Former Kentucky House leader and senior advisor to Gov. Andy Beshear, Rocky Adkins announced Tuesday that he is running for governor in 2027.

Adkins, 66, is a Sandy Hook native who represented Eastern Kentucky in the state House for more than three decades, serving as House Majority Leader from 2004 to 2017 before becoming Minority Leader through 2019. That year, he ran for governor himself, finishing second to Beshear in the Democratic primary. Following his loss, Adkins joined the Beshear administration as a senior advisor — a role he held until stepping down on July 10.

“Life is too hard for too many Kentuckians, and it does not have to be that way,” Adkins said in a campaign ad also released Tuesday. “People are working hard and doing their part. They deserve a government that does its part, too. For the past six years, we have worked to build a government that serves the people. I am running to make sure that work continues.”

A Morehead State University graduate and former college basketball player, Adkins has spent much of his public life focused on Eastern Kentucky — pushing for education funding, Medicaid expansion, and pension reform.

Adkins is also a cancer survivor who has raised more than $2.3 million for cancer research through his annual charity golf tournament.

He enters a Democratic primary field that already includes Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman. No Republicans have announced their run for governor yet.

Queer Kentucky will continue to monitor the race as the 2027 field takes shape.

FRANKFORT — It’s official: Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman is running for governor.

After two terms as Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s second-in-command, Coleman announced Monday morning that she will be running for Kentucky’s highest office in 2027.

Standing in front of the Kentucky Hall of Governors inside the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in Frankfort, Coleman noted Kentucky has only ever had one woman run the commonwealth.

It is time to change that, she said.

Coleman spent the last two years weighing the decision to run, she said, hearing from Kentuckians on what they want in their next governor.

“It’s crystal clear: they want someone who will show up, listen and focus on the issues that truly matter to their families,” Coleman said. They want someone who will stand against “the chaos and toxic negativity coming out of Washington, D.C.” and “not someone who is distracted by the culture war of the day.”

“If you’re looking for somebody to talk less about politicians and more about you, for someone who listens more than they talk, here she is,” she said.

Kentucky limits governors to two consecutive four-year terms, so Beshear — consistently one of the country’s most popular Democratic governors, despite being in a red state — cannot run for the office again.

But her time in the Beshear-Coleman administration is heavily influencing how she hopes to approach her own administration, should she be elected, saying now is not the time to take the foot off the gas.

In front of a crowd of labor and public education leaders, Democratic lawmakers, and the media, she outlined the broad strokes of a game plan focused on continuing Kentucky’s economic development success, while bolstering public education and strengthening health care access — including access to mental health supports.

As a former public school educator and basketball coach, Coleman has routinely served as a cornerstone to one of the administration’s top priorities: public education. She doesn’t plan on letting up on that, saying she will be in “coach mode” while in office.

The administration has also routinely been vocally pro-LGBTQ+, with the duo regularly headlining the annual Fairness Rally at the state Capitol. Coleman was the first constitutional officer in Kentucky to attend a pride event, and she’s attended several across the state since being elected in 2019.

Coleman and Beshear have also been visible advocates during the 2026 Kentucky legislative session, which saw a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation filed in the General Assembly. No anti-LGBTQ+ bills ultimately passed this year, though.

This story has been updated.