Two top officials from Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration are facing off in the Democratic primary to replace the term limited governor next year — with one of those candidates jumping out to an enormous fundraising lead.
Rocky Adkins, who served as Beshear’s senior advisor until he announced his run in July, reported raising an eye-popping $1.7 million in the first three months of his campaign. That is three times the total raised by the campaign of Lt. Gov. Jaqueline Coleman since she announced her campaign, despite an earlier launch in April.
Adkins’ fundraising lead out of the gate is in addition to the $285,500 raised by a PAC that plans to independently buy ads supporting his 2027 candidacy. Most of the PAC’s funding came from Todd Case, the owner of an eastern Kentucky coal sales and shipping company and University of Kentucky trustee who has long been a prominent Beshear donor.
Last Friday was the quarterly deadline for candidates running for statewide constitutional offices in 2027 to file the campaign finance reports for the previous three months. In addition to governor, candidates running for attorney general, secretary of state, auditor, agriculture commissioner and treasurer in next May’s primary election filed reports. The Republican incumbent is running for reelection in four of those races, with the exception of secretary of state, where current Sec. Michael Adams is term limited.
The presumed frontrunner for the Republican nomination for governor next year is Congressman James Comer, who has not officially filed to run and raise funds yet, but is expected to do so soon after the November election. Comer’s congressional campaign account had more than $3 million as of this summer, but Kentucky law prohibits transferring those federal funds to aid a campaign for state office.
Here’s a breakdown of who is filling the campaign coffers of Adkins and Coleman on the Democratic side, as well as two Republicans vying for the open secretary of state position next year.
Rocky Adkins and PAC combine to top $2 million
More than 70% of the $1.7 million raised by Adkins in his first two-plus months came from the nearly 350 donors who contributed the maximum $3,500 to his primary account.
Some of those maximum donors went the extra mile by having their companies write even larger checks to A Better Kentucky PAC — an independent expenditure committee that can accept unlimited contributions from people and corporations to spend in support of Adkins. The PAC was formed the day after Adkins joined the race by Hannah Eiden, the former campaign manager of Amy McGrath, who lost the Democratic Senate primary in May.
A Better Kentucky PAC raised $285,500 from just a dozen donors, the largest of which was a $150,000 contribution from Case Coal Sales, the Louisa-based coal marketing firm owned by Todd Case. This is in addition to the $17,500 that Case — one of the largest Kentucky donors to Beshear in his career — and other employees and family contributed directly to Adkins campaign.
The second largest donor to the Adkins PAC was Kinetik Healthcare Solutions, a New York-based non-emergency medical transportation tech company that gave $50,000. Additionally, Kinetik executives and relatives combined to give another $31,500 to Adkins’ campaign. Despite the large contributions to aid Adkins, the company has no public connection to Kentucky.
As for the individual contributions to Adkins’ campaign, more than $150,000 came from attorneys, and roughly $36,000 came from state employees — which Adkins was himself until July, serving as Beshear’s senior advisor after three decades as a state legislator in an eastern Kentucky district.
Much of Adkins’ contributions tapped into old colleagues and connections, such as the $31,500 he received from nine former state legislators he served with who donated the maximum amount, including Greg Stumbo, Sannie Overly and Jerry Lundergan. He also received max donations from Jonathan Miller and John Y. Brown III — both statewide Democratic elected officials-turned-lobbyists — and $1,000 from former Gov. Paul Patton.
Nearly $70,000 in contributions came from owners or employees of road contracting companies that regularly receive lucrative government contracts. Nearly the same amount came from employees of rural hospitals in eastern Kentucky, including $31,500 from the Pikeville Medical Center, $21,500 from Appalachian Regional Healthcare and $15,750 from the UK King’s Daughters Health System in Ashland.
A regular sitting behind the bench at UK basketball games — and a former point guard at Morehead State, himself — Adkins also received a maximum donation from John Calipari, the former coach of the men’s team before he left in 2024 to coach Arkansas.
