Morning Digest: Kentucky Democrats land their first candidate to succeed Andy Beshear

Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman's launch kicks off next year's race to lead the Bluegrass State

Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman. (Credit: Jacqueline Coleman X account)

Leading Off

KY-Gov

Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman on Monday became the first major candidate from either party to enter next year’s race to replace Gov. Andy Beshear, a fellow Democrat who cannot seek a third term in 2027.

“I’ve been a high school civics teacher, an assistant principal, and a basketball coach,” Coleman says in her launch video before she focuses on her tenure as Beshear’s second-in-command.

“Kentucky’s economy is leading the nation,” she continues. “I’m proud that the Beshear-Coleman administration has created nearly 70,000 jobs and generated over $45 billion in investment in the commonwealth. One of the things I’ve learned from Andy: Take good care of people, and the jobs will follow.”

Coleman used her announcement speech later that day to highlight how she’d only be the second woman to lead the Bluegrass State. The first was the late Martha Layne Collins, a Democrat who was elected in 1983 but couldn’t run again because governors were prohibited from seeking reelection. (Voters in 1992 narrowly approved an amendment to allow their chief executive to claim a second consecutive term.)

But while Coleman, who was Beshear’s running mate during his successful 2019 and 2023 campaigns, is the only other Democrat who holds statewide office in conservative Kentucky, she may still face serious intraparty opposition from another member of the Beshear administration.

“[P]eople back home know you can’t keep a Kentucky boy out of the fight when the future of our state is on the line,” former state Rep. Rocky Adkins, a one-time majority and minority leader who now serves as Beshear’s senior advisor, said in a statement following Coleman’s entry. “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.”

This would not be the first time that Adkins and Coleman have been pitted against one another. Candidates for governor choose their running mate before the primary, and in 2019, the team of Beshear and Coleman scored a 38-32 victory over Adkins and Stephanie Horne.

Beshear went on to narrowly unseat GOP Gov. Matt Bevin, who had repeatedly infuriated voters during his four years in office, and the Democrat secured reelection in 2023 by fending off Republican Daniel Cameron.

Several Republicans have expressed interest in running to retake the governor’s office, and one prospective candidate is already warning that Beshear’s absence from the ballot alone won’t guarantee victory.

“Jacqueline Coleman is a strong candidate,” Secretary of State Michael Adams tweeted Monday. “If Republicans don’t nominate our best vote-getter, appeal beyond our base, and focus on improving Kentuckians’ lives, we will have a third term of Andy Beshear.”

Adams previously told the Lexington Herald-Leader at the beginning of the year that he’d decide sometime after this year’s primaries conclude on May 19.

Rep. James Comer, by contrast, said in January he’d “make a decision sometime around December” about a second campaign for governor. Comer lost the 2015 primary to Bevin by all of 83 votes, but he quickly rebounded by winning a spot in Congress the following year.

State Senate President Robert Stivers has also been talked about as a possible candidate, including by the Democrat he wants to replace.

The GOP-dominated legislature this month overrode Beshear’s veto on a bill that allows state legislators running for statewide office to use the money they’d already raised for legislative races to fund their new venture. The governor argued this legislation was meant to benefit Stivers in particular and give him an advantage over rivals like Comer, who would need to start their fundraising from scratch.

“Is he afraid I’ll run against him, against something?” Stivers responded last week when asked for comment by the Kentucky Lantern. He added, “I’m not ruling anything out, but I did not ask that that provision be put in there.”

Rep. Thomas Massie, finally, says he’d be interested in running for Beshear’s job if he wins his expensive renomination battle next month against a Donald Trump-backed rival.

The GOP iconoclast told a group of University of Louisville students two weeks ago, “If I lose on May 19, I am not doing any more government ever … It’s a sign from God or the people or both that I should go back to the farm.” Massie, though, said that if he defeats intraparty foe Ed Gallrein, he “would consider” running for governor.

Good riddance to Eric Swalwell

Senate

GA-Sen

Rep. Buddy Carter has launched the first negative TV ad from anyone ahead of next month’s GOP primary, though he’s focusing on just one of his two main intraparty rivals.

