The Highest Elected Teacher in Kentucky
Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman on her run for Kentucky governor, what teaching taught her about leadership, and why dogs don't bark at parked cars
There seem to be two dominant forms of political interviews in 2026: the accountability interview (drag a person through their worst moments in public and private life) and the influencer interview (pump each other up for 45 minutes and encourage everyone to like and subscribe). When I sit down to talk with someone, I want to learn something about them. I’ll take one new insight: one story they’ve not told before, one window into how they think, one moment when they seem to be thinking out loud. You don’t get that in the accountability or influencer format.
I was thinking about that as we prepared to talk with our current Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman. She is running for governor, and we’re excited. Sarah goes way back with Lt. Gov. Coleman to Emerge Kentucky (a program for Democratic women considering running for office). I’ve met her several times and like her, and I particularly like her staffers. So we were at a real risk of doing an influencer interview: “You’re awesome, no you are, ok we all are, yay.”
We thought a lot about her questions and how we could have this conversation and learn something about her. When we wrapped up, we met that mark for me. I learned about how she thinks about going from speaking for Gov. Andy Beshear to speaking for herself. I learned about how she decided when and how and why to disclose that she’d had a double mastectomy during a re-election campaign. I learned about her confidence in the face of criticism (and will be holding onto “dogs don’t bark at parked cars” for myself).
I know our audience is not primarily Kentucky-based. Hearing a woman who got tapped to be a running mate while on bus duty is potent no matter where you are. I want more than the Pinterest board of women with babies in office; Coleman talked about sweating at a podium while holding a six-month-old who’d just been vaccinated. This is the kind of interview that I want to do more of: tell me who you are and what you care about. Tell me something real about you and hear something real about me. Meet me somewhere. -Beth
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Episode Resources
Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman (State of Kentucky)
Episode Transcript
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