Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman launches Democratic run for KY governor in 2027
Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, who has run and won alongside Gov. Andy Beshear twice, announced Monday that she will run for governor in 2027.
Coleman’s announcement serves as the unofficial kickoff to the 2027 campaign. No other prominent politician, Republican or Democrat, has declared for the office.
A former educator and coach, Coleman, 43, has made education her political calling card in her six-plus years as the state’s lieutenant governor.
Her speech announcing her run at the Kentucky History Center reflected that.
Coleman emphasized her campaign would focus on the classroom, which includes putting kids first, supporting teachers and making sure K-12 schools, colleges and universities have the resources to do “what we need from them.”
“The future of Kentucky’s economy is in our classrooms today,” Coleman said. “Our schools cannot shoulder it alone. This work requires commitment, consistency and shared responsibility.”
Coleman said her campaign would also concentrate on health care, with a focus on access and autonomy in health care decisions, including mental health care.
Aside from Beshear, Coleman was the top surrogate for the campaign against Amendment 2 in 2024, a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed the legislature to fund private, religious and charter schools. All 120 counties voted against Amendment 2, which was defeated by more than 29 percentage points.
In 2020, Coleman became the first Kentucky lieutenant governor to give birth while in office.
Who is Jacqueline Coleman?
Prior to joining Beshear’s ticket, Coleman was an assistant principal at Nelson County High School.
Her selection as Beshear’s running mate was widely seen as a play at shoring up the education community. At the time, teachers showed up the state Capitol en masse protesting pension reforms proposed by former Gov. Matt Bevin. She spent more than a year on the campaign trail with Beshear before the duo narrowly defeated Bevin.
In addition to her pregnancy and motherhood, Coleman has also weathered health issues in the public eye. After a breast cancer scare in late 2023, Coleman got a double-mastectomy and underwent reconstructive surgery.
During her speech, she referenced that experience.
“I was one of the lucky ones, because having health insurance and access to a hospital meant that I could be proactive and even aggressive with my healthcare decisions,” Coleman said. “That’s what I want for every Kentuckian — not just access, but autonomy.”
The lieutenant governor has traveled the state throughout much of her tenure as the state’s No. 2 public official, announcing state grants and other Kentucky initiatives.
Coleman’s tenure has not been without controversy.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when joblessness was high and unemployment claims surged, Coleman was head of the cabinet overseeing the Office of Unemployment Insurance. The Office of Unemployment was moved from the cabinet, then the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, weeks after rampant criticism over difficulties in obtaining unemployment insurance benefits.
A report from WDRB News revealed Coleman sought help getting close associates, such as her hairdresser, help getting unemployment insurance benefits while many Kentuckians were waiting for months. Republicans leapt on the messages at the time.
Coleman stepped down from her role leading the cabinet in 2021. At the time, Beshear and Coleman said she would be more focused on economic development going forward.
In a statement, Republican Party of Kentucky Communications Director Adam Hope wrote that Coleman “doesn’t deserve a promotion; she deserves a pink slip.”
“From her mismanagement of the unemployment system during COVID — including giving friends, her hairdresser, and other associates special treatment over Kentuckians in need — to being ousted as leader of the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, her record shows a pattern of poor leadership and misplaced priorities, consistently putting her own interests above the needs of Kentucky families,” Hope wrote.
Her first run for office was unsuccessful. In 2014, she challenged Rep. Kim King, R-Harrodsburg, in the Republican-leaning House District 55, anchored by her home county of Mercer. King, an incumbent, beat Coleman by about 30 points.
Coleman’s father, Jack, served in the Kentucky House as a Democrat for more than a decade. The Coleman family is from Burgin, a small town in Mercer County.
A graduate of Centre College, Coleman played collegiate-level basketball and later coached high school for several years.
As a basketball coach, Coleman was named Coach of the Year for Region 12 at East Jessamine High in 2015 by the Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches, and made one appearance in the Kentucky Girls’ Sweet Sixteen tournament.
In a letter to her East Jessamine players after deciding to leave in 2016, Coleman wrote, “Just like you, I’m not sure what I want to be when I grow up. ... Maybe I’ll get back into coaching. Maybe I’ll be governor one day.”
She touted her background as a coach in her campaign launch, saying she built one basketball program “from the ground up” and took another team to the Sweet 16.
“I know that no matter how far your team may have to go, every baby step counts,” Coleman said. “...I also learned that no matter how successful your team may be, there is always room for improvement every day.”
In her speech, Coleman said she believes that “public schools are the best training ground for public service.”
She also said while she’s already delivered $40 million in federal funding for school-based mental health services as lieutenant governor, she will not stop until every child has access to those services if she’s elected as governor.
Coleman enters the field with endorsements
On day one of her campaign, Coleman already has some endorsements.
That includes Teamsters Local 89, which is a labor union that represents around 20,000 workers in Kentucky and Southern Indiana trucking, shipping, warehouse and other industries. The group’s leader, Avral Thompson, was on hand for Coleman’s launch.
“The economic development announcements and the ribbon cutting ceremonies are critical to our commonwealth’s future,” Coleman said. “But to truly capitalize on this historic economic momentum, our next governor must ensure that every Kentuckian has fewer barriers and more opportunities to achieve success.”
Cherlynn Stevenson, who is running in the Democratic Primary for the 6th Congressional District, told reporters she “will gladly endorse (Coleman) for governor.”
“She’s not only a friend, but she has proven herself to be a leader, and to be someone who, as we just heard, wants to put kids first and working families first,” Stevenson said. “She’s been by my side every step of the way.”
In June 2025, Coleman endorsed Stevenson as her choice for the Democrats in the 6th Congressional District race.
Who else might run for KY governor?
Coleman is the first major candidate to have announced a run for governor in 2027 so far.
While it’s still early, chatter around who might run on both sides of the aisle has been ongoing since Beshear defeated former Attorney General Daniel Cameron, now a U.S. Senate candidate, in 2023.
Many Democrats in Kentucky have guessed that Rocky Adkins, currently a senior adviser to Beshear, would take another crack at the governor’s mansion next year. Adkins, the former top Kentucky House Democrat, gave Beshear a run for his money in 2019, losing to the governor by just six points in the primary.
“I’ve been humbled by the outpouring of support and encouragement from folks across Kentucky who care deeply about the future of our commonwealth,” Adkins said in a statement. “Right now I’m focused on my job as senior advisor to the governor and building on the strong record he has produced.
“But people back home know you can’t keep a Kentucky boy out of the fight when the future of our state is on the line. I’m thinking carefully about what comes next and what’s best for Kentucky and will have more to say when the time is right.”
On the Republican side, both 1st Congressional District Rep. James Comer and Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams have openly mulled runs; 4th Congressional District Rep. Thomas Massie, now facing a Trump-backed primary challenger, has said he’d think about it, too.
Speculation has also centered on whoever loses this year’s expensive GOP U.S. Senate primary between Cameron, 6th Congressional District Rep. Andy Barr and Lexington tech entrepreneur Nate Morris.
Comer, who chairs the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Investigations, has said that he believes Coleman will win the primary because Democratic voters will perceive Adkins as too moderate.
This story was originally published April 20, 2026 at 10:09 AM.