“[W]hile Trump and Buddy Carter were protecting our wallets, [Rep.] Mike Collins was abusing them,” the narrator says. “Collins is under federal investigation for misusing taxpayer funds to benefit himself and his cronies. We just can’t trust or afford Mike Collins.”

Carter debuted this ad five months after the House Ethics Committee said that it was investigating Collins and his chief of staff, Brandon Phillips. While the panel did not initially disclose what it was looking into, the Office of Congressional Conduct later said it had “substantial reason to believe that Rep. Collins used congressional resources for unofficial or otherwise unauthorized purposes,” including allegations that Phillips hired his girlfriend for an essentially no-show job as a paid intern.

Collins, who has blasted the allegations as “bogus,” faces Carter and Derek Dooley, a former University of Tennessee football coach, in the May 19 GOP primary to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.

The handful of polls released this year have shown Collins well ahead of his intraparty rivals, but nowhere close to the majority he’d need to avoid a runoff on June 16. Those surveys also have found Carter and Dooley, who is backed by Gov. Brian Kemp, in a close battle for the second runoff spot.

IA-Sen

VoteVets says it has now spent $4.5 million on commercials to promote state Rep. Josh Turek in the June 2 Democratic primary for Senate in Iowa, including a $900,000 ad buy this week declaring he’ll stand up to Donald Trump.

VoteVets and Turek, who used his opening TV commercial this week to pledge he’ll take on “Washington’s corruption,” currently have the airwaves to themselves six weeks ahead of Turek’s contest against state Sen. Zach Wahls. Wahls has led in every poll, though the last survey was finished just as VoteVets was beginning its ad campaign.

MA-Sen

An organization backing Rep. Seth Moulton began airing ads last week portraying Sen. Ed Markey, whom Moulton is trying to defeat in the September Democratic primary, as a longtime politician who doesn’t know that it’s time to leave office.

An actor portraying a doctor warns the audience about “Chronic Reelection Disorder,” a fictional disease he says Markey is afflicted with. “Symptoms include being stuck in the past, losing touch, and not being up for today’s fights.”

MA Progress Action, the group behind the ad, did not answer the Boston Globe’s inquiries about how much it was spending against Markey, who has served in Congress since 1976. The organization also did not disclose who was funding it.

Moulton, who at 47 is more than three decades the 79-year-old senator’s junior, began his campaign last year by saying Markey was “too old” to keep representing Massachusetts. The incumbent and his allies, though, have pushed back by arguing that Moulton is too conservative to replace an ardent progressive like Markey.

While there’s still over four months to go before the primary, Moulton’s campaign faces its first key test far earlier than that.

The state Democratic convention will take place on May 29 and 30, and candidates need to win the votes of at least 15% of attendees to even make it to the primary. There’s no question Markey will easily clear this hurdle, but the more moderate Moulton isn’t assured a spot on the September ballot.

Governors

AZ-Gov

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs finished March with more than three times as much money as her two prospective Republican opponents and a wealthy third-party candidate put together.

Hobbs, a Democrat, ended the first quarter of the year with close to $7.2 million stockpiled, compared to the $1.1 million that Republican Rep. Andy Biggs had in the bank. But while Biggs is far behind the incumbent, his war chest still dwarfs the $86,000 that fellow Rep. David Schweikert had available.

Schweikert’s decision to campaign for governor was unwelcome news to House Republicans, who no longer have an incumbent running to defend his swingy 1st Congressional District. But while he argues he’d be a stronger nominee for Republicans than Biggs, a hardliner who has Donald Trump’s endorsement, polls show Schweikert badly trailing his colleague.

Hobbs and the eventual GOP nominee will also face Hugh Lytle, a healthcare businessman who is a member of the No Labels Party of Arizona. (The group changed its name to the Arizona Independent Party, but a state judge ruled last month it had not taken the proper steps to relabel itself.) Lytle has self-funded $1 million to jumpstart his new venture, and he ended March with just over $800,000 on hand.

