KENTUCKY LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR JACQUELINE COLEMAN ANNOUNCES RUN FOR 2027 GOVERNOR RACE

Democrat Kentucky Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman announced on Monday morning she would run for governor in the upcoming 2027 Kentucky election.

Jacqueline Coleman has served under Governor Andrew Beshear as the state’s 58th lieutenant governor since 2019, and was previously an educator and basketball coach.

Originally from Burgin, KY., Jacqueline Coleman graduated from Mercer County High School and continued her undergraduate education at Centre College.

Jacqueline Coleman received a master’s degree in political science from the University of Louisville, and is currently completing a doctorate at the University of Kentucky.

“Kentucky’s economic momentum is real, it’s historic, and Jacqueline has no intention of letting up. And Jacqueline believes that here in Kentucky, we take care of business by taking care of people,” Jacqueline Coleman’s website says. “The next chapter has to be about strengthening our schools, supporting Kentucky families, and making sure every single person in this commonwealth has a fair shot at the future we’re building together.”

Reactions from other politicians are varied so far. Russell Coleman, the Kentucky Attorney General, responded to WKYT’s X post that shared the news with a top class rebuttal zinger  saying, “A respectful reminder: Jacqueline Coleman isn’t my sister. She’s not my ex-wife. And she will never be Kentucky’s Governor.”

Senior Advisor to Governor Andy Beshear, Rocky Adkins spoke about his ideas on the upcoming gubernatorial election, while staying mum on his possibly running as a candidate himself for the governor’s office  .

Rocky Adkins said the following, “I’ve been humbled by the outpouring of support and encouragement from folks across Kentucky who care deeply about the future of our Commonwealth. Right now I’m focused on my job as Senior Advisor to the Governor and building on the strong record he has produced. But people back home know you can’t keep a Kentucky boy out of the fight when the future of our state is on the line. 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.”

Jacqueline Coleman attended Mercer County High School in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, where she played basketball. She enrolled at Centre College in 2001 to study history, earned a bachelor’s degree in 2004, and played college basketball for the Centre Colonels as a 5-foot-6-inch (168 centimeter) shooting guard. As a senior at Centre in 2003–04, Jacqueline Coleman averaged 26.4 minutes, 7.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists, with 14 starts in 25 games. She earned a master’s degree in political science at the University of Louisville in 2008, and was a graduate assistant on the Louisville Cardinals women’s basketball team in 2005–06 under head coach Tom Collen.

After graduating, JacquelineColeman became a social studies teacher at Burgin High School in Burgin, Kentucky, and coached the girls’ basketball team. From 2008 through 2015, she coached and taught advanced government at East Jessamine High School in Nicholasville, Kentucky.

Jacqueline Coleman ran in the 2014 Kentucky House of Representatives election to represent the 55th district as a member of the Democratic Party. She lost the election to incumbent Republican Kim King by over 30% in a Republican-dominated district.

In 2013, Jacqueline Coleman founded Lead Kentucky, a nonprofit organization focused on education policy reform. Inspired by Emerge Kentucky, the mission statement reads: “Lead Kentucky is a non-profit organization that recruits the best and brightest college women in the Bluegrass and empowers them to become the Commonwealth’s next generation of leaders.” By focusing on leadership development of college aged women through emphasis on networking, finding a work/life balance, and overcoming obstacles (specifically in Kentucky), Coleman hopes that this program will empower women to take on roles that they may otherwise avoid.

Jacqueline Coleman became assistant principal at Nelson County High School in Bardstown, Kentucky in 2017,^[a position she held until her resignation in November 2019, following her election as lieutenant governor. Jacqueline Coleman is a doctoral student at the University of Kentucky, where she is studying educational leadership.

Andy Beshear selected Coleman as his running mate on the Democratic ticket in the 2019 Kentucky gubernatorial election. On November 5, 2019, Beshear was declared the winner of the election, making Coleman the lieutenant governor-elect. After the election, Coleman said she would focus on education and rural economic development as lieutenant governor.

Lieutenant Governor Coleman was again Governor Beshear’s running mate in the 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election. Andy Beshear and Coleman were re-elected on November 7, 2023.

Jacqueline Coleman and Andy Beshear were sworn into their first term in office on December 10, 2023. In addition to serving as lieutenant governor, Beshear tapped Coleman to be the Secretary of Education and Workforce Development in his cabinet; however, she stepped down from this position in October 2021, saying that “seeing these commitments through requires a laser-like focus”.

Jacqueline Coleman’s grandfather, Jack Coleman, played in the National Basketball Association. Her father, also named Jack Coleman, served in the Kentucky House, representing the 55th district from 1991 through 200

Jacqueline Coleman and her husband, Christopher O’Bryan, announced her pregnancy during the 2019 campaign. Their daughter was born on February 8, 2020, making Coleman the highest-ranking elected executive official and first lieutenant governor in Kentucky history to give birth while in office. Jacqueline Coleman also has another daughter, a former student she coached, whom she and her husband adopted in December 2019, and she is also the stepmother to her husband’s two sons from a previous relationship.

On December 18, 2023, Jacqueline Coleman had a double mastectomy due to her family’s history of cancer.

The campaign website for Jacqueline Coleman’s 2027 candidacy for Kentucky governor’s race can be clicked link HERE.