Longtime Eastern Kentucky Democrat and former House Majority Leader Rocky Adkins is running for governor in 2027.
Adkins, who recently left his role as a senior advisor to Gov. Andy Beshear, filed election finance paperwork to run last week before formally dropping his campaign announcement on social media Tuesday morning.
He’s expected to have launch events to share more about his campaign in Lexington, Frankfort, and Louisville on Tuesday and Wednesday.
In a Tuesday morning social media post alongside a campaign announcement ad, Adkins said he’s running to “lower costs, protect our schools and hospitals, defend our rights and take on every bad policy that makes life harder for Kentucky families.
“I believe we can do better,” he continued. “I believe we must do better. And I believe that we can create a better future for everyone who calls this commonwealth home.”
Adkins is the second major Democrat to jump in the race to replace Beshear, who is term-limited and will leave office at the end of 2027. Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman announced that she was running for the seat in April.
He represented Elliott, Lewis, and Rowan counties in Kentucky’s House of Representatives for more than 30 years, and served as the Democrats’ leader in the chamber from 2003 to his departure in 2019.
Adkins ran for governor in 2019, coming in second place to Beshear in the Democratic primaries.
“To every Kentuckian who’s been fighting for a better job, better schools, better health care, a better shot at the life you were promised, you keep fighting,” Adkins said, “and I’ll never stop fighting for you.”
This story has been updated and may be updated again.