Lytle, whose father founded the health insurance giant Anthem, has framed his campaign as an alternative to both major parties and their ideas. Lytle’s own proposals include “a new state sponsored AI University that provides an amazing education for just $99 per semester.”

CA-Gov

Former state Comptroller Betty Yee announced Monday that she was exiting the June top-two primary for governor of California. Yee, who acknowledged she was struggling to raise money or earn much support in the polls, did not endorse any of the other Democrats still in the race.

House

NY-11

Electrician Allison Ziogas announced Monday that she was leaving the Democratic primary to face Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a decision she says she made for health reasons.

Ziogas’ departure leaves former New York Police Department Officer Michael DeCillis as the only Democrat seeking to flip New York’s 11th District, which includes Staten Island and southwestern Brooklyn. Both Democrats, however, have struggled to raise the kind of money necessary to put this constituency, which backed Donald Trump 61-37 in 2024, in play.

DeCillis ended March with less than $30,000 on hand, which was less than half of what Ziogas had available. Malliotakis, for her part, had $2.6 million stockpiled to defend herself.

OH-01

Dentist Steven Erbeck said Monday that he was leaving the May 5 Republican primary to take on Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman, a departure that came the week after Donald Trump endorsed Air Force veteran Eric Conroy.

Erbeck, who funded a large portion of his campaign, enjoyed a roughly $470,000 to $370,000 cash on hand advantage over Conroy at the end of March. Conroy, though, has considerably more money than the only other notable Republican running for Ohio’s 1st District: businesswoman Holly Adams, who has self-funded most of her campaign, finished with about $190,000 banked.

Landsman had almost $3 million available to defend a Cincinnati-based constituency that became more conservative after the state’s bipartisan redistricting commission approved a new map last year. While the last incarnation of the 1st District backed Kamala Harris 53-46, Trump would have carried the new version 51-48.

PA-07

Democratic candidate Bob Brooks shared a Facebook meme saying “the problem is not guns” one day after the 2019 mass shooting in El Paso, the Washington Post reported on Monday.

The local blog Lehigh Valley Ramblings first revealed last August that Brooks, who is the president of the Pennsylvania Professional Firefighters Association, had reposted a meme showing actor Clint Eastwood holding a firearm.

“The problem is not guns,” read the text. “It’s hearts without God, homes without discipline, schools without prayer and courtrooms without justice.” That image featured the logo of the Three Percenters, a far-right antigovernment group.

The post had received relatively little attention until Monday, when the Post published a story on Brooks’ social media history. The paper also reported that he’d called former NFL player Colin Kaepernick a “douchebag” in 2019 and responded to George Floyd’s murder the following year by writing, “Wanting change within the police departments to weed out the bad cops is fine. But please remember the good ones.”

“Politics is nasty – a bunch of DC insiders who don’t want more working people in office are selectively digging up years-old Facebook posts,” Brooks, who is competing in the May 19 primary to take on Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, said in a statement in response to the Post’s article. He added, “I’ve shared a few stupid things over the years, and for that I am sorry.”

Brooks’ campaign separately told the Post that he “wishes he never made” his post about guns, and that he had “zero awareness” that the logo was associated with the Three Percenters.

Brooks has the support of Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and the progressive Working Families Party in his campaign to flip Pennsylvania’s 7th District, a competitive seat in the Lehigh Valley. A spokesperson for Shapiro said the governor would continue to back Brooks, while the WFP praised him for having “​​a background that is really helpful for where the Democrats need to go these days.”

Brooks faces three opponents in next month’s primary: former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell, former Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure, and former utility company supervisor Carol Obando-Derstine.

Obituaries

George Ariyoshi

Former Hawaii Gov. George Ariyoshi, a Democrat who was the first Asian American governor of any state, died Sunday at the age of 100.

Ariyoshi was serving as lieutenant governor in 1973 when Gov. George Burns, who was battling cancer, became too ill to carry out his duties. Ariyoshi would serve out the rest of Burns’ tenure as acting governor before winning the office in his own right in 1974, and his service through 1986 made him the state’s longest-serving leader.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser has more on Ariyoshi’s lengthy and groundbreaking career in its obituary.

Poll Pile

• AL-Sen (R): The Tarrance Group for Alabama Strong (pro-Steve Marshall):

  • Barry Moore: 28, Steve Marshall: 27, Jared Hudson: 24.

• MS-Sen: Impact Research for the Southern Poverty Law Center Action Fund:

  • Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-inc): 42, Scott Colom (D): 39, Ty Pinkins (I): 6.

  • July: 51-38 Hyde-Smith.

  • The SPLC Action Fund has endorsed several Democratic candidates in other races in the South, though it has not made an endorsement in this race.

• OH-Sen: Bowling Green State University/YouGov:

  • Jon Husted (R-inc): 50, Sherrod Brown (D): 47.

  • Oct.: 49-48 Brown.

  • The school asked respondents if they’d prefer “someone else,” but did not include undecided as an option.

• CA-Gov (top-two primary): Gudelunas Strategies for California is Not For Sale (anti-Tom Steyer):

  • Steve Hilton (R): 20, Xavier Becerra (D): 15, Tom Steyer (D): 15, Chad Bianco (R): 14, Katie Porter (D): 13, Matt Mahan (D): 6, other candidates 3% or less.

  • Unreleased early April poll: Hilton (R): 22, Eric Swalwell (D): 18, Bianco (R): 13, Steyer (D): 12, Mahan (D): 5, Becerra (D): 4.

• CA-Gov (top-two primary): Kreate Strategies:

  • Hilton (R): 18, Steyer (D): 16, Bianco (R): 14, Becerra (D): 10, Porter (D): 8, Mahan (D): 4, other candidates 3% or less.

  • March: Hilton (R): 19, Steyer (D): 13, Swalwell (D): 13, Bianco (R): 10, Porter (D): 8, Mahan (D): 4.

  • Krate says neither poll was “sponsored by any campaign or outside organization.”

• CA-Gov (top-two primary): Evitarus for the California Democratic Party:

  • Hilton (R): 16, Bianco (R): 14, Becerra (D): 13, Steyer (D): 13, Porter (D): 10, Mahan (D): 5, others 2% or less, undecided: 20.

  • Early April: Hilton (R): 14, Bianco (R): 14, Swalwell (D): 12, Steyer (D): 11, Porter (D): 7, Mahan (D): 4, Becerra (D): 4, Antonio Villaraigosa (D): 4.

• MI-Gov (R): OnMessage for John James:

  • John James: 41, Perry Johnson: 18, Mike Cox: 7, Alec Nesbitt: 5.

  • March: James: 37, Johnson: 19, Cox: 10, Nesbitt: 4.

• OH-Gov (R): Bowling Green/YouGov: Vivek Ramaswamy (R): 48, Amy Acton (D): 47.

  • Oct.: 50-47 Ramaswamy.

• RI-Gov: Opinion Diagnostics for Ken Block:

  • Dan McKee (D-inc): 28, Ken Block (I): 20, Aaron Guckian (R): 15.

  • Helena Foulkes (D): 33, Block (I): 18, Guckian (R): 16.

• SD-Gov (R): Mason-Dixon for South Dakota News Watch and the University of South Dakota:

  • Dusty Johnson: 34, Jon Hansen: 18, Toby Doeden: 17, Larry Rhoden (inc): 17.

  • Oct.: Johnson: 28, Rhoden (inc): 27, Doeden: 15, Hansen: 10.

• NY-13 (D): Upswing Research & Strategy for Darializa Avila Chevalier:

  • Adriano Espaillat (inc): 42, Darializa Avila Chevalier: 28.

  • The poll was conducted March 25-30.

• OH-09 (R): J.L. Partners:

  • Derek Merrin: 33, Josh Williams: 14, Madison Sheahan: 10, Alea Nadeem: 4, undecided: 40.

• SD-AL (R): Mason-Dixon:

  • Marty Jackley: 68, James Bialota: 12.

Correction: This piece incorrectly identified businesswoman Holly Adams as a businessman.