These Kentucky politicians could run for governor in 2027. Here’s what they say
The year is 2026, and there are plenty of elections to watch this May and November.
But with Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear term-limited from running again, the 2027 governor’s race is already garnering plenty of attention.
The Herald-Leader caught up with several possible candidates for the office at the end of the year, and quite a few of them sound like they’re clearing the runway.
Even more are keeping their options open.
Republican 1st Congressional District Rep. James Comer’s angling for the governor’s mansion is no secret. But Secretary of State Michael Adams, the top vote-getter in 2023, is also talking like a man seriously considering a run. Rep. Thomas Massie isn’t shooting down the prospect of a GOP primary run, either, and looming in the distance could be one of the losing 2026 U.S. Senate candidates.
The Democratic side is simple so far. It’s looking like a two-person field.
Rocky Adkins, who fell short to Beshear in a close primary race in 2019 and has served as a senior adviser since, isn’t denying interest. And Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman sounds like she’s prepping a run, too.
The Democrats
Adkins and Coleman have been barnstorming the state in ways you’d expect from people considering running for governor.
They have been speaking at county Democratic Party gatherings almost every week, giving party activists some insight into how they might compare on the stump in an eventual primary.
Both officials have also been standing in for the governor at various ribbon cutting ceremonies and community events from Pikeville to Paducah. Coleman has endorsed some Democratic primary candidates and attended election filings for state legislative candidates.
Spend any time on their respective Facebook pages and you’ll find a number of users encouraging them to run for the state’s highest office in 2027; “Run Rocky, run” is a common refrain.
Adkins, the former top House Democrat, has been around for longer and is older. He is 66, compared to Coleman at 43. She’s a former school administrator and coach who had been involved as a state legislative candidate and activist for years, but whose full-time political career began later when Beshear selected her as running mate.
When asked for an interview for this story, both Coleman and Adkins deferred to statements made through spokespeople. Neither denied interest in the office.
“As lieutenant governor, I will continue to travel the commonwealth listening to Kentuckians and focusing on the issues they tell me are most important to them: affordability, education, healthcare and housing,” Coleman said. “In the coming months, we have the State of the Commonwealth address, a budget session and a field of worthy candidates to support in 2026.
“The time to talk about the 2027 governor’s race will be here soon enough.”
Adkins’ statement made no mention of 2027. Via spokesperson Emily Ferguson, Adkins struck a similar chord on maintaining focus on Beshear’s priorities in 2026.
“Having served as the majority leader in the Kentucky House, Rocky knows how to get priorities across the finish line. In the months ahead, he’ll be focused on helping the governor move a budget that strengthens the economy, supports working families and builds on the commonwealth’s historic job growth and economic momentum,” Ferguson wrote.
With Adkins in the fray, some have posited that Adam Edelen, the former state auditor who came in a respectable third place in the 2019 primary, could give it another go.
Edelen, who has been running his own renewable energy company for the past several years, told the Herald-Leader he won’t do that.
“My company is scaling rapidly and working in a dozen states. I’m locked down for the next five years,” Edelen said.
One major question lingers: What is Beshear doing?
As one of the most popular governors in America, and certainly the most popular figure among Kentucky Democrats, he could likely decide the race with a wave of the hand. But Beshear has refrained from doing so in previous primary tilts.
A spokesperson for Beshear’s political operation declined to comment for this story on his plans.
With Beshear widely seen as angling for a presidential run in 2028, a win in November 2027, an electoral off-year for most of the country in a news environment hungry for 2028 indicators, could be a major feather in his cap.
Currently, though, Beshear is focusing on elections elsewhere. He’s chair of the Democratic Governors Association, in charge of fundraising and strategy for the many gubernatorial elections this November.
The Republican side
When asked about his 2027 status in a December interview in his Washington office, Comer made it seem like he’s in once he gets past his own reelection effort in 2026.
“I’m very interested in it, and I’m doing a lot of traveling outside my congressional district, listening to other people, seeking advice, and I will make a decision sometime around December (2026). Sometime prior to 2027,” Comer said.
Comer has said before he’s actively seeking to build out a statewide network in advance of 2027, meeting with power brokers all across Kentucky.
One signal that may be working was the response of Republican National Committee Co-Chair KC Crosbie, a former Lexington city councilwoman and 2015 lieutenant governor candidate, to rumors she may think about running. Crosbie’s former rivalry with Comer turned bitter near the end of the 2015 primary, which saw former Gov. Matt Bevin beat Comer by just 83 votes, is well-known in Kentucky GOP circles.
The powerful Republican wrote in a statement to the Herald-Leader that she was “100% focused” on her current role, is not thinking of running in 2027, and noted enthusiasm for Comer.
