Daniel Cameron is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 51st Attorney General of Kentucky. He became the first African-American, and the first Republican since 1943, to be elected to the office.
Daniel Cameron Personal Life
Daniel Cameron was born on 22 November 1985 in Plano, Texas, United States to African parents. He grew up in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. His mother was a professor at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College and his father owned a local coffee shop.
Daniel Cameron Career
Cameron clerked for Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky for two years, from 2011 to 2013. Between 2013 and 2015, he worked for 18 months at the law firm Stites and Harbison. From 2015 to 2017, Cameron served as legal counsel to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, for whom Tatenhove himself previously worked. He was responsible for ensuring that the office followed Senate ethics rules and helped secure the confirmations of conservative federal judges such as Neil Gorsuch. In 2017, Cameron returned to Louisville and joined the law firm Frost Brown Todd as a senior government affairs partner.
Cameron ran for Kentucky attorney general in 2019, defeating state senator Wil Schroder in the Republican primary by 132,400 (55.3%) to 106,950 (44.7%) votes. After the primaries, President Donald Trump endorsed him. In the November 2019 general election, Cameron defeated the Democratic candidate, former Attorney General Greg Stumbo, with 57.8 percent of the vote. He was the first Republican elected attorney general of Kentucky since Eldon S. Dummit, who served from 1944 to 1948. He is also the state’s first African-American attorney general. After former Republican lieutenant governor Jenean Hampton, Cameron became Kentucky’s second African-American officer and the first to be elected independently (since Hampton shared the 2015 gubernatorial ticket with Matt Bevin). Cameron’s term as Attorney General was due to begin on 6 January 2020.
However, on December 17, 2019, newly elected Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear signed an executive order appointing Cameron to the position vacated by Beshear’s resignation after winning the gubernatorial election. Immediately after the order was signed, Cameron was formally sworn in by U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove, whom Cameron has served since law school. On March 27, 2020, Cameron called for an end to abortions in Kentucky during the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that it is an elective medical procedure that should be covered by the state ban during the pandemic. In the final days of the legislative session, the Kentucky legislature voted to give the attorney general the authority to regulate abortion clinics, but Governor Beshear vetoed the bill. Cameron initiated unsuccessful legal challenges to executive actions that Governor Beshear took to combat the spread of COVID-19.
In a court filing in July 2020, Cameron asked a state judge to invalidate all of Beshear’s COVID-19 orders and to bar the governor from issuing or enforcing any further COVID-19 orders. Cameron described his request as an attempt “to protect the rights of Kentuckians”; Beshear condemned Cameron’s motion as “scary and reckless,” and said it would endanger public health, lead to more deaths, and harm the economy. The governor noted that Cameron’s filing called for the invalidation of executive action that required face masks in public places, imposed restrictions on public gatherings, expanded workers’ compensation eligibility for workers who were under quarantine due to exposure to the virus, and the waiver of copays, deductibles, and other costs associated with COVID-19-related healthcare. In an interim order in July 2020, the Kentucky Supreme Court blocked efforts by Cameron and lower courts to nullify the executive orders, pending the state Supreme Court’s review.
In November 2020, the Kentucky Supreme Court unanimously upheld the constitutionality of Beshear’s emergency coronavirus executive orders. In December 2020, after initially Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove of the Federal District Court in Frankfort, Kentucky, whom Cameron had clerked for, for two years, found in favor of Cameron in his lawsuit challenging an order from Beshear that temporarily closed all elementary, middle, and high schools in an effort to combat the pandemic, the US Supreme Court overturned the trial court’s opinion and held against Cameron. In November 2022, the Kentucky Bankers Association of 150 banks doing business in Kentucky sued Cameron in Franklin Circuit Court; Cameron had the case removed to the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky before Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove, for whom Cameron was previously a law clerk. It said Cameron has displayed “amazing and disturbing broad overreach” by overstepping his legal authority and did not have the authority to demand detailed information from banks as part of an investigation into their environmental lending practices, which it said was a big government intrusion on private businesses that could create “an ongoing state surveillance system.” Ballard Cassady, CEO of the association, said: “Kentucky banks must be allowed to make good business decisions for their bank, their customers, and community without worrying about how they relate to broader ideological or political goals.”
National Politics
When Cameron was elected Attorney General of Kentucky, some analysts considered Cameron a rising star of the Republican Party. He spoke at the 2020 Republican National Convention on August 24, 2020. In September 2020, Cameron appeared on President Donald Trump’s list of 20 nominees for the United States Supreme Court. Cameron announced his candidacy for governor on 11 May 2022. He criticized Beshear’s emergency orders during the COVID-19 pandemic and emphasized his opposition to abortion.
Former President Trump accepted Cameron’s gubernatorial offer. In the Republican primary, Cameron defeated challengers Kelly Craft and Ryan Quarles. And will face Andy Beshear in the Kentucky gubernatorial election on November 7, 2023. He became the first black gubernatorial candidate of a major party in state history. Attorney General Cameron, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, won a landslide victory over 12 candidates, including Kelly Craft, who served as a U.N. ambassador in the Trump administration, and state Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles. Beshear easily dispatched two under-the-radar Democratic challengers in his primary.
Daniel Cameron Relationship
Cameron was married twice. His first marriage to Elizabeth Cameron lasted from 2016 to 2017 when they divorced. He married for the second time on July 31, 2020, to Makenze Evans, a teacher. Cameron married Evans in August 2020 and their son was born on January 5, 2022.
Daniel Cameron Net Worth
Cameron has a net worth of $2.5 million. He earns via being a lawyer and politician. He gets a regular salary whose amount is not disclosed publicly.
Daniel Cameron Education
Cameron attended John Hardin High School in neighboring Radcliffe. Cameron received a scholarship from Senator Mitch McConnell to attend the University of Louisville, where he first met McConnell. He graduated from Brandeis School of Law with a BS in 2008 and a JD in 2011, where he served as Student Bar Association President.
Daniel Cameron Twitter Account
Having a wonderful time at the 149th Kentucky Derby with my beautiful wife Makenze. Moments like these make me cherish the love I have for her and our Commonwealth! pic.twitter.com/1Qv0DArZQm
— Daniel Cameron (@DanielCameronAG) May 6, 2023
Daniel Cameron Instagram Account
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Daniel Cameron Physical Stats
Height | 5 feet 10 inches |
Weight | 62 kg |
Hair Color | Black |
Eye Color | Black |
Daniel Cameron Wiki/Bio
Name | Daniel Cameron |
Full Name | Daniel Jay Cameron |
Date Of Birth | 22 November 1985 |
Age | 37 (as of 2023) |
Birthplace | Plano, Texas, United States |
Profession | lawyer and politician |
Party | Republican Party |
Nationality | American |
Religion | Unknown |
Zodiac Sign | Sagittarius |
Gender | Male |
Parents | Unknown |
Siblings | Unknown |
Partner | N/A |
Spouse | Elizabeth Cameron (m. 2016; div. 2017)
Makenze Evans (m. 2020) |
Children | 1 |
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