University of Kentucky after Governor Beshear criticized his decisions by leadership.

Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman becomes the first candidate to enter the 2027 governor's race.

Some U.S.

Senate candidates appear on TV again, while others avoid it.

Ahead of Derby week, Churchill Downs acquires another well-known horse race.

Kentucky is in drought status.

Now.

We do have some rain, it looks like on the way and comment is next on KET.

[MUSIC] Good evening.

I'm Bill Bryant and we welcome you to comment on Kentucky.

A look back at and some analysis of the week's news in the Commonwealth.

And here with a new set new look tonight the guests on our panel of working Kentucky journalists tonight are Hannah Pinski political reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader, Lucas Aulbach reporter for the Courier-Journal and McKenna Horsley politics reporter for the Kentucky Lantern.

Also tonight, a Kentucky Supreme Court ruling on officials using private devices to talk about public business.

We have a lot to discuss.

The top drama of this week centered around Governor Beshear's criticism of the University of Kentucky leadership and its decisions.

He seemed to zero in on the new position created for retiring athletics director Mitch Barnhart.

By week's end, Barnhart said he didn't want to be a distraction and won't take the job.

Beshear also criticized the selection of Federal Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove to head up the UK Law School.

McKenna Beshear said he was losing confidence and growing increasingly concerned about the management of UK, and this really started off a whole series of events this week.

>> Yes, this is definitely one of those weird times where we have a conflux of politics and sports here in Kentucky, especially at the University of Kentucky and some of our politicians.

But Beshear initially said this week that he was concerned about the creation of a new $1 million job that has no defined duties, and the announcement of the new dean of law saying that he was the only candidate not recommended by the law school faculty.

That $1 million job seemingly referred to Barnhart's position.

He was set to become the first executive in residence of the UK Sport and Workforce Initiative when he retired later this year.

But ultimately, he backed off, taking that job after Beshear had made several comments throughout the week.

>> Saying he did not want to be a distraction.

Do we know what kind of resolution will be reached with Barnhart now?

>> There had been some work done on that workforce initiative.

Obviously, that plan and Mitch Barnhart's retirement was announced a month ago or so.

So the university had been laying the foundation in some way.

But with the quick changes that we've seen this week and the board meeting happening at the end of the week, it's unclear what steps the university will take from that point on.

>> Beshear also criticized the appointment of federal Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove to head up the UK Law School, and he got both support and pushback for those comments.

And Judge Tatenhove himself weighed in on joining his alma mater in that role.

>> Great conversation so far with faculty who had, you know, had a strong disagreement and what they thought was the best profile for the university.

But they've been constructive.

I am absolutely confident that we're going to work together to build consensus and be transparent and, and move my alma mater forward.

>> So Lucas, obviously a judge, Van Tatenhove is eager to go and ready and says that he believes all this can be worked out.

But the Courier-Journal first reported that he was not acceptable by law school faculty.

>> That was a good get by.

Our city government reporter Killian Barr.

It was two associate deans who reached out to university leadership and said they'd spoken to a majority of faculty who said Van Tatenhove is unacceptable and could put ABA accreditation at risk.

Now, the provost, who was involved in the dean search, pushed back on that a little bit in a board meeting the other day.

I guess it was yesterday, he said.

That feedback came from an informal meeting and didn't necessarily represent the view of the entire faculty, and that while the judge may have nontraditional credentials, he still has the background and the vision to help the school meet the moment at kind of they keep calling it a tipping point for higher education, tighter budget enrollment issues, and just a changing landscape.

So Van Tatenhove, he seems enthusiastic and ready to go.

>> So and it was interesting.

As the week went on, Beshear continued to say he was getting support for his comments, and yet some were taking him to task, particularly as it related to the Van Tatenhove comments.

Attorney General Russell Coleman, Secretary of State Michael Adams among those expressing support, as well as the House speaker, David Osborne.

>> Yeah, I mean, Attorney General Russell Coleman is a UK law graduate.

He had said Tatenhove is an extraordinary leader and is looking forward to working with him.

House Speaker David Osborne also expressed similar support, saying, you know, Tatenhove is widely expressed.

What widely respected among the judicial and legal communities.

And what was also interesting about Osborne statement is that he had pointed out Bashir's method for bringing up these concerns.

You know, Bashir had posted his initial statement on social media that kind of started this whole saga and has yet to appear on camera since he made that post.

