Andy Beshear

DemocratGovernor of Kentucky

Age	48 (b. 1977-11-29)
Gender	Male
In office since	2019-01-01 (~7 yrs)
Race / ethnicity	White (of French, English, and German ancestry)
Religion	Christian; Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) - member and deacon at Beargrass Christian Church, Louisville
Education	B.A. in Political Science and Anthropology, magna cum laude, Vanderbilt University (2000); J.D., University of Virginia School of Law, Dean's Scholar (2003)
Prior occupation	Attorney; associate at White & Case LLP (Washington, D.C., 2003-2005) and at Stites & Harbison (Louisville, 2005-2015)
Military service	No
Birthplace	Louisville, Kentucky
Marital status	Married — Britainy Beshear (nee Colman)
Children	2
Residence	Kentucky Governor's Mansion, Frankfort, Kentucky (home in Louisville, Kentucky)
Notable relatives	Father Steve Beshear, 61st Governor of Kentucky (2007-2015) and former Kentucky Attorney General/Lieutenant Governor; mother Jane Beshear, former First Lady of Kentucky

Wikipedia

Pending research: languages · openly lgbtq.

Career & politics

First elected	2015
Previous offices	Attorney General of Kentucky (2016-2019)
Leadership	Chair, Democratic Governors Association (2026) · Vice Chair / Chair-Elect, Democratic Governors Association (2025)
Ideology	Generally described as a moderate/centrist Democrat with populist streak; pro-choice, pro-Medicaid-expansion, supports LGBT nondiscrimination
Signature legislation	Restoration of voting rights to ~180,000+ nonviolent felons via executive order (2019) · Legalization of medical cannabis - Senate Bill 47 (2023) · Legalization of sports betting (2023) · Executive order banning conversion therapy (2024) · Established Juneteenth as a state holiday (2024)

Financial

Net worth: disclosed + (2023) · estimate

No holdings recorded yet (from official Financial Disclosure filings).

Top donors: Brooke Brown Barzun (Louisville philanthropist) ($62,000) · William T. Young Jr. (W.T. Young LLC) ($47,000) · Franklin T. Lassiter (HealthTech Solutions COO) ($47,000)

Top industries: Labor unions · Democratic/Liberal party committees · Lawyers/Law firms · Health care

Scandals & crimes ledger

resolved — Roberts v. Beshear — COVID Church Quarantine Order: Court-Ordered Attorney Fees Against State

abuse-of-office · 2020-04-12 · U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Sixth Circuit affirmed district court award of $272,142.50 in attorney fees to three plaintiffs (Randall Daniel, TJ Roberts, Sally O'Boyle) who attended Easter church services in 2020 and were subsequently ordered to quarantine by Beshear's administration. Court found the quarantine orders violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment. The state (Beshear in his official capacity as governor) was ordered to pay the fees.

Three Kentucky churchgoers who attended an Easter 2020 service at Maryville Baptist Church were issued quarantine orders by Governor Beshear's administration. They sued, obtained a preliminary injunction from the Sixth Circuit, and the case was later dismissed as moot. In April 2023, the Sixth Circuit upheld a $272,142.50 attorney-fee award against the state, finding the plaintiffs were prevailing parties whose constitutional and RFRA rights had been violated by the quarantine enforcement.

Sources: WBKO · NTD · NKyTribune · Bloomberg Law · FindLaw / Sixth Circuit (Roberts v. Beshear 2023)

resolved — WDRB Open Records Lawsuit — Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Driver's License Fraud Records business

abuse-of-office · 2025-08-01 · WDRB News sued the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), an agency under Gov. Andy Beshear's administration, after it issued a blanket denial of an open-records request for roughly 2,000-2,300 documents related to an investigation into a scheme in which state employees allegedly sold Kentucky driver's licenses to non-citizens/non-residents without required testing or Homeland Security screening. Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate held a hearing in August 2025 signaling the cabinet would have to produce records, and issued a final order (reported March 4, 2026) finding that KYTC's blanket denial violated the Kentucky Open Records Act, ordering release of more than 2,300 records (with some redactions permitted for sensitive investigative details). Beshear personally declined to discuss specifics of the underlying investigation while it was pending, citing requests from federal/state investigators not to release details, and said assumptions in some reporting 'may not prove to be accurate.' Five individuals (not Beshear) were separately indicted by the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky on Feb. 10, 2026 in connection with the license-fraud scheme itself. · Court ordered the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to release more than 2,300 withheld records; no finding of personal wrongdoing by Beshear was reported, and no criminal charges were filed against him.

A Franklin Circuit Court ruled in 2026 that the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, part of Gov. Beshear's executive branch, violated the state Open Records Act by blanket-denying a media request for documents tied to a driver's-license fraud investigation, ordering release of over 2,300 records; the underlying fraud allegations led to indictments of other individuals, not Beshear.

Sources: WDRB · WDRB