Rocky Adkins, a former Democratic leader in the Kentucky House and senior advisor to Gov. Andy Beshear from Eastern Kentucky, is officially running for governor.
His campaign issued a press release Tuesday morning and released a video on social media. It opens with boxers fighting in a ring and then moves to Adkins speaking over shots of Kentuckians waking up to go to work and take care of their families.
“We’ve always been fighters,” Adkins says in the video before vowing to be a fighter for the commonwealth.
Beshear, who was elected in 2019 and 2023, is term-limited from running for governor again. Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, also a Democrat, announced her run for governor in April. Her campaign recently reported it raised $303,000.
“The governor of Kentucky is the last line of defense for the people of this commonwealth,” Adkins said in a press release. “That protection is only as strong as the person behind the desk. Right now, Kentucky needs a governor with the experience, backbone and record to take on these fights and win.”
Adkins, 66, an Elliott County native, represented the 99th House District, in Eastern Kentucky from 1987 to 2019. Beshear appointed Adkins as his senior adviser in 2019 after they had faced off in the primary earlier that year.
Adkins has been in the headlines recently after leaving Beshear’s administration and because the governor appointed him to the Kentucky State Fair Board last week, which recently switched the president and CEO after the governor gained control of the board following a recent Kentucky Supreme Court opinion.
Adkins will have an event Tuesday afternoon at The Burl in Lexington to share “my vision for our future and what’s next.”
The primary election will be held in May 2027. Rumored Republican candidates include U.S. Rep. James Comer and Secretary of State Michael Adams.