So I think there are some who are waiting to see what else Beshear has to say, if there are any updates.

So once Beshear, you know, gives an update, I think that'll be interesting to see as well.

>> Well, Hannah Austin Horn of the Herald-Leader and some other reporters looked up some disclosure reports from Judge Van Tatenhove that indicated that he had received reimbursement for travel from Joe Craft, who was a coal executive and also a graduate of the UK College of Law.

>> Yes, he had received multiple gifts and reimbursements from Kelly and Joe Craft, who are known as, you know, big Republican and UK donors.

He was taken Health was reimbursed for trips to Charlotte, Chicago, North Carolina and Florida, and the crafts had given him a couple gifts as well.

One of them was a $800 birthday gift and a travel to Montreal and sports tickets as well.

Beshear mentioned in those criticisms he was concerned about Partizan donors, but then as necessarily named them.

I think with those financial disclosure reports, it's fair to say, you know, the crafts could be one of the donors Beshear is alluding to.

But like we saw in the earlier clip, Tatenhove says he will continue to be nonpartisan, you know, in this role and will do what's best for the law school here.

>> So he's set to begin his work in a few weeks at UK.

So by Friday.

So the week went along and it was quite a week.

McKenna.

There were there were a lot of discussions at the the Board of Trustees meeting, and it appears some changes are coming.

>> Yes.

And, you know, I think this definitely started because the board was going to meet on Thursday and Friday this week.

But today they're full board meeting.

UK president Eli Capilouto defended the appointment of Van Tatenhove to this position, saying that the American Bar Association standards never allowed for the faculty to have veto power over the appointment of a dean and said things like that.

He also said that he is well suited to this position and will help move the law college forward in the future, but also kind of on this note, something else that happened.

Board of Trustees member Jim Gray, who is also an advisor to Beshear on Transportation, called for a collaborative group to review and adjust the university's governing regulations.

And that is an ongoing issue that's kind of cropped up in this situation we're seeing unfold this week.

But two years ago, the university redid its university governing regulations, and part of that removed some of the board power to approve deans, which has come up in this process.

So I think Jim Gray is hoping that that can be reviewed in some measure heading forward.

>> In other news, as we sometimes say in television, the tuition is being raised slightly for the upcoming year as well.

>> Yes, yes, that also happened at the board meeting.

So there are a lot of issues happening right now at the university level.

>> What a week it was for.

>> I keep saying we need more than 30 minutes.

>> Yes.

>> Because we got a lot of topics.

Let's move along.

The 2027 governor's race came crashing onto the scene this week.

Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman announced she will seek the governorship.

She, of course, a Democrat.

She noted that Kentucky has only had one woman governor, Martha Layne Collins, who was in office 40 years ago.

>> Martha Layne is the only woman in the history of our Commonwealth to serve as governor.

And I think it's time we change that.

So it is with deep pride in the work that we've accomplished to this point, with abounding hope for a future, we can author together an immense gratitude and love for my fellow Kentuckians that today I declare my candidacy to be the next governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

>> You could hear the coach in her voice there toward the end, right?

Hannah Coleman talked about being a teacher and a basketball coach, and indicated that education and health care would be her top priorities if she's elected.

>> Yeah, I think those are definitely the two main buckets that she's focusing on right now throughout her time, starting with education, she is kind of positioned herself as this pro public education political figure.

In 2024, she had done extensive work campaigning against amendment two, which was the school choice ballot initiative that Kentuckians ultimately voted no on.

And also, you know, she's banking on her experience in the classroom and as a coach as well.

And then on the health care front, she really emphasized she wants to Kentuckians to have access and autonomy in healthcare decisions.

And one of those areas is abortion.

And what's interesting about Coleman is that her stance on abortion has evolved over the years as her time as a politician.

So in 2014, when she was running for state House, she positioned herself as a pro-life Democrat.

But then in 2019, when she ran with Beshear, she sort of changed her position and said that she believed that Roe v Wade was the standard that she thinks is best for the country, best for Kentuckians.

And when I spoke to her yesterday, she had said a similar thing, saying, you know, I think Roe v Wade said the best restrictions in the correct standard.

So it's interesting to see how her stance has evolved over time.

>> Yeah, Lucas, she acknowledged to me in an interview today that there are times that she has disagreed with Governor Beshear behind closed doors, but publicly, they always came out united.

>> It's interesting.

You know, they have always had a united front, you know, in front of the camera.

