Latest Beshear PAC report shows continuing signs of a presidential run
FRANKFORT – The latest finance report filed by Gov. Andy Beshear’s super PAC shows all of the signs of a campaign committee of a presidential candidate. It also discloses a big contribution from a first-time Beshear donor.
The political action committee is called In This Together PAC Inc., and the report it filed with the Federal Election Commission for its May activity shows a lot of action in states that will select delegates early in the campaign leading to the 2028 Democratic National Convention.
The report, posted on the FEC’s website late last week, shows more donors from Iowa than any state other than Kentucky, and seven donors from South Carolina. And the largest contribution made by In This Together during the month was $25,000 it gave to the Democratic Party of New Hampshire.
“Gov. Beshear has been traveling across the country supporting Democrats in places like South Carolina, Nevada, Georgia, New Hampshire, Michigan, Colorado and Minnesota in recent weeks. ITT (In This Together) is proud to be supporting candidates for state and federal office around the country, as this and future reports will show,” said Eric Hyers, who managed Beshear’s two campaigns for governor and heads his ongoing political operation.
Beshear formed In This Together soon after his reelection as governor in 2023 as a way to raise money which he, in turn, donates to like-minded candidates, winning friends friends and support from across the country. It also pays for his travel and the salaries of Hyers and other consultants on his political team as they prepare for the expected announcement of Beshear’s presidential campaign.
The recent report shows that In This Together had $1,744,000 on hand at the beginning of May, raised $172,000 during the month, and spent $104,000. That left it with a balance of $1,812,000 at the beginning of June.
But the report gives only a partial look at the super PAC’s finances. That’s because In This Together is the type of PAC that files some of its contributions and expenses to the FEC, and others in a separate report to the IRS. A comprehensive picture of the PAC’s activity will become clear next month when it files updated reports with both the FEC and IRS.
Where the money came from
In This Together reported getting contributions from donors in 16 different states in May.
But the biggest donor by far during the month was Lucy Phillips, of Louisville, who gave $50,000. That’s nearly 30 percent of the total in contributions the committee took in during the month.
Phillips is identified in the report as a self-employed writer. A search of online databases of the FEC and the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance found no previous contributions from Phillips to Beshear campaigns or political causes. The only other political contributions from Phillips that Kentucky Lantern could find from Phillips was another large and recent contribution – $44,300 to a national Democratic Party committee called Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund made on March 13.
The next largest contributions to In This Together during the month came from two long-time donors to Beshear. William T. Young, president of the warehousing and logistics company W.T. Young LLC, gave $20,000. And Britt Brockman, of Louisville, chairman of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees, gave $15,000.
Earlier this month, the Kentucky Lantern reported that Beshear’s 16 appointees to coveted seats on the UK board have contributed nearly $1.7 million to his various political committees since Beshear’s first campaign for attorney general in 2015. Brockman is one of the largest Beshear backers from that group. His $15,000 contribution to In This Together in May, plus another $15,000 he gave in May to the Kentucky Democratic Party brings his total contributions to Beshear political causes to $205,500.
Contributions made by In This Together
The largest contribution by In This Together during the month was the $25,000 given to the Democratic Party of New Hampshire.
The Beshear super PAC also reported that in late May it gave $5,000 to Democrat Zach Dembo’s campaign for Congress in Kentucky’s Sixth District.
It also reported contributing $5,000 to Democratic U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures’ reelection campaign in Alabama, and $2,226 to Democrat Roy Cooper’s campaign for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina. Cooper is a former governor of Alabama.