Ethics commission nixes complaint against KY lawmaker over lobbying interests payments
The Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission has dismissed a complaint filed against Sen. Julie Raque Adams regarding compensation she received from a nonprofit that was funded exclusively by lobbying interests in recent years.
Emily Brook Benningfield, the secretary of the Louisville Democratic Party, filed the complaint in April following a Kentucky Lantern investigation that found the nonprofit, Kentucky Strong, Inc., had paid Raque Adams $80,500 between January 2023 and January 2026. Those payments were the group’s only expenses during that time.
The Lantern obtained a copy of a Wednesday letter from the ethics commission notifying Benningfield that the complaint was being dismissed.
Adams declined to comment for this story via a Senate Republican spokesperson.
Kentucky Strong Inc. was founded as a political nonprofit organization in 2015 by Adams, a Louisville Republican, and two other Republican women from Louisville. Its initial tax return filed with the Internal Revenue Service said it is “dedicated to training Republican women to seek and hold public office.” It hoped to rival the success recruiting female candidates of a nonprofit started by Democratic women in 2009 called Emerge Kentucky.
In that three-year time frame reviewed by the Lantern, Kentucky Strong was funded exclusively by interests that actively lobby the Kentucky General Assembly, including $50,000 from Revolutionary Racing, which operates Sandy’s Racing & Gaming in Ashland; $25,000 from Churchill Downs; $15,000 from Charter Communications; and $15,000 from LG&E and KU Energy.
Adams previously told the Lantern that she has done a lot of work for Kentucky Strong since it was founded: recruited and trained “pro-business women candidates,” created a handbook for candidates, supported conservative women considering running for office as well as women currently in office, accepted speaking engagements and media appearances. She said she does all of the group’s fundraising.
Benningfield’s complaint said that Adams had “accepted compensation from lobbyists and corporate interests with business before the Senate’s Licensing and Occupations Committee, which she chairs.”
Raque Adams has represented the 36th Senate District since 2015, and previously served in the House. She is seeking reelection to the Senate this year against Democratic challenger Sarah Cole McIntosh, a former member of the Jefferson County Public Schools board.
The ethics commission does not confirm or deny the receipt of a complaint. All of the early stages of the ethics commission’s review of a complaint are confidential.
This story may be updated.