And they've been through a lot together over six years through Covid, through other natural disasters, a few budget cycles back and forth with the legislature.

So they've always seemed in lockstep.

I'm interested to see how she defines herself as a candidate.

You know, you're kind of like vice president.

As lieutenant governor, you don't really get a chance to be in the spotlight.

So.

>> Well, I ask her, would you know, it be a continuation of the Beshear administration?

Would she go her own way?

And if the answer was sort of both.

>> So I can't wait to tune in.

>> It'll be interesting.

All right.

So that's the Kentucky Newsmakers program on KY.

T Republicans have pounced quickly.

Hannah Attorney General Russell Coleman said the lieutenant governor will never be governor.

And then she clapped back at that.

>> She did.

I think that particular post kind of you know, it raised some eyebrows, but also got some support as well.

I believe he had said at the beginning of that post, you know, Lieutenant Governor Coleman isn't my sister.

She isn't my ex-wife, and she'll never be governor of Kentucky.

And I asked her specifically about that post in an interview I'd done with her.

And she said, you know, reflects how some male politicians made her announcement about them.

And in her words, she had said, I'm going to keep looking forward and these guys can keep looking in the mirror for all I care.

So it really seems like she's just kind of dusting it off and using that comment to sort of promote her candidacy.

>> Lucas, it appears there will be a Democratic primary for governor, likely the governor's senior advisor, Rocky Adkins, a former longtime legislative leader, says he is getting a lot of encouragement to run for governor.

And once again, Coleman told me today that she believes that she can run a race without being personal, she said.

In fact, watching some of the current campaigns makes her feel that.

>> Way, she's going to say that would be a very far cry from what we've been seeing in a certain other race going on right now.

But yeah, Rocky, I mean, he's run before he has the name ID.

He's close with Beshear.

A lot of ties in Frankfort still.

He's kind of probably more of a moderate Democrat, or at least has been in the past.

So that would be I think people would expect that to be a competitive primary.

>> Okay, one more takeaway from my interview today.

She told me she wants to name a running mate.

So and they would do that likely soon.

So that was interesting because she didn't that day.

>> She had told me when she was looking for when she's looking for a running mate.

She has not had conversations with anyone yet, but she's looking for someone you know who has similar goals, but someone different than her, someone who has a different background, you know, probably someone who's not in the education sphere.

So I think she's looking for someone to compliment her, but not be totally similar as her.

>> Okay.

On the Republican side, we hear names including Congressman James Comer, Congressman Thomas Massie, who told some students in Louisville that he might look at it if he wins next month's primary against Ed Gallrein, who President Trump has endorsed, and the secretary of state, Michael Adams, who's term limited, indicates he's very interested in running for governor.

Lucas, does that seem to be the field?

>> Those are three who are publicly toying with it now.

We also got a Senate race going on right now with three front runners, only one can advance to the general.

So what are those other two guys going to do?

I guess we'll see.

Talk to Representative Savannah Maddox earlier this week, who had toyed with a run in the past.

And she said she's monitoring the field.

I think right now people are looking at comer as the front runner, just given his history in the state.

But a lot can happen.

We got a long way to go.

>> And McKenna, you through another wild card into one of your stories about the Republican field.

>> Yes.

So there was a elections bill that passed out of the General Assembly this year.

And in his veto message of it, Beshear noted that one provision in that elections bill would allow sitting state lawmakers to move their campaign funds to a new account for a statewide office run that could be governor, but it could also be something like attorney general or something like that.

But Beshear said it could benefit Senate President Robert Stivers, who has a well-funded campaign account, if he wanted to run for governor.

And so I asked President Stivers about that.

And in his quip, he said, is he afraid I'll run against him or something?

But then he added, I'm not ruling anything out.

But I did not ask that that provision be put in there.

But in 23 we had a dozen Republicans run in that primary, so I'm sure we'll have a lot more come out as well.

>> Probably robust on both sides the time we get there.

Right.

And, you know, before we even get to next year, the 2026 elections have to be settled, including the race to replace Senator Mitch McConnell, who is stepping down after 42 years in Washington.

And KET hosted a political forum Monday night.

Renee Shaw, of course, always doing a wonderful job with that.

Only the only invited Republican who showed up, though, was former Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

>> As I travel the Commonwealth and talk to people all across the state, what they care about is a candidate who is focused on them.

The money that's been spent in this race is, a lot of you all can attest to has been spent attacking personal grievances, airing those grievances on television.

