KDP dinner is big, bold, and inspiring

The Kentucky Democratic Party held its annual pre-convention dinner last Friday in the Owensboro Convention Center. To say it was a success would be a significant understatement.

In addition to completely selling out — it was the largest crowd since 2012 — the attendees heard speech after speech that drew applause, cheers, and standing ovations.

The event was emceed by Morgan Eaves, executive director of the party. In between introducing the other speakers, she got in some solid licks on both President Trump and Republicans in Kentucky.

In addition to Eaves, the dinner crowd heard from Governor Andy Beshear, Lt. Governor Jacqueline Coleman, DNC Chair Ken Martin, and KDP Chair Colmon Elridge. Here are pictures of the speakers, and highlights of their speeches.

Gov. Andy Beshear

(On Trump) What we’ve seen since he's been in office is an obsession with culture war issues and a willingness to gamble away the economic gains of the last few years on non-economic issues. We’re seeing a federal government going after Medicaid, and SNAP, and even pediatric cancer research. Medicare is there for the people we love the most, our parents and our kids. In Kentucky, 50% of our kids are covered by Medicaid, and 70% of our long-term care costs. And as your governor, I will fight for the future of Medicaid with every single tool I have.

(On the GOP budget bill) It blows a trillion-plus-dollar hole in the federal debt, And it will knock every state out of a balanced budget because, yes, we have to balance our budgets. And there will be 50 states, red, blue, or otherwise, scrambling and sadly cutting services. The cost of SNAP alone could cost Kentucky $380 million a year that we don’t have sitting in couch cushions. But it’s more than that. It will cause people to go hungry. There are lots of people out there that say they're people of faith, but if you are actually a person of faith, I think you always believe that people should have enough to eat.
So if you do more than hold a Bible, if you actually read it, you know what I’m talking about. Let me just say, if you’re going to sell something, you should probably read what’s inside of it.

(On running as Democrats) I believe that this lane is wide open at a time when Donald Trump’s tariff policy is making it harder to afford everything, harder to buy that new home, at a time that he's telling you, your kids have too many toys, that the Democrats can step up and re-earn the faith of the American people. ... We can be the pro-job party while still being the pro-labor and the pro-environment party.

What we see here, and across many of our states, is when we elect Democrats, people’s lives get better. I mean, I think about where we’ve come in the last five and a half years. For the first time I can remember the rest of the country is looking up to us instead of looking down on us.

Morgan Eaves introducing Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman

The governor touched on a lot, but the through line was that tonight and the next year or so are about building momentum across the country and right here in the commonwealth. Momentum that will lead to a better life for every Kentuckian and for every American. And that better life often starts with the children and our schools.

In Kentucky, we have some of the brightest kids, but they are faced with a Republican Party who doesn’t quite see it that way. A Republican Party who’s determined to keep them from reaching their full potential. At the federal level, Kentucky Republicans are cutting food assistance, taking meals off the table of hungry children, and there are shrinking grants that give countless Kentucky students an opportunity to overcome poverty through higher education.

Nowhere, though, does the GOP’s cruel agenda hit harder than in our local communities. From opposite sides of the state, Mayfield and Harlan are facing a common danger and a common enemy.

And yeah, sure, we can generalize it by saying it’s the Republican Party, but it’s the politicians who are supposed to represent them, who are supposed to look out for their interests, but who again are more focused on making those people, people that work hard and put food on the table to give their kids a good life. They’re focused on making those people pay more so that billionaires pay less.

And whether it’s gutting Medicaid which fuels rural hospitals and enables families to get care without driving three counties and sometimes two hours away, or using our proud farmers as pawns in a needless trade war that's driving up not just the cost of agriculture in general, but all of our grocery bills, or firing workers that are lifelines for seniors who are simply trying to get their social security check, rural America is under attack.

Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman

I’m proud to stand before you not only as a mom, but a teacher, a rural Kentuckian, and as a proud Kentucky Democrat. And someone who believes that people deserve what they need to build better lives for themselves and their families. And that’s what Governor Beshear and I have been laser focused on in our five and a half years. We don’t get distracted by people’s issues of the day and the latest outcry from the extremists. We show up and we work on the things that truly matter to our candidates.

But I really wanted to get to know Ken Martin before I introduced him. So I called up a dear mutual friend of ours, who happens to be Minnesota’s Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, soon-to-be Minnesota’s U.S. Senator Peggy Flanagan, and asked her to tell me about him. And she went on to share with me that Ken gave her her first job in politics, which, for the young guns in the room, means that when he sees talent, it doesn’t matter how old you are or young you are, he knows what’s good, right?

She also said that as she was losing her mother, Ken Martin showed up to the hospital and sat with her. In one of the hardest moments of her entire life.

DNC Chair Ken Martin

When