With Beshear ruling out Senate run, some Kentucky Democrats’ attention turns to top ally
Rocky Adkins, a onetime runner-up to Gov. Andy Beshear in the last competitive Democratic governor’s primary, is leaving the door open on a run for the U.S. Senate in 2026.
That possibility excites many Kentucky Democrats as the party looks to send one of its own back to the Senate after more than 25 years away. With Sen. Mitch McConnell deciding to not seek reelection, 2026 marks the first open Senate seat race since 2010.
Adkins, who has served as a senior advisor to Beshear, has carved out a highly visible role in the governor’s office, in the state legislature and throughout the commonwealth. He’s particularly popular in his native Eastern Kentucky, where he won more than 80% of the vote in several counties.
Sherman Brown, a lobbyist with McCarthy Strategic Solutions who used to work as a Democratic campaign staffer, tagged Adkins as a top contender for the nomination.
“With his experience and leadership on important issues to Kentuckians, it’s logical that Rocky Adkins would be a frontrunner for the U.S. Senate race,” Brown said. “Rocky Adkins would be a formidable candidate who would continue to use his voice to advocate for Kentucky.”
Adkins himself said in a statement provided to the Herald-Leader that he’s received “a lot of calls and encouragement to run for the Senate.”
“He’s humbled and honored by all the support and enthusiasm from across the commonwealth,” Emily Ferguson, an associate and spokesperson for Adkins, said.
She added that Adkins has made no decision to run for any office yet.
Beshear, who is widely believed to be mulling a run for president in 2028, has repeatedly shot down the possibility of running for the Senate seat himself.
Currently, only one Democrat and one Republican with significant name ID have officially entered the race.
State House Minority Floor Leader Pamela Stevenson of Louisville, who lost to Attorney General Russell Coleman in the 2023 attorney general’s race by 16 points, has stepped up on the Democrats’ side.
Former attorney general Daniel Cameron is the only Republican to have launched a run for the office since McConnell’s announcement last month.
A spokesperson for Stevenson did not comment for this story.
In comments to the press, Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman has indicated she will not run for Congress in 2026. She and Adkins are two names most often floated as Democrats who could run for governor in 2027.
According to two Democratic strategists in Kentucky, both of whom requested anonymity due to the evolving nature of the situation, Adkins is seen as Democrats’ best bet for Senate in a ruby red state.
“There’s an emerging consensus among many in the party, given that Andy isn’t running, that Rocky would be the strongest candidate possible,” one said.
The second strategist mentioned that there is growing interest from the national party “not just for this seat, but in him, particularly, as a candidate.”
Greg Stumbo, a fellow Eastern Kentucky Democrat who served as speaker of the House when Adkins was floor leader, said that he’s heard of increasing interest in Adkins for the role. Stumbo argued that Adkins is a “more middle-of-the-road, rural Democrat that used to have a lot of success in this state.”
Stumbo also said his ties to Beshear over the governor’s time in office could help.
“He’s got a very strong hand to play from because he spent the last five-plus years traveling the state with Beshear, seeing local people, making those connections that are still important in rural Kentucky,” Stumbo said. “It’s not like he’d be starting on square one.”
To add to the intrigue, a top Washington Democratic pollster is in the field asking questions about Adkins, Stevenson, potential Republican candidates, Beshear, President Donald Trump and his actions about two months into his presidency.
The poll came from Public Policy Polling, a prolific firm with deep ties to Democrats in the nation’s capital. Prominent elections analyst Nate Silver gave the firm an “A-” predictive grade.
The pollsters’ questions don’t pit Adkins and Stevenson against each other. Instead, it asks voters how each would fare in hypothetical match-ups against Cameron, Lexington-area U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, Northern Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie and tech entrepreneur Nate Morris.
It also asks respondents if they support GOP-proposed cuts to Medicaid spending — Kentuckians are among the most reliant on the program in the nation — and Trump’s tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
Democrats have not cracked a single-digit loss margin in any U.S. Senate race since 2008, when entrepreneur Bruce Lunsford lost to McConnell by about six percentage points.
It hasn’t been close since 2004, when state Senator Daniel Mongiardo nearly knocked off late senator Jim Bunning, falling just one point short.
Kentucky political stalwart Wendell Ford was the last Democrat to hold the office, electing not to seek a fifth term in the 1998 race.
Since then, Republicans have racked up major wins in federal races and in the state legislature, where they now control four-fifths majorities in the House and Senate.
Adkins, 65, is a statehouse veteran. He was the House Democratic floor leader for 15 years, most of which were when Democrats held the majority, and touts deep relationships with members of the legislature. That includes Republican leadership in both chambers, who see Rocky as a conduit between them and Beshear.
That relationship was the subject recent joke cracked by House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect, at a Kentucky Chamber of Commerce event.
“Much is made of my relationship with the governor and it’s just not true,” Osborne said. “We’re on a first name basis. He calls me ‘David’ and I call him ‘Rocky.’”
In the 2019 Democratic primary against Beshear and former state auditor Adam Edelen, who raised significant money, Adkins performed well in rural areas but got hosed in the state’s largest Democratic enclaves. He fell well short of his competitors in Fayette County and especially Louisville, where he only got 9,908 votes to Beshear’s 46,683.
Take the state’s largest city out of the equation and Adkins would have won the race by about 13,000 votes.
Adkins separated himself from the pack in that race by emphasizing his folksier side, kicking off his campaign with an ad featuring his bluegrass guitar-playing skills.
One issue hampered him among mainstream Democrats, though: abortion.
Adkins was in the state legislature’s pro-life caucus and voted for several anti-abortion bills during his time there; it wasn’t uncommon for some Kentucky Democrats to do so, but is now anathema to many in the party. The issue was used against him during the Democratic primary.
The last Democratic candidate who raised a significant amount of money in a race for the U.S. Senate is Amy McGrath, a former U.S. Marine Corps fighter pilot who also ran for Barr’s House seat in 2018.
In that 2020 race against McConnell, McGrath fell short by nearly 20 percentage points.
McGrath, who created a still-active political action committee after her loss, told the Herald-Leader she hadn’t made her mind up about a run yet.
“It’s way too early right now,” McGrath said. “I’m doing what I can helping other candidates right now, I’m focused on that.”
This story was originally published March 6, 2025 at 11:17 AM.