And I know from speaking with a lot of you all you care deeply about a candidate that is focused on the issues that you talk about at your dinner table.

So that's what I've been talking about.

>> So Hannah Cameron had the airwaves to himself.

That has been a luxury he has not had much of in this campaign, because he has been outgunned in paid television by both Andy Barr and Nate Morris.

>> Yeah, I definitely think he took advantage of being the only Republican on stage in the absence of Barr and Morris to get his message out there.

You know, throughout this campaign, Cameron has not performed as well in the fundraising numbers as Morris and Barr have.

And that's led to Morrison Barr putting TV ad after TV ad, particularly ads criticizing each other.

And, you know, Cameron is still polling relatively well, either at first or second place, depending on what poll you look at.

So I'll be curious to see after this TV appearance whether those number changes.

But overall, he took this time to position himself, you know, as that family first, faith driven candidate here.

>> And in.

Cameron did get on the air this week with his first paid TV ad.

Here's a clip.

>> I'm proud to be a husband, a father, and a Kentuckian.

But first, I'm a follower of Jesus Christ.

[MUSIC] We are in a spiritual battle for our country and for our children.

>> So, Lucas, there you have a Cameron leaning on faith and family in his communication with Republican voters.

>> Yeah.

And this always kind of felt like the end game with him, just for months, with Barr and Morris sniping at each other in commercials on the debate stage where he stood between him while they were going back and forth.

He's trying to define himself as the guy who's above all that and is focused on the issues.

And above all is, you know, a Christian man that you can trust and, you know, your family would be better off with him.

His leadership in DC.

>> Again, Barr and Morris had their reasons that they did not attend the forum at KET Democrat's, who met KETS criteria, also appeared and viewers heard from Charles, Booker Amy McGrath and Dale Romans.

>> A lot of folks have been struggling before Trump's administration and looking for leadership that cares about them.

That would work to put more money in their pockets, work to take on corporate greed.

And we're seeing the explosion of corruption in the Trump administration and politicians like Mitch McConnell, Daniel Cameron, Andy Barr, Nate Morris who want to sell us out.

And so we need to do a couple of things.

>> But what we need is someone who's going to be a voice for everyday Kentuckians, someone who is going to stand up and say, hey, am I?

Loyalty is to Kentucky and to Kentucky only, not to a political party, not to a billionaire, not to Mar a Lago, but to Kentuckians and Kentuckians only.

And so that's what I would say to anyone that thinks my loyalty is somewhere else.

>> You don't have to be beholden to the party.

I like to say sort of like Joe Manchin was in West Virginia, that you can go vote for what's right for Kentucky and also reach across the line.

I mean, I'm sure you'll hear tonight a lot of talk about I can fight, I can fight, I'm strong enough to fight, but I want to go up there and work.

I don't want to fight for the sake of fighting.

I think it takes a lot more strength to reach across the aisle and work with someone you might disagree with than it does just to fight, just to be fighting.

>> Are the Democrats managing to separate themselves into distinct lanes as they seek the nomination?

>> I know one lane that Charles Booker is putting himself in, and you can sum it up in one word that Lane is front runner, because it's a word that he uses in every release and every, you know, public statement that he makes these days.

He's looking at the polling data, and he wants you to look at the polling data and say, hey, this is the guy who is going to get the nomination.

>> Also a progressive candidate.

It's very fair to say that with Booker Wright.

>> Oh, yeah.

I think it's very interesting, particularly in the Democratic Party, because, you know, with the Republican primary, all three front, all three of the big candidates are positioning themselves with Trump's agenda.

Whereas we see three very distinct policy differences with Booker, Romans and McGrath.

You know, Booker sees himself as the most progressive candidate, wants to increase the minimum wage, is advocating for, you know, health care across the country.

You have Romans who's the most moderate and said, you know, Booker Booker's plans are unrealistic, such as Medicare for all that wouldn't work in the U.S.

and then you have McGrath, who is somewhere in the middle.

So I think it's interesting to see how, you know, they disagree on sort of these policy areas like Medicare and even Trump's being impeached as well.

>> All right.

There may be more debates to come.

Some are being planned before the May 19th primary with the early voting, the Thursday, Friday and Saturday before that.

Now in the race for Congress in Central Kentucky, which is open because Andy Barr is leaving in his gamble to move up to the Senate.

Former Lexington mayor, now former Transportation Secretary Jim Gray endorsed Zach Dimbo.

