on the vote of the people,” Bevin said at the news conference.

Promising Kentuckians that “we won’t let you down,” Beshear said later in the day that he’s ready to help build the “next chapter” of Kentucky’s future.

Looking ahead to dealing with a GOP-led legislature, the governor-elect urged policymakers to find common ground and to “civilly disagree” when they can’t.

“If we can work together on the areas that we agree on and we can cut down on the rhetoric in the areas that we don’t, there is a significant amount that we can get done,” he said. “I believe that the areas that are so important for Kentucky, for instance the health and the education of our people, aren’t partisan at all.”

It was a subdued scene as members of Bevin’s administration watched the pugnacious governor graciously wish Beshear — the state’s attorney general — well in his new role.