'Our chance to lead.' Gov. Andy Beshear inaugurated, says country looking to Kentucky

FRANKFORT — Tuesday’s inauguration ceremony brought big names to Kentucky’s Capitol, from poet laureate Silas House to country music star Tyler Childers, a native of the Bluegrass State.

None were bigger, though, than Andy Beshear. Under sunny skies with thousands in attendance, he was sworn in for four more years in office as Kentucky’s governor alongside Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman.

“Right now, the eyes of the country are on us. They're on Kentucky,” Beshear told the crowd. "And the next four years are our chance to lead and to move forward together."

Beshear, who defeated Republican challenger and outgoing Attorney General Daniel Cameron in November’s election, is set to remain in office through 2027. Time will tell what his next steps after that will bring, but he committed during the runup to the election to serve out his full term — one he’ll spend as the lone Democrat elected to statewide office in Kentucky.

Beshear's inaugural address

Ahead of being sworn in, Beshear ticked off accomplishments in his first four years and what he sees as the biggest challenges for the next four years.

Beshear said he dreams of creating and maintaining a “better Kentucky” – a state with a bustling economy, better investment in public education and health care, and rebuilt and revitalized communities – “and we can and should realize that dream – if we don’t stand in our own way.”

Beshear expressed pride in the various projects and actions over the past four years of his administration, including the legalization of sports betting and rebuilding Western and Eastern communities following historic natural disasters.

While noting the lives lost during the COVID-19 pandemic early in his previous term, Beshear highlighted recent strides in Kentucky’s health system, like legalizing medical marijuana, capping the cost of insulin for people on state-regulated health insurance plans and expanding health care access through infrastructure projects, with a notable mention of the multimillion-dollar Norton West Louisville Hospital.

“It’s about time,” Beshear said of the project, which is set to be the first hospital to be built west of Ninth Street in Louisville in more than 150 years.

Beshear also referenced ongoing infrastructure projects, including the construction on the Brent Spence companion bridge without tolls, expanding the Mountain Parkway in Eastern Kentucky into four lanes and pushing Interstate 69’s expansion forward.

“We will invest in our educators, continue building what were thought to be impossible infrastructure projects, and run high-speed internet to every home,” he said.

Beshear, who has had his differences with the Republican-led legislature, called for bipartisanship.

“See, one of the most difficult challenges before us is that politics – and sometimes even our governance – has become poisonous and toxic,” Beshear said. “What is supposed to be an exchange of ideas has devolved into grievances and attacks.”

Emphasizing the inauguration’s theme of “Forward, Together,” Beshear said it was time for collaboration in the Kentucky Statehouse to take precedence to attain that dream of a “Better Kentucky.”

“I ran for office to leave a better world for my children, for all of our children. And this is our chance – Kentucky’s chance – to be the difference, to be both an economic and moral leader of this country,” Beshear said.

Inauguration events start early

Beshear’s speech was the main event, but Frankfort was lively all day to celebrate the occasion.

Coleman rang in the day with supporters early Tuesday morning at a breakfast reception catered by Franklin County bakeries and businesses at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History.

After performances by the Second Street School choir and Kentucky State University Faculty/Student Jazz Collective, Coleman thanked those in attendance and said she looked forward to getting more accomplished in office.

“I’m so looking forward to what these next four years hold,” she said. “… Gov. Beshear and I are so grateful for your friendship, for your partnership and what we will continue to do together — not just in Frankfort and Franklin County, but across the commonwealth for the next four years.”

Beshear and his family were not at the reception but joined supporters at a worship service at 9:30 a.m. at nearby First Christian Church. And he was led to the Kentucky Capitol in a parade at 11 a.m., as onlookers filled both sides of Capitol Avenue.

Health care and public education workers for the first time served as grand marshals of the parade, and they were key subjects of speeches that followed by state officials — Coleman got a standing ovation from the crowd during her inaugural speech as she called for universal pre-kindergarten services, capping off a monologue that called for raises for public school teachers and support across the aisle for legislation to support all Kentuckians.

“Our education-first administration chose an inaugural theme like ‘Forward, Together’ for a reason,” she said. “Because that’s the kind of Kentucky that our children deserve. That is the kind of leadership voters asked for.”

The first four years of Beshear’s time in office had highlights, including a nearly $6 billion investment by Ford and BlueOval SK (which had vehicles take part in the parade) into an electric vehicle battery plant in Glendale.

But tragedy shaped much of the first four years of the administration, which came into office months before COVID-19 hit the U.S.

Rocky Adkins, senior adviser to Beshear, noted 80 people were killed in the 2021 tornadoes that hit Western Kentucky while another 45 died in 2022 floods in Eastern Kentucky, while Coleman took time to recognize more than 19,000 who died during the coronavirus pandemic.

House, who Beshear tapped as the state’s poet laureate earlier this year, alluded to those struggles during his reading before the ceremony, of a poem titled “Those Who Carry Us” that reflected on hardships he faced in his childhood in rural Kentucky, and how those around him rebuilt after tragedy.

“Kentucky, we walk a ways together, whether in cold rain or moonlight,” House said. “Sometimes the only music is hammers and saws, but we keep going — aiming for the high ground where they will be standing with their arms out, saying ‘Come here and rest. Let me help you.’”

Childers, a country and bluegrass artist who grew up in Lawrence County, followed with a performance of “Universal Sound.”

Beshear's next steps

Beshear and other state officials will shift their focus to 2024 — and the upcoming General Assembly, set to begin Jan. 2.

Kentucky's legislature is dominated by Republicans, who hold majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives. Some GOP legislators have been critical of Beshear, calling on him to do more to cross the aisle and work with them on bills. Beshear, meanwhile, has promoted bipartisan legislation passed in his first term, including legalizing medical marijuana and sports betting in the 2023 session.

Paula Rogers, a Beshear supporter who came to Tuesday's ceremony from Louisville, said she's "more proud of him than any other that we've had since I've been involved" due to the way he carried himself during the COVID-19 pandemic. She wants to see "more of what he's been doing" in the next four years.

"He's done so much for the state besides getting us through some horrible times. It's just incredible what he's brought to Kentucky," she said as parade floats rolled past her. "... I think he is good to work across the lines, just because he is such a good, moral person. I hope."

One of the grand marshals of the parade was Kim Becker, an associate administrator of the Kentucky Nurses Association. The organization, which represents 90,000 nurses across the commonwealth, was part of those health care workers selected by the governor’s administration to lead the parade alongside public educators.

Becker said she was excited to take part in the event and thankful that nurses were getting this recognition based on their work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Health care workers had a hard road,” Becker said.

The memory of the COVID-19 pandemic has stayed with attendee Karen L. Jeffries and inspired her to attend the inauguration for the first time in decades. Jeffries, 68, was born and raised in Frankfort and would attend inaugurations with her father as a child.

She said she wanted to attend this year to support Beshear, whose action during the pandemic touched her and her family. Her family used to help babysit a child who died during the pandemic.

Shortly before the parade began, Beshear met with several people throughout the crowd. He listened to a teary-eyed Jeffries share her story and offered words of encouragement.

"The soul's eternal," Beshear said. "You'll see him again."

Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com. Reach Rachel Smith at rksmith@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Andy Beshear inauguration: Governor calls for 'better Kentucky'