Steve Beshear in 2015 KY Governor's race

On Crime: Grant voting rights to ex-felons who completed sentences

But the policies have been controversial and provoked a partisan divide. Last December, newly elected Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) reversed an executive order by his Democratic predecessor to grant voting rights to ex-felons in the state once they had completed their sentences. Governor Bevin framed his opposition to the executive order signed by then-Gov. Steve Beshear (D) on procedural rather than ideological terms. "While I have been a vocal supporter of the restoration of rights, for example, it is an issue that must be addressed through the legislature and by the will of the people," he said in a statement.

On Crime: Restore right to vote to most nonviolent felons

Bevin suspended Beshear's Nov. 24 executive order that automatically restored the right to vote to most nonviolent felons who have served out their sentences--a pool that potentially included many tens of thousands of Kentuckians.

"While I have been a vocal supporter of the restoration of rights," Bevin said in a prepared statement, "it is an issue that must be addressed through the legislature and by the will of the people." Restoration of civil rights includes the right to vote, to serve on a jury, to hold elected office and to obtain a professional or vocational license.

On Jobs: Raise state worker minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10

Beshear's June 8 executive order raised the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour for hundreds of the lowest-paid workers in state government's executive branch and the employees of vendors who signed contracts with the executive branch.

An estimated 800 state workers who already have received pay raises as a result of Beshear's order may keep them, but all new state hires will start at the previously established pay scale, Bevin said. The current minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.