Rocky Adkins is running for governor of Kentucky, with a goal to bring decades of experience in Frankfort and a long list of relationships on both sides of the aisle to the Bluegrass State’s highest elected office.
“We have unfinished business that needs to be finished, work left to be done,” Adkins said in a recent Courier Journal interview announcing his intent to run. “… We need somebody that’s been on the ground, in the trenches, somebody that’s been in all 120 counties many, many times — somebody that knows the people of Kentucky, but I think even more importantly, that the people of Kentucky feel like they know them.”
A longtime state House Democratic leader who’s served as senior advisor to Gov. Andy Beshear in recent years, Adkins’ campaign launch sets the stage for a high-profile primary against current Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman ahead of the 2027 general election. Beshear, term-limited after winning the past two elections, will leave office at the end of next year.
Adkins has a long career in Kentucky politics, dating back to when Democrats were the dominant party in the commonwealth and up to the current Beshear administration. He leaned into that record when discussing his upcoming campaign.
A Sandy Hook native, Adkins was first elected to the state legislature in 1987 and spent 32 years in the House before taking on Beshear and Adam Edelen, a former Kentucky auditor, in the 2019 Democratic gubernatorial primary. Beshear won that race and invited Adkins, who’d considered running for U.S. Senate in 2020, to join his administration soon after his win over Gov. Matt Bevin in the general election.
He was approached again about campaigning for the U.S. Senate seat retiring Sen. Mitch McConnell is vacating this year, he said in a recent interview, but was hesitant about running for a chance to join the partisan “tug of war” in the nation’s Capitol — “I’m built for Kentucky. I’m not built for Washington, D.C.”
Adkins, 66, spent 16 years as the Democrats’ leader in the state House. He’s maintained ties to the legislature as a go-between at times between Republican lawmakers and Beshear, who have sparred throughout his time as governor.
“I’ve prided myself during my time of public service of being able to work across party aisles, being able to bring people together,” he said. “As majority leader, we’d go on the floor and we’d have a debate and when the debate was over, we’d go out and eat dinner that night and try to reach the middle and reach compromise.
“Now, saying that, I’ve got a backbone and I’ve got courage and I’m willing to push back. When I believe policies are coming out of Washington, D.C., or even the legislature that I don’t believe are good for Kentucky, I’m going to push back and I’m going to push back hard.”
Adkins’ lone current opponent in the primary is Coleman, who’s been Beshear’s lieutenant governor since he took office in 2020.
Coleman, 44, is a former teacher who had never held elected office before joining Beshear’s ticket. She launched her campaign in April with an endorsement from the regional Teamsters Local 89 and has deep ties to public education, having played a role in the teacher protests in 2018 over proposed changes to state employee health plans. She was recently endorsed by reproductive rights advocate Hadley Duvall, a Kentucky native who spoke at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
Adkins said he doesn’t have “anything but good things to say” about Coleman, who he’s worked with throughout Beshear’s time in office. But he has ties to labor and public education as well, he noted, as a former educator who was vocal in support of teachers during the 2018 protests over proposed changes to the state’s pension system.
“Labor groups, now that I am in the race, they know they have someone that’s walked shoulder-to-shoulder with them for almost 40 years,” he added.
The similarities don’t stop there. Both Democrats also have backgrounds in basketball. Adkins played point guard at Morehead State University while Coleman played at Centre College and coached during her time as a teacher.
No Republicans have officially launched bids at this point. Expect that to change in months ahead.
U.S. Rep. James Comer, up for reelection this November in a deep-red district, has gone from speculating about running to openly speaking about plans to launch a bid in December. Secretary of State Michael Adams and a few other Republicans have also said they could enter the race.
Beshear is the last Democrat in statewide office in Kentucky, with every other constitutional office currently held by the GOP.
Adkins finished second to Beshear in the 2019 Democratic gubernatorial primary, landing about 32% of the vote. He racked up wins in Eastern Kentucky and other rural counties but was trounced by Beshear in Louisville and Lexington, the state’s biggest cities.
Comer and some Democrats have speculated his more conservative stances on some issues likely hurt him in urban areas. In 2019, for instance, Adkins voted in favor of a bill that would outlaw abortions in Kentucky immediately if Roe v. Wade was overturned, an action the U.S. Supreme Court took three years later. Adkins has since said he remains in favor of exceptions in cases of rape, incest and when the health of the mother is in question, and he thinks the law before 2022 “struck a better balance than the law we have now.”
Still, Adkins said he’s optimistic his experience and potential electability against a Republican will appeal to Democratic primary voters.
More than six years working alongside Beshear have also helped him introduce himself to voters who may not have known him in 2019, he added. He’s been visible in his role as senior advisor, appearing recently in Louisville’s West End alongside Mayor Craig Greenberg to commemorate the opening of the Park DuValle Farmers Market and Wellness Center and on stage with Kentucky singer-songwriter Tyler Childers in June to recognize his induction to the Railbird Festival Hall of Fame.
“I think a lot of people within the Democratic Party are looking at me as the candidate that can win in November,” he said. “… I’m a candidate that can relate with folks within the party regardless of where they are or what their positions may be. I think I bring a common-sense approach, and I think we’re going to build a strong organization within the party across Kentucky.”
Adkins left his role as senior advisor in early July. Beshear, who has not endorsed in the primary, said he’d been “an invaluable part of Team Kentucky and our success.” Adkins was also recently appointed to the revamped Kentucky State Fair Board.
An event where Adkins will share his “vision for our future and what’s next” is planned for 4 p.m. July 21 in Lexington.
Kentucky’s 2027 primary races will take place on May 18, with the general election set for Nov. 2.
This story may be updated.
Reach The Courier Journal’s politics team at cjpolitics@courier-journal.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Rocky Adkins launches Kentucky governor run as Democrat who ‘can win’
Reporting by Lucas Aulbach, Louisville Courier Journal / Louisville Courier Journal
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By Lucas Aulbach, Louisville Courier Journal | USA TODAY Network