>> Yeah, I got to know you.

I got to know Zach Dimbo when we worked together in Andy Beshear's administration, and that's when I found him to be extraordinarily energetic and enthusiastic with a resolve and with a character that means something in public service.

And I think that Zach clearly has the best chance of flipping the sixth in the general election.

And that's why I'm with you and I'm for you today.

>> Would you assume, Hannah, that Graves endorsement could be impactful?

>> I definitely think it could be impactful.

I mean, as you we saw gray and I both sort of have a relationship from working in the Beshear administration.

And gray had also pointed out, you know, one of the factors in him endorsing Dumbo was Dumbo's fundraising numbers.

He's done particularly well throughout this campaign.

And to some extent, fundraising numbers do indicate how much support you would have in an election.

So I definitely think Dumbo will use this as well as his fundraising numbers as part of his electability pitch here to voters.

>> All right.

The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled 4 to 2 this week that officials can conduct private business that is, public business on private devices.

McKenna.

This came in a case involving a couple of commissioners in the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

>> Yes.

So this ruling stems from a year long case brought by the Open Government Coalition here in Kentucky that advocates for transparency in government.

They had submitted open records request in 2021 to the group, and that was denied.

But they asked for text messages and email communications on the private phones of members of the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission.

So that would be any instance where they are talking about something that happened in a meeting or something dealing with the agency on their cell phone, but the majority opinion that the Supreme Court rendered this week wrote that individual members of the board do not constitute, do not make a are not a public agency under the state's open records laws.

Therefore, their emails and text messages on their private cell phones, even if they are talking about private business, are not public records.

>> Presumably applies now to.

>> All right.

And we've seen some legislation to this effect come through the General Assembly.

It didn't pass, but it would have made it so.

Every public agency must give everyone an email address that they are only supposed to use for these business talks and things like that.

But there are some questions from open government advocates.

If people will just go ahead and use their cell phone to sidestep rules like that.

>> Fayette County Schools announced deeper financial issues than had previously been revealed.

Hannah.

That's a situation to watch.

They're apparently going to have to borrow money to pay bills.

>> Yeah, I believe they announced this week that they're looking for a short term loan to cover expenditures.

And they also warned as well, you know, difficult decisions will be required as the district develops its budget for the 2026 2027 fiscal year.

>> Derby week is coming.

Excitement is building for the 152nd run for the roses.

Meanwhile, Churchill Downs has acquired the Preakness series, so Lucas, that's a twist.

The Preakness will still be run in Baltimore as the second jewel of the Triple Crown, presumably?

>> Yeah.

Spent $85 million to acquire the rights to it.

And I think I helped pay for pay for some of that with some of my Derby bets over the years.

But yeah, it's the deal.

It gives them the intellectual property rights to the state of Maryland.

But Churchill now owns the race.

It's being run this year at Laurel Park instead of Pimlico, which is undergoing renovations.

And there's chatter, too, about now maybe potentially pushing the race back a week.

Give the horses a little more time to recover.

I think that's something a lot of trainers have pushed for, so a lot of questions to be answered moving forward.

>> We know that Louisville will be lively the next week with the Derby Festival events.

You always have to compete with the weather and keep an eye.

>> On that.

>> And then those races are later on this year.

And so that is made some changes for restaurants and businesses.

>> It's upset a lot of people, restaurants in Louisville who usually get a lot of business on Oaks Night from people coming into town and getting ready for a longer day the following day at the track.

So I think that's irked a few people.

We'll see how it goes this year.

>> All right.

Anybody go into the Derby?

>> I'll be there.

I'll be there Wednesday, Friday, Saturday.

>> So two out of four.

Kentucky is in drought status right now.

It's most severe in Western Kentucky.

So we do hope for some rain that's in the forecast.

And and then of course hope it all clears out for all the Derby events.

Right.

Kentucky State Treasurer Mark Metcalfe announced that his office has returned more than $100 million to Kentuckians, a new record for money returned at this point in the Treasurer's term, unclaimed property includes forgotten bank accounts, uncashed checks, insurance proceeds, utility deposits that were never claimed, other accounts that may have just been forgotten.

Metcalfe says it has been his goal to return it to the people.

You can go to the Treasurer's website or visit missingmoney.com and see if you're owed anything.

That's comment on Kentucky.

Thank you for joining us.

Have a good derby week ahead.

[MUSIC]