“Kentucky Republicans have an extraordinary depth of talent, and whether it’s Chairman Comer — whom so many across our commonwealth enthusiastically encourage — or any of the dozens of other highly qualified leaders in our party, I am confident we will unite behind a strong nominee who will deliver victory in 2027,” Crosbie wrote.
Comer thinks he’d be uniquely strong headed into 2027.
“I feel like my name ID is as high as anyone who’s ever filed for an open seat for governor in the history of Kentucky because of the number of TV, national TV, interviews I do every week. I’ve never lost track of my political organization from when I was commissioner of agriculture, we had a good grassroots organization — and it’s something I’m very interested in doing,” Comer said.
The potential campaign’s opening would also line up with when Comer’s term as chair of the powerful House Oversight Committee is set to end, he added.
The only other elected Republican openly mulling a run for governor in 2027 is Adams, the secretary of state.
Unlike Comer, Adams does not have the benefit of current statewide officeholders like Commissioner of Agriculture Jonathan Shell — who yelled “there’s nothing more sure in politics” than Comer as governor prior to Fancy Farm last year — or Treasurer Mark Metcalf openly endorsing more than a year before he’d run.
But he does have the tale of the 2023 tape. His 2023 reelection bid drew more than 785,000 votes, narrowly edging out third-time candidate Auditor Allison Ball.
Adams told the Herald-Leader he would likely start the decision-making process in March, when he’ll turn 50 and has a long weekend planned with his wife. He wouldn’t announce before the May 19 primary, he added.
The first question he’d like to answer before deciding: Could he raise enough money?
“I think the first million is not hard. I’m not sure how much I need, but it gets harder the more you need. I’ve been having conversations already for over a year, with donors, with donors in the state, donors out of the state, who are very supportive,” Adams said.
Adams is speaking with a pollster and expects to be in the field with his own polling on the race in the spring. That will help test the other question he’d like to answer: Do Kentucky Republicans want a candidate like him?
While Comer is growing his following over national TV airwaves with investigations into Democratic figures like former President Joe Biden, Adams framed himself as a contrast. He suggested that his more “boring,” workman personality would play well like Beshear’s has in previous elections.
“I think that for state offices, our voters understand they need somebody in Frankfort who’s not obsessed with federal personalities and cable news chyrons. They need somebody who’s focused on them. I’ve got that lane pretty much all by myself, and I have for six years,” Adams said. “You know, the irony is, for a high (profile) federal office, people right now, at least I think Republican primary voters, want a big, bombastic personality.
“But for governor, they really want a nice, boring guy who will solve problems.”
In fending off election denialism and steering away from more partisan issues, Adams has established himself as Kentucky Democrats’ favorite Republican.
But some doubt that will matter in a GOP primary setting.
Adams said he’s had nothing but positive interactions with Comer. He’s received no pressure to clear the way for Comer.
“He’s been a perfect gentleman, and so have I. Neither of us is saying anything unkind about the other, and I don’t know that that will ever happen. I like him a lot. Personally, he’s been very gracious to me. No one has tried to talk me in or out of anything on that front,” Adams said.
The third name most often mentioned as a wildcard in the race is Massie, who has amassed a national following for his libertarian-leaning contrarian brand of politics often at odds with Trump’s agenda.
Massie has his own contentious GOP primary in 2026, and was quick in a recent interview to remind that he needs to defeat Trump-backed opponent Ed Gallrein to even start thinking about 2027. He also has a long-standing friendship and political alliance with Comer dating back to his endorsement of Comer in the 2015 primary.
Still, referring to himself, Massie said he’d “be a good governor.”
He said he learned a lot from his many hours on the road supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, once the leading 2024 GOP presidential candidate against Trump.
“It has been inspiring to watch him work as an executive, not only making executive decisions, but sort of leading their legislature to do good things. I think Trump would do better if he worked closer with this legislature, instead of trying to do everything by executive order. Certainly DeSantis used all of his executive power, but also went further and got things consummated in the legislature,” Massie said.
Beyond those three, Stan Cave, former chief of staff to former Gov. Ernie Fletcher, was once rumored to be eyeing a run. He told the Herald-Leader earlier this year that he’d garnered some support in discussing it with Kentuckians, but ultimately decided against running.
There’s always the caveat this early that someone not on the political radar could emerge. There’s also the possibility that any one of the three leading GOP candidates for U.S. Senate — Rep. Andy Barr, former Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Lexington tech entrepreneur Nate Morris — throw their hats in the ring if they fall short of the 2026 nomination.
None have signaled interest in doing so, but things change quickly in politics.
Bevin won the governor’s mansion just one year after falling short in a GOP primary to Sen. Mitch McConnell. Cameron was once seen as a shoo-in for the 2026 U.S. Senate nomination before he decided to run for governor in 2023; Cameron lost to Beshear by 5 percentage points.
