Gov. Andy Beshear chairs the Democratic Governors Association this year and in that role his job is to help elect as many Democratic governors as possible in November.
In working toward that goal, Beshear’s super PAC, In This Together, made a $100,000 contribution in August to Project Battleground Georgia, a political committee supporting the election of former Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms as governor of Georgia. Bottoms is the former mayor of Atlanta who is opposed by Republican Rick Jackson, founder and chief executive of a healthcare staffing and services company.
The $100,000 donation, disclosed in a report filed with the Federal Election Commission this week, is among the largest contributions made by In This Together to help candidates in races outside Kentucky.
Also last month, the report filed by In This Together shows it made a $25,000 contribution to Affordable NM, a committee promoting the election of Debra Haaland as governor of New Mexico.
Haaland is a former member of the U.S. House and she served as Secretary of the Interior for President Joe Biden. She is opposed in November by Republican Greg Hull, a businessman and former mayor of Rio Rancho, New Mexico.
Beshear PAC buys Beshear books
In July, the Kentucky Lantern reported that the Kentucky Democratic Party paid $10,769.07 to Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington for 521 copies of Beshear’s new book, “Go Forth and Do Likewise.”
In August, In This Together went forth and did likewise. Its recent report filed with the FEC shows that In This Together paid $9,126.60 to Carmichael’s Books in Louisville. Beshear’s top political strategist Eric Hyers, who oversees the super PAC, confirmed in an email that the payment was for copies of “Go Forth and Do Likewise.” Hyers said the books were used to raise funds for the super PAC, but he did not respond to an emailed question how many copies of the book were purchased with the $9,126.60.
Beshear created In This Together soon after he won reelection as governor in 2023. He uses it as a platform to support his exploration of a run for the Democratic Party nomination for president in 2028.
The super PAC, which can accept contributions of unlimited amounts, has since raised about $9 million and has used that money to make donations to candidates and causes that Beshear supports – both in and out of Kentucky. The money also pays the administrative costs of running the super PAC – the strategy consultants, fundraising consultants, compliance consultants, etc. on the Beshear political team.
The largest contributions made to In This Together listed in the recent report were three donations of $25,000 each from executives of financial services companies: Marc Spilker, of New York, an executive of GPS Investment Partners; Donald Mullen, also of New York, the chief executive of Pretium Partners; and Eric Mindich, of Miami Beach, who is identified in the report as a partner in Eton Park Capital.
Top lobbyists, according to how much they are paid
Lobbyists have long been the highest paid people who work in the Capitol – by far. That fact is proven each time the groups that lobby the Kentucky General Assembly file periodic reports with the Legislative Ethics Commission – reports that disclose how much they pay their lobbyists.
The commission’s website tallies those numbers for each registered lobbyist. Reports covering the months since the end of the 2026 legislative session were filed last week. And they show the top-paid lobbyist from Jan. 1 through Aug. 31 this year was Steve Huffman of Lexington, who was paid $913,200 for his eight months of work.
About 900 corporations, associations and other groups pay lobbyists to represent their interests before the legislature. And most professional lobbyists like Huffman represent many groups. Huffman represents 24 groups. And here’s how he made $913,200 in eight months:
- Brightstar Global Solutions paid him $68,500;
- Keeneland Association, $52,000;
- CRH Americas, $50,500;
- Revolutionary Racing, $48,000;
- ViaPath Technologies, $48,000;
- Kentucky Association of Health Plans, $44,000;
- Revenue Based Finance Coalition, $41,000;
- American Municipal Power, $40,000;
- Buckhorn Children $ Family Services, $40,000;
- Dismas Charities, $40,000;
- ECL Entertainment, $40,000;
- Elevance Health, $40,000;
- JT International USA, $40,000;
- Kentucky Broadband & Cable Association, $40,000;
- Kentucky Medical Services Foundation, $40,000;
- NetChoice, $40,000;
- The Red Mile, $40,000;
- Madison County, $35,000;
- Wrigley Media Group, $32,000;
- Kentucky Equine Education Alliance, $26,200;
- BitCoin Depot, $22,500;
- Duke Energy, $20,000;
- Jockey’s Guild, $20,000;
- Kentucky League of Cities, $5,500.
Last January, Kentucky Lantern reported that in 2025, for the first time ever, the ethics commission data showed that compensation of particular lobbyists exceeded $1 million for a calendar year. The records showed Huffman was paid $1,153,500 that year, and lobbyist Patrick Jennings was paid $1,123,988 by his numerous clients.
Recent filings show Jennings ranks second in compensation through August of 2026 at $880,685. These two are way ahead of the pack as the third highest paid lobbyist is John McCarthy at $606,946.
Huffman, Jennings, and McCarthy are hardly the only highly paid lobbyists. The recent ethics filing shows they are just three of 35 lobbyists who, through Aug. 31, have already made more this year than Gov. Andy Beshear’s annual salary of $188,523 for all of 2026.
