"[14][22][23] In late June 2012, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy announced that Bevin Brothers would receive $100,000 in grants from the state's Small Business Express program to assist in the rebuilding effort.

[24] Flanked by Senator Richard Blumenthal, Bevin announced in July 2012 that he would sell souvenirs including T-shirts, and bells and bricks salvaged from the gutted factory, to raise additional funds for rebuilding.

[31] Bevin responded with ads accusing McConnell of voting for higher taxes, government bailouts, increases in the debt ceiling, and confirmation of liberal judicial nominees.

[36] By mid-October 2013, McConnell's campaign indicated it would look beyond Bevin and focus its advertising against Alison Lundergan Grimes, the frontrunner in the race for the Democratic senatorial nomination, calling her "my real opponent".

[39] McConnell's campaign then launched another ad, based on a story published by BuzzFeed, claiming Bevin had failed to disclose a federal tax lien when applying for the state grant to rebuild his family business, which could be a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine under Connecticut law.

[11][43] He opposed U.S. intervention in the Syrian Civil War and the disbursement of foreign aid to countries that deny basic freedoms to their citizens or are guilty of human rights violations.

[47][48] In January 2014, the conservative Madison Project political action committee announced it would open field offices in Louisville, Florence, Owensboro, Glasgow and Bowling Green from which to launch get-out-the-vote efforts on Bevin's behalf.

[59] Scott Lasley, a political science professor at Western Kentucky University and chairman of the Warren County Republican Party, criticized Bevin's appearance at the rally, saying, "Either they were totally unvetted and unprepared for it, which says a lot about the campaign and its ability to compete at this level, or...they think that message is going to be receptive.

[68] All Republican members of Kentucky's congressional caucus joined McConnell in signing the pledge except 4th District congressman Thomas Massie, a legislator aligned with the Tea Party.

[74] An August 2014 survey by Public Policy Polling showed that 25% of Republicans wanted Bevin to be the party's gubernatorial nominee, ahead of declared candidates James Comer (20%) and Hal Heiner (18%).

[76] During his announcement, he introduced his running mate, Jenean Hampton, a Tea Party activist who lost her bid to unseat State Representative Jody Richards the previous year.

[76] Bevin joined a field that included Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer, former Louisville Councilman Hal Heiner, and former Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Will T.

[76] The National Journal predicted that Bevin would draw support away from Comer, the early front-runner, who had been appealing to Tea Party groups and already secured Congressman Massie's endorsement.

"[83] By early April, pro-Heiner ads from Citizens for a Sound Government revived charges of taking bailouts and tax delinquency against Bevin and attacked Comer for accepting thousands of dollars in farm subsidies.

[94] During a debate featuring all four Republican candidates on Kentucky Sports Radio, Bevin said, "I don't know if [Heiner's] behind the Comer story, but I'm telling you his people have been pushing this for a long time.

[96] Lowell Reese, of Kentucky Roll Call, reported on September 28, 2015, that the Comer campaign had leaked to the Herald-Leader emails showing that the husband of Crosbie had been in contact with the blogger.

[112] He then referenced Bevin's statements in a May Republican debate citing studies suggesting educational gains effected by the federal Head Start Program are lost by the third grade.

In a late July debate sponsored by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Bevin continued to insist that the state could not afford the Medicaid expansion authorized by Governor Beshear.

[123] After Rowan County clerk Kim Davis defied Judge David Bunning's order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, Bevin commended her "willingness to stand for her First Amendment rights".

[125] On September 8, 2015, Bevin met with Davis in the jail and later attended a rally organized by Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee celebrating her subsequent release.

"[135] On August 10, Fark founder Drew Curtis submitted the requisite petition signatures to appear on the gubernatorial ballot as an Independent candidate with his wife, Heather, as his running mate.

[143] Analyst Ronnie Ellis speculated that the Republicans' victories set the stage for the party to take control of the state House of Representatives in the November 2016 elections.

"[167] In response, Lexington Herald-Leader political cartoonist Joel Pett published a cartoon depicting Bevin hiding under his desk, his floor strewn with newspapers featuring stories about the Paris attacks, with an aide telling him, "Sir, they're not terrorists.... they're your own adopted kids!

[194] In his final month of office, Bevin pardoned or commuted the sentences of 428 people, including 336 mostly white drug offenders, but some convicted of crimes such as murder, manslaughter, and rape.

[201] In January 2016, Bevin's administration sent a cease and desist letter to Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky ordering it to stop performing abortions at its clinic in Louisville because it did not have the required license.

[202] Bevin filed suit against Planned Parenthood in February, claiming it had illegally performed 23 abortions without a license; the suit said Planned Parenthood's licensure application was deficient because it did not include agreements with a hospital and ambulance service to care for patients in case of complications, as required by state law, and that Beshear's inspector general was wrong in instructing the organization to begin performing abortions before the license was approved.

[205] On March 18, Fayette County Circuit Judge Ernesto Scorsone declined to issue a cease and desist order to EMW, finding that the first trimester abortions performed there "do not require sedation or the services of an anesthesiologist", suggesting that the clinic was a physician's office.

[245][246] On March 27, 2017, Bevin vetoed a bill that would have allowed a judge to order mentally disabled people to undergo outpatient treatment if they could not recognize their condition and if they had a history of hospitalization, due to his concerns over its effects of individual liberty.

The school, an unlicensed "troubled teen" program, was later shut down following an unannounced inspection of the facility on February 8, 2024, by the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) upon being alerted by the U.S. Embassy of possible abuse and neglect.

The CPFSA and embassy officials found eight American boys aged 14–18 confined in primitive conditions without soap, toothpaste, lavatory paper or even running water in one bathroom.