Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman Announces Run For Kentucky Governorship
Photo Submitted
Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, a fifth generation native of Mercer County, has announced her candidacy to replace Gov. Andy Beshear.
Robert Moore
Herald Staff
[email protected]
Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, the highest ranking elected official from Mercer County, has officially declared her candidacy to become the next governor of Kentucky.
Coleman announced her run Monday, April 20, at the Kentucky History Center in Frankfort. She is the first candidate to enter the race, which will not be decided until 2027.
“I did not come to the decision to run for this office lightly,” she said in her speech. “I spent the last two years meeting with Kentuckians, asking them what they are looking for in their next governor. And listening. And it’s crystal clear: they want someone who will show up, listen, and focus on the issues that truly matter to their families.”
Before Coleman’s election to the lieutenant governorship in 2019, no Mercer County resident had held a state level office since Coleman’s great-grandfather, Clell Coleman, who served as auditor and as state agriculture commissioner. The closest Mercer had come to a statewide office holder in recent history was former State Auditor Mike Harmon, who won is originally from Mercer County but resided in Boyle County while holding statewide office.
Coleman is also the second teacher elected to the office of lieutenant governor of Kentucky. Martha Layne Collins, who went on to become the 56th and first woman governor serving from 1983–1987, was the first teacher elected lieutenant governor in 1979. Layne is the only woman to serve as governor of Kentucky.
“I think it’s time we change that,” Coleman said.
Coleman and her husband, Chris O’Bryan, have four children. A fifth-generation native of Mercer County, Coleman is the second lieutenant governor elected from Mercer County since Gabriel Slaughter, who was elected more than 200 years ago. Coleman’s father, Jack Coleman, served as a state representative in the 55th District from 1991 to 2004 as well as a Harrodsburg city commissioner from 2012. Her grandfather, Jack Coleman Sr., played basketball at the University of Louisville and nine seasons in the NBA (1949-58) with the Rochester Royals. The gym at Burgin Independent School is named after him.
In her speech, Coleman announced she was running in part on the Commonwealth’s economic record since she and Gov. Andy Beshear took office in 2019.
“Kentucky’s economy is leading the nation,” Coleman said Monday. “I’m proud the Beshear-Coleman administration has created nearly 70,000 new jobs and generated over $45 billion worth of investment in the Commonwealth. But now is not the time to take our foot off the gas.”
As governor, Coleman said she will stand up for working families and not be beholden to out of state billionaires, DC elites and career politicians. She said the Commonwealth’s next governor will need to continue to focus on economic and workforce development.
A graduate of Mercer County High School, Coleman went on to earn degrees at Centre College and the University of Louisville. She was a star athlete at the high school and college levels. Before being elected to office, she served as the assistant principal at Nelson County High School. Coleman also taught at Burgin and East Jessamine high schools.
During Monday’s speech, Coleman recalled that when Beshear first approached her about joining his ticket in 2018, she was on bus duty and had to wait until the last bus left the parking lot .
Coleman said she would forever be grateful to Beshear for asking her to serve alongside him.
On her website and in her speech, Coleman stresses the importance of her time as a girls basketball coach, leading a team to the KHSAA Sweet Sixteen.
Coleman said Kentucky’s continued success begins with schools.
“They are the heart of our communities and the economic engine of the commonwealth,” Coleman said. “As someone who’s worked in a classroom longer than I’ve been your Lt. Governor, here are three basic things that state government needs to focus on: putting kids first, supporting the people who show up for our kids every day, and giving our schools the resources they need, to do what we need them to do.”
Coleman underwent a double mastectomy in December 2019, shortly after being sworn into her second term.
“It was a scary time for me and my family,” the lieutenant governor said Monday. “But I was one of the lucky ones. Because having health insurance and access to a hospital meant I could be proactive, and even aggressive, with my healthcare decisions.”
“That’s what I want for every Kentuckian—not just access, but autonomy,” Coleman said.
