A new statement from Kelly Craft’s campaign for governor about her controversial “empty chair” advertisement is disappointing some Kentuckians.
The ad, in which Craft says that, as a mother, she has experienced an empty seat at her table due to the opioid epidemic, led many across the commonwealth to believe that one of Craft’s family members had died due to addiction.
Craft told LEX 18 last Thursday that the person she refers to in the ad is alive, saying the ad was clear.
Her campaign doubled down on the statement this week, providing the following statement to 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."
Jamison Bowden told LEX 18 he’s one of many Kentuckian who implied based on Craft’s ad that she had lost a family member due to opioids.
“That is a cruel misstatement to make because I know exactly what this is like,” Bowden said about the new Craft campaign statement.
Bowden lost his 24-year-old son Andrew to an opioid overdose in 2021, he said. Not even two years later, Andrew Bowden’s wife Sunny also died after an overdose.
“I hoped I could help him, but it wasn't enough,” Bowden said. “[Now,] there’s just a hole in my life.”
Ultimately, the ad and statement may have alienated the very people the ad targeted, Bowden said.
When he originally saw the advertisement, he said he thought, “that’s terrible about her loss, I’m sure she's really committed to the fight, but now I’m not so sure.”
Questions about the ad would have trailed off had Craft apologized, Bowden said.
The controversy centers on the following line in Craft’s advertisement.
“As a mother, this is personal to me because I've experienced that empty chair at my table,” Craft, the former U.N. ambassador said in the ad.
Most people who saw the ad likely inferred that one of Craft’s family member’s had passed away as a result of addiction, according to University of Kentucky political science professor Dr. Stephen Voss.
“That’s not what having an empty chair means,” Bowden said. “It’s permanent.”
The Craft campaign did not respond to a LEX 18 request for the same comment provided to Kentucky Health News.
