This is republished from The Gallery Pass.

This list comes after weeks of careful consideration and repeatedly running through scores of nominations, including some of my own recommendations from my time as a politics reporter.

All told, nearly 200 people were considered for this list, and only a few dozen ultimately made the cut. To everyone who nominated folks, thank you so much — there are a few folks who made this list solely because of how strongly someone vouched for them.

Before we dive in, let me be clear on a few things. First, just because someone isn’t on this list, doesn’t mean they don’t have power or sway in Frankfort or Kentucky politics. This list is by no means definitive or exhaustive. It also isn’t a ranking in any way, shape or form.

Additionally, just because someone is on the list, does not mean I endorse or condone their actions, policies or politics. I repeat: This is not a list of endorsements. It is a list of people in Frankfort, almost all tied directly to the legislative session, who, in some way, shape or form, hold power.

Over time, I’ve described this list as “power brokers,” “names you should know” and “unsung heroes.” I tried to find folks at the sweet spot between all three of those categories.

But I considered a lot more than that. When they speak, do people listen? Where do they fall at the intersection of public name recognition and perceived power? If they’re a lawmaker, how successful are their bills? If they got nominated by someone else, how strong of a nomination was it?

As you may notice, I kept a lot of super common names off of the list. For example, you won’t see Senate President Robert Stivers or Speaker of the House David Osborne on this list. Gov. Andy Beshear also didn’t make the cut. Same goes for several popular high-power lobbyists.

Ultimately, though, the concept of “power” — particularly when it comes to Frankfort — is subjective. And, therefore, so is this list.

The list ended up being so long that I felt it was best to split it into two parts: One with the lawmakers, and one with the attorneys, media and policy-shapers.

We will begin with the lawmakers. Again, this isn’t a ranking, so these will (almost) be in alphabetical order by last name.

Let the games begin.

Sen. Julie Raque Adams (R-Louisville)

Who needs a title to have power?

After she didn’t get a leadership spot in the Senate GOP caucus after being the caucus chair, she’s still out here, kicking. One top thing to watch from her: A bill on “sextortion,” which had a bipartisan slate of sponsors and is expected to pass out of the Senate Wednesday afternoon.

Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong (D-Louisville)

Since day one of #KYGA25, she’s been one of the most prolific bill filers in the statehouse. As of Tuesday night, she’s the most prolific in the Senate. It was enough to get name dropped on one of KET’s Kentucky Tonight episodes looking ahead at the session.

She’s still relatively new (started mid-2023 session), and of course she’s a Dem in the heavily Republican Senate, but I think she’s best poised to get some bipartisan work done this session (and probably also remain one of the more prolific filers).

One example: On Tuesday, she announced a bipartisan effort alongside GOP Sen. Steve West to help school athletic coaches to better report child abuse following a Courier Journal investigation examining abuse at the hands of coaches.

Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe (R-Lexington)

I mean, it feels like she’s been here for all of, what? Three seconds? (Two years) And she is the vice chair of multiple committees and is routinely the name tied to big-deal bills or the face tasked with repping the Senate GOP caucus on TV.

Rep. Josh Calloway (R-Irvington)

I feel as if I’ve written about Calloway more than any other lawmaker thus far this session, and there’s a reason for that.

Sure, my coverage does tend to focus more on the culture wars issues that his legislation tends to gravitate towards, but he’s easily one of the liberty thought leaders in that particular arena in the legislature, as well as in general in the House.

Historically, his success rate is not great, but I’ll be watching to see if maybe this year is the year (especially with Trump in office).

Rep. Kim Moser (R-Taylor Mill)

Moser is not simply making this list because she is the only sitting lawmaker to successfully drive up my parents’ steep, windy, gravel driveway (although that is peak power player energy).

The House Health Services Chair was formally nominated due to her effectiveness as a lawmaker: “She has passed over 40 of her sponsored bills into law, including several public healthcare reforms that expand KY healthcare services, including SAD treatment, mental health, and maternal health.

“A commonsense conservative, Kim brings a voice of reason in Frankfort, and she works across the aisle, collaborating with many of her colleagues, advocacy groups, and stakeholders to find real solutions,” the nomination continued.

Rep. Rebecca Raymer (R-Morgantown)

Raymer’s gotten some big-ish stuff done in a short amount of time (looking at you, 2023 push to study and regulate hemp-derived substances). And judging by the stuff she’s filed thus far this year, she’s poised to work on Kentucky’s lack of sexual assault nurse examiners — a big issue uncovered a few years ago by a KyCIR investigation that has since seemingly fallen out of people’s minds.

Rep. TJ Roberts (R-Burlington)

Wow, what to say about TJ Roberts.

Roberts, a NKY freshman legislator, easily earned a spot on this list by being the most prolific bill filer thus far this session (and some of them have already started to move).

But he was also one of the most nominated folks for this list, and the nominations were … colorful. Number of haters was not one of the metrics used to determine this list, but perhaps it should’ve been.

Someone called him, and I quote, a “bitch ass hoe.” (I was going to censor that a bit, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it without robbing it of its richness.) He was also told his “aura is beige, your energy is flat, and your shade game? Nonexistent.” And was then told to “sashay away.”

But, really, a different nomination explained it best: “Despite being a freshman legislator, TJ has gotten large amounts of media attention for his bills introduced in the first 2 weeks of session. The governor even personally called him out for his efforts. TJ will be a top name to watch for the remainder of the session, and he is poised to influence what the talk of the session revolves around.”

Rep. Pam Stevenson (D-Louisville)

The House Dems have a brand new slate of leaders this session, led by one of TikTok’s favorite Kentucky-based floor speakers, Rep. Pam Stevenson as House Minority Floor Leader.

Stevenson also recently announced she plans on running for Sen. Mitch McConnell’s seat in 2026 in what is expected to be a closely watched and contested race (well, if McConnell decides not to run again).

For now, she’ll be joined by Reps. Al Gentry and Lindsey Burke, as House Minority Caucus Chair and House Minority Whip, respectively, as the squad seeks to make the Kentucky House Dems relevant again. (They are on the losing end of a 80-20 minority.)

Sen. Lindsey Tichenor (R-Smithfield)

Since getting elected a few years ago, Tichenor has been continuously growing strength as one of the Senate’s liberty leaders. She’s sponsored some high-profile legislation, maybe most notably efforts to restrict drag performers, and helps add numbers to any and all liberty-oriented bills coming through the senate.

To quote her nominator: “She is a little prickly but plays the game well.”

Rep. James Tipton (R-Taylorsville)

As the inaugural chair of the House Postsecondary Education Committee, Tipton will play a critical role in determining which, if any, anti-DEI measures get through to the House floor.

Someone who nominated him added he “has been fighting to protect KY children from sexual abuse. He plans to continue to push for passage of protective legislation in the 2025 session.” And he already has: House Bill 36 got filed on Day One.

The unknown anti-DEI work group

ICYMI, Senate President Robert Stivers recently said a work group of House and Senate members, plus Attorney General Russell Coleman and reps from Kentucky’s universities, is working on anti-diversity, equity and inclusion legislation aimed at higher ed.

Outside of Coleman, do we have any specific names involved with the group? No. Will we have more details in the coming week, as we approach and hit the bill filing deadlines on Feb. 18 and 19? Hopefully. But for now, I consider the entire group to be a power player.

Sens. Max Wise and Robby Mills (R-Campbellsville and Henderson, respectively)

Wise and Mills are the fresh faces for GOP leadership, taking over as Senate Majority Floor Leader and Senate Majority Caucus Chair, respectively.

If their names sound familiar, good, they should. Both ran for lieutenant governor in 2023 (Wise with Kelly Craft and Mills with Daniel Cameron) and both have produced high-profile legislation in recent years, particularly involving LGBTQ+ issues.

Mills spearheaded the 2022 push to keep transgender girls out of girls’ sports, and Wise sponsored Senate Bill 150 in 2023, which was largely considered one of the worst anti-trans bills in the country that year.

Now, they’re in leadership roles, steering the GOP supermajority in the Senate.

THE ATTORNEYS

Jeff Harmon

As a member of the Senate GOP’s legal team, Harmon got a shout-out for “his expertise in the energy sector and overall work ethic in supporting a very busy Senate Majority Caucus in multiple subject areas.”

Eric Lycan

As general counsel for House GOP leadership, Lycan is “one of the most influential players you have never heard of.”*

Per his nomination: “He has represented many KY Republican officials, from campaigns and election contests to ethics and legislation, and has the trust of the House majority caucus and joint leadership. He was on the RPK executive committee and is on the Board of the Republican National Lawyers Association. He is involved with virtually all of the contentious legislation that comes before the House, and is the on-the-floor parliamentary advisor to the Speaker.”

*I’d like to take this opportunity to say I have heard of him primarily because when I was a young rookie reporter who did not realize the attorney for the House GOP sat in the media section on the House floor, I accidentally sat in his seat one time. He made me move. I remain apologetic to this day.

Tyler Peavler

As a member of the House GOP legal team, Peavler “works tirelessly behind the scenes to keep the House moving,” his nominator wrote.

“Having served in both the state Senate and House, few people have the expertise Tyler does in procedure and policy. He’s been working in the legislature since 2018 and has silently overseen the Republican reform of KY’s legislation.”

THE MEDIA

Quick note: I am, obviously, a politics reporter. I could easily write an entire other piece about the Frankfort press corps and who to go to for coverage about what, but to keep things focused and fair, the three reporters listed below are the three who got nominated by the public.

Bode Brooks

The nomination for the FOX 56 reporter called him “a solid political journalist with strong sourcing.”

But, both for his nominator and myself, his relatively new show “Red, White and Bluegrass” is what fully earned him a spot on this list.

Brooks is a relative newcomer to the Frankfort beat, but he has quickly earned the trust and interview time with several high-profile lawmakers with his TV segment. His show grew crazy fast, and now regularly gets enough play it is becoming a bit of a mainstay in Kentucky political journalism.

McKenna Horsley

Horsley has been the Kentucky Lantern’s state politics reporter since the newsroom’s inception in late 2022, and she’s been on it ever since.

A reader nominated her, saying she has “excellent writing, timely articles with a good grasp of the issues, also clear reporting on Comment on Kentucky.”

Renee Shaw

A list of Frankfort reporters would be incomplete without KET’s Renee Shaw, aka our queen. No, seriously: One of her nominators literally wrote her job title as “queen.”

The other, who described her as “Renee Motherf***ing Shaw” (asterisks my own), referred to her as the “HBIC/GOAT.”

Listen, anyone who can routinely host an hour-long live TV broadcast of roughly four people who do not agree with each other on a high-profile controversial political topic deserves to be on this list. Straight up.

(“Presumably she was already on the list but I have a sacred obligation to nominate her anyway,” the aforementioned “queen” nominator wrote.)

THE LOBBYISTS

Stephen Huffman

Huffman is a lobbyist for several high-profile organizations, including Keeneland and the University of Kentucky.

Per his nomination: “His star has risen dramatically. He is very close to House leadership and top three most influential lobbyists with the House. He is extremely well liked and gets results. His portfolio of clients has grown extensively to include key KY industries.”

Brian Lacefield

Whoever nominated Lacefield is his hype person, so I’ll just drop the nomination here:

“He is a policy guy. Understand how the sausage is made. Getting 80% of what you want is a win and that politics is not a zero sum game, it’s the long game of building consensus and finding a win-win.

“Lacefield has made a career on building symbiotic relationships to advance the greater good. He will always listen to opposition and seek to learn in an understanding way.

“He is a true independent lobbyist with great relationships on both sides of the aisle. His role is to educate legislators to his clients interest and advise against unintended consequences, making legislation better for our Commonwealth.”

Richard Nelson

As the leader of the conservative Commonwealth Policy Center, “Richard has been instrumental in helping social conservatives get elected to the General Assembly, and he’s been influential in getting bills on social issues passed.”

As a reporter, I best know Nelson as the guy who handed me a packet of photos of scantily clad drag performers during an early morning legislative hearing over whether or not heavy restrictions should be placed on drag a few years ago. Attempts at limiting drag have failed, but I understand exactly why he got nominated.

Abby Piper

The founder and managing partner of government relations/PR firm Piper-Smith got a few nominations.

The first: “Abby has built a steady and successful lobbying and PR firm from scratch. She handles tough issues and elevates clients into getting the best possible outcomes. She never backs down from a challenge and is respectful and thoughtful as she navigates her and the firm’s way through Frankfort.”

And then the second (a bit more succinct): “She’s brilliant.”

Chuck Truesdell

After the past year of maybe-we-should-break-up-JCPS energy and some more recent vibes of let’s-target-JCPS-because-our-school-choice-amendment-didn’t-pass, in what world would Jefferson County Public Schools’ lobbyist not make this list?

David Walls

As the executive director of The Family Foundation, a conservative group focused on Biblical values, Walls made the list for basically the same reasons as Nelson. He’s played a big role behind-the-scenes as the GOP has grown in the legislature, particularly around social issues.

THE POLICY-SHAPERS

Sure, lobbyists definitely fall into this category, but this is designed to be a catchall spot for advocates, activists, leaders who aren’t quite lobbyists — anyone who shapes policy either publicly or privately, in some way, shape or form.

Jason Bailey

As the leader of the left-leaning Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, Bailey is a frequent challenger to GOP-led initiatives.

“KY Policy drives the agenda for Democrats in Frankfort. Nobody provides more policy details and analysis than that group. They are key to forming the policy arguments for the entire Kentucky center left, and that’s all we’ve got: arguments,” one nominator said.

The group’s data and analysis are frequently cited by advocates, lawmakers and reporters alike, too.

Alex Berling

Berling calls herself a “citizen advocate for commonsense data-driven policies that improve the quality of life for Kentuckians,” which is a lot of words, but accurate.

Their anonymous nominator explained: “After volunteering for the county Dem party and Dem candidates for a year, Alex ran for statehouse while attending Emerge in 2023…and she was essentially railroaded out of the party for being too progressive of a candidate.

“She took her passion and skill set to Rep. Kim Moser and has spent the past year working with Moser on like-minded issues, getting more accomplished than she would have as a Democrat.”

(ICYMI: Moser also made this list due to her effectiveness as a legislator.)

Kelsey Hayes Coots

She’s here for a pretty simple reason: She was basically the architect behind Amendment 2’s downfall. And as a reminder, Amendment 2 failed not just by a little bit, but by a whole lot. So, what’s next? A reframed mission for Protect Our Schools KY aimed at generally improving public education.

Emma Curtis

Curtis has been a common face in Frankfort for the last few years, and now she’s an elected official in Lexington.

“With a new wave of national anti-trans legislation and having campaigned on her ability to work with the legislature to benefit Lexington,” her nominator wrote that they expect her to use her new role as a Lexington councilmember (and one of the first transgender people elected to office in Kentucky) “to draw attention and lead the charge against any filed in KY.”

Curtis was also one of three women who initially went on record detailing their experiences with embattled Rep. Daniel Grossberg, who is under investigation for accusations of sexual harassment.

On that note, I’d like to also add Allison Wiseman and Sarah Ritter to this list. They, too, spoke out against Grossberg, even when it could’ve cost them their careers in Kentucky politics. Because of them, several others came forward with their story and/or called for Grossberg’s removal from office (myself included).

Robbie Fletcher

Between a sudden multimillion dollar funding shortfall and some districts’ need for more online learning days, the new education commissioner is already playing a big role in Frankfort this session.

But when does Kentucky’s K-12 chief not play a large role in state policy and politics? Fletcher is the first commissioner to have to be confirmed by the state senate after Republicans took a major disliking to former commissioner Jason Glass over culture wars issues, so it’ll be interesting to see how he balances the best interest of Kentucky students and Frankfort — two things that often don’t mix well.

Michael Frazier

Frazier’s exact title is Executive Director of the Kentucky Student Rights Coalition and, larger than that, policy advisor, but how does one truly define Michael Frazier?

He seems somewhat omnipresent in the halls of Frankfort — “He has done pretty much everything you can do in Frankfort from campaigning to writing legislation to lobbying,” one Democrat who nominated him said. (Frazier tends to lean Republican.)

But the majority of his nominations — and he was one of the most nominated folks on this list — focus on his work on free speech and anti-DEI measures in higher ed. And, one person added, he “is a principled defender of liberty.”

The Kentucky Student Voice Team

They were already going to make the list, but KSVT definitely earned its spot here when it sued Kentucky over providing an allegedly inadequate education earlier this year.

They’ll be doing more on that front throughout the upcoming year, and it’ll be interesting to see if/how lawmakers react to their allegations via legislation in the coming weeks.

(Let the record reflect that even before January’s lawsuit, several individual KSVT-ers got nominated on their own.)

Cara Stewart

Described by one nominator as “Kentucky’s Whisperer to the Stars,” Stewart was one of the most nominated folks on the list, so I’ll just sit back and quote some of them:

“Cara is my go-to for legislative info and insights and I trust her as a source of knowing who is who, what they do, and how to effect real change.”

“Bipartisan mover and shaker. Cara is widely respected in Frankfort and the go-to for many lawmakers on matters of health policy.”

“Cara Stewart not only defines what it means to be an effective and compassionate advocate, but she is also a diplomatic problem solver. Her unique ability to work with anyone/everyone to achieve the goals for those she advocates for is beyond description.”

“I mean she knows everything…and everyone. More lawmakers call her now for advice than even when she was the House Dems chief of staff. She’s influential on policy, helps shape bills, knows the inside dirt (on everything and everyone), works well with Republicans without losing her progressive vibe, and is one of the few NKY folks shaping this state.”