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Kentucky governor seeks vote to oust Davis bust from Capitol

FILE - In this Aug. 5, 2015 file photo, a statue of Jefferson Davis, left, faces a statue of Abraham Lincoln in the Rotunda of the state Capitol in Frankfort, Ky. The statues tower over visitors to Kentucky's Capitol, but the state's governor doesn't think the Confederate president belongs in the same space as the U.S. president who helped end slavery. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday, June 4, 2020 that he sees the Davis statue as a divisive symbol that should be removed from the Capitol Rotunda. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s governor has asked a state commission to vote to remove a statue of Jefferson Davis from the Capitol’s Rotunda, a day after another statue of the Confederate president was toppled by protesters in Virginia.

Gov. Andy Beshear’s request comes amid a rapidly unfolding protest movement to pull down Confederate monuments around the U.S. after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minnesota.


The Davis statue is one of several in the Rotunda and is located not far from a bronze likeness of Abraham Lincoln.

Both Civil War adversaries were born in Kentucky.