Thomas Novelly | Courier Journal

Alton Strupp, Alton Strupp/Courier Journal

In announcing his candidacy for Kentucky governor Monday, Attorney General Andy Beshear said he wants to honor teacher pensions and break away from the current culture of "bullying" in Gov. Matt Bevin's administration.

Alton Strupp/Courier Journal

With educator Jacqueline Coleman as his running mate, Beshear, a Democrat, is the first candidate of either party to announce a bid for governor in 2019. Bevin, a Republican, has not yet said whether he will seek re-election.

"Governors have a moral responsibility to act with decency, to do their best to provide good-paying jobs and to provide justice to all Kentuckians," Beshear said Monday in Louisville. "... We will move forward, and these days of bullying, name calling, and my-way-or-the-highway will be left in the past."

Beshear, 40, was elected attorney general in 2016, when he narrowly defeated Republican Whitney Westerfield. His father, Steve Beshear, was governor from 2007 to 2015.

Andy Beshear's choice of Coleman, an educator, as a running mate is notable because it comes just months after teachers flooded the Capitol to protest pension reform legislation and rally for school funding.

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"We will make public education a priority," Beshear said. "We will work to fund every single public school and every single public university to give opportunity to every child."

Teachers should be "treated with respect," he said.

Coleman, a 36-year-old assistant principal at Nelson County High School, took shots at comments Bevin made calling teachers "selfish" for protesting pension reform and called the state's attempt to take over Jefferson County Public Schools the first step in the "Bevin administration's plan to dismantle" public education.

"We have been insulted, disrespected, devalued and even called names by our current governor,” Coleman said.

Alton Strupp, Louisville Courier Journal

Coleman, of Harrodsburg, has previously run for office and is the daughter of a politician. She ran unsuccessfully in 2014 to represent Kentucky's 55th House District, the same district her father, Jack Coleman, represented from 1991 to 2004. The district represents Mercer, Washington and parts of Jessamine County.

Since nearly the beginning of his term as attorney general, Beshear has repeatedly filed lawsuits challenging the legality of Bevin's actions as governor.

In 2016, Beshear won a lawsuit against Bevin over funding cuts to state universities. The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that the governor violated his executive power by cutting universities' budgets after funding had already been appropriated by the General Assembly.

Beshear also filed actions challenging Bevin’s reorganizations of the boards of trustees of the University of Louisville and the Kentucky Retirement Systems, but both cases were later dismissed as moot after the General Assembly later made changes that effectively ratified Bevin’s actions.

And last month, a circuit court judge ruled against the Bevin administration in Beshear's lawsuit over the controversial pension reform law. The judge said the rapid manner in which the pension reform bill was passed — Republican legislators substituted language in an unrelated sewage bill to pass it within six hours — was unconstitutional. The judge also ruled the legislation was an appropriations bill that did not get sufficient votes to pass in the House.

Republicans have been quick to say Beshear's time as attorney general has been filled with scandal.

On Monday, Bevin responded to Beshear's bid in a tweet: "For those Kentuckians who did not get enough corruption, self-dealing, embezzlement and bribery during the 8 corrupt years of Governor Steve Beshear, his son, Andy, is now offering a chance for 4 more years of the same..."

The tweet refer to Tim Longmeyer of Louisville, whom Andy Beshear hired as his top deputy when he took office. Longmeyer abruptly resigned from office after less than three months on the job and later pleaded guilty to federal charges of running a political kickback scheme while he served as Personnel Cabinet secretary in Steve Beshear's administration.

Both Beshears said they were stunned and felt personally betrayed by Longmeyer at the time. And federal authorities have said they found no evidence that either Andy or Steve Beshear had any knowledge of Longmeyer’s illegal activities.

“I think it’s great that Andy Beshear has declared so early so that we can remind Kentucky voters of the corrupt pay to play, scandal-ridden government they can expect if they return Democrats to power in Frankfort,” Republican Party spokesman Tres Watson said.

Longmeyer is serving a 70-month sentence in federal prison. He has admitted to orchestrating a scheme in which – as personnel secretary – he directed insurance companies that administered the public employee health insurance plan to hire a consulting firm to conduct employee surveys. More than $200,000 of what the firm received from the insurance companies was kicked back to Longmeyer, who used some of it for personal expenses but also for political contributions through straw donors.

Documents filed by federal authorities say some of that money was contributed to Andy Beshear’s 2015 campaign for attorney general.

Beshear has said his 2015 campaign fund will rid itself of any such tarnished contributions by donating its final balance to the government watchdog group Common Cause after the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance completes its audit of the fund.

John Steffen, executive director of the election registry, said the audit of Beshear’s 2015 fund will be completed in October.

"The moment the registry of elections" finishes the audit, "we're going to provide every single dollar," Beshear said. "We responded with accountability and transparency."

Beshear said he appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the charges.

While Beshear is the first Democrat to announce for governor, he is not likely to be the last.

State Rep. Attica Scott, of Louisville, said last week she is considering a bid, and others who have been mentioned as possible candidates are House Minority Leader Rocky Adkins of Sandy Hook; Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes; and former State Auditor Adam Edelen.

Tom Loftus contributed to this story. Thomas Novelly: tnovelly@courierjournal.com, 502-582-4465. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/tomn.

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Attorney General Andy Beshear announces campaign for Governor