Kentucky Democrats to move to downtown Frankfort after selling building
For years, the Kentucky Democratic Party’s Wendell H. Ford headquarters sat at a prominent and visible perch along Interstate-64.
That won’t be the case by Friday, Dec. 5.
The party has sold its old headquarters, named after the late former governor and senator, and is moving to a new office in downtown Frankfort on Ann Street at the end of the week, Nat Turner, the party spokesperson, confirmed to the Herald-Leader on Dec. 1.
The party sold its multi-floored headquarters for $540,000 on Oct. 15 to Means Drive, LLC, a company run by the Suffoletta family of Suff’s Furniture in Nicholasville.
Since 2021, Democrats have been working towards the sale.
Party operations have been run from an office on the west side of Frankfort, not the old headquarters, for years already, according to Kentucky Democratic Party Executive Director Morgan Eaves. The move downtown brings party officials and staff closer to the action, she said.
“We want to be closer to downtown Frankfort, closer to our elected officials and closer to where the actions of our government take place,” Eaves said in an interview.
Adam Hope, a spokesperson for the Republican Party of Kentucky, wrote in a statement that the move is reflective of the state Democratic Party’s decline. Excluding Beshear’s wins, Democrats have suffered routine electoral defeats and declining numbers in the state legislature.
“Kentucky Democrats have officially closed their headquarters. Since Governor Beshear took office, Kentucky Republicans have flipped voter registration, expanded our supermajorities and now hold nearly every federal and constitutional office. The Beshear playbook is simple. Ride Republican success while ignoring the collapse happening inside your own party,” Hope wrote.
Republicans have been operating out of an office in South Frankfort, close to the state Capitol, for many years. The building, named after longtime Sen. Mitch McConnell, was recently expanded. The new addition adds nearly 7,000 square feet and a 160-person auditorium to the space.
The Kentucky Democratic Party’s relocation brings its headquarters much closer to the state Capitol, and, in particular, the governor’s new office. As part of the multi-million-dollar Capitol renovations, Beshear’s office recently moved from the Capitol to the Old Governor’s Mansion on High Street.
Eaves told the Herald-Leader that she thinks the state GOP’s priorities are out of whack if they’re focusing on the Democrats’ office moves.
“Republicans should be more concerned about their constituents who are going to lose access to health care and food because of the Republican-sponsored federal budget and less concerned about where the KDP’s headquarters are, but I haven’t seen any press releases about that lately,” Eaves said.
This story was originally published December 1, 2025 at 12:20 PM.