Lt. Gov. Coleman slower out of the gate
After raising $303,709 in the second quarter of the year, Lt. Gov. Coleman picked up another $236,391 from July through September.
Coleman has had 21 donors give the maximum $3,500 so far — just a small fraction of Adkins’ haul — with roughly $50,000 coming from attorneys and $23,000 from state employees.
Among the maximum donors to Coleman are former Kentucky Democratic Party executive director Jennifer Moore, former Louisville deputy mayor and council member Barbara Sexton Smith and Jonathan Rabinowitz, a Louisville attorney and large Beshear donor.
Others giving at least $1,000 include former Democratic Congressman John Yarmuth of Louisville, former two-term state auditor Crit Luallen and Yolanda Ali, the widow of Muhammad Ali who runs the Ali Center in Louisville.
Coleman and Adkins have been in heavy competition for union endorsements, which was evident in their campaign filings.
Coleman picked up a maximum contribution from a local Teamsters chapter, as well as $2,000 from the unions of bricklayers and sheet metal workers. She was endorsed by the PAC of the Jefferson County Teachers Association — one of the largest spending unions on political races in Kentucky — but the PAC has not yet contributed to Coleman.
Adkins received a maximum contribution from the nationwide union of plumbers and pipefitters, as well as $2,000 from the national PAC of the Teamsters union.
Unlike Adkins, a PAC has not been formed yet to raise and spend money on independent ads to support Coleman.
Three Republicans vie for secretary of state
With GOP Secretary of State Michael Adams term limited, three Republican candidates have already thrown their hat into the ring to replace him as Kentucky’s chief election official.
Brad Holsclaw is the son of Bobbie Holsclaw, who oversaw elections as the Jefferson County Clerk for 27 years until her death last year. He launched his candidacy for secretary of state over the summer and reported raising $260,000 this quarter —- with $250,000 of that being his personal loan to the campaign.
Also running for the office is Jack Whitfield, a young Army veteran and attorney from Simpson County. He launched his campaign with a video promising to “stand with President Trump” and require proof of citizenship in order to vote in Kentucky.
Whitfield raised just more than $100,000 in the quarter, but his campaign also announced that Freedom Soldier Fund, a federal super PAC supporting his candidacy, raised $225,000 in September.
The super PAC was funded by a $100,000 check from his father, a Madisonville attorney, and another $100,000 from William Roj, a retired CEO of an electrical company from Ohio. Joseph Quintilian, a Florida-based venture capitalist, also gave $25,000.
Among the donors giving the maximum $3,500 contribution to Whitfield’s campaign was David McIntosh, the Virginia-based president of the conservative Club for Growth, which is a prolific political spender on Republican races across the country. McIntosh is also listed as the designated agent for the Freedom Soldier Fund super PAC aiding Whitfield.
Also running for secretary of state is Mike Harmon, the Republican who served two terms as state auditor before unsuccessfully running for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in 2023. Harmon filed to run last week and does not have to report contributions until early next year.
No Democratic candidate for secretary of state has filed with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance yet to indicate they seek to raise and spend funds for a run.
Attorney General Coleman breaks $1 million mark in reelection bid
As of now, the four other GOP incumbents serving their first term as constitutional officers have not had any challengers file with KREF to indicate a run for their office. This includes Attorney General Russell Coleman, Auditor Allison Ball, Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell and Treasurer Mark Metcalf.
Coleman has been busy fundraising over the past three years, raising more than $1 million for his reelection campaign. More than a third of those contributions have come from attorneys, including nearly $60,000 from attorneys at Morgan & Morgan.
Coleman’s campaign has also received nearly $90,000 from PACs, including maximum $3,500 contributions from Alliance Coal — owned by prominent GOP donor Joe Craft, the wife of former GOP gubernatorial candidate Kelly Craft — and tobacco giant Altria.
The campaign war chests of the other three Republican incumbents are relatively sparse since taking office in 2024, with Shell raising $54,292, Metcalf raising $10,764 (mostly self-funded) and Ball not raising any new funds.
