Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Kelly Craft, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President Donald Trump, announced Wednesday that she will be running for Kentucky governor.
Craft, who served as ambassador from November 2019 until January 2021 launched her campaign website, putting her into a crowded field of Republican candidates vying for their party's nomination in 2023.
On her campaign website, Craft said she will "seek to repair the connection between the people and their leadership, to give back to Kentucky a core of honesty and compassion."
"I am running for the people of the state I love, the people with whom I've grown up, and to honor the parents who cared so much for me, showed me what life is, taught me real values, loved me, and loved the state they worked throughout their lives," a statement on the website said.
Craft is expected to use part of her substantial wealth for her campaign. Her husband Joseph's net worth has exceeded $1 billion and the two are top donors to the University of Kentucky basketball program.
The couple also spent $2.5 million on an auctioned country ham at the Kentucky Farm Bureau's breakfast last month.
Current Democratic Governor Andy Beshear has raised about $3.5 million since last year.
The other Republican candidates running are Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Auditor of Public Accounts Mike Harmon, State Rep. Savannah Maddox, and Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles.
Trump has already endorsed Cameron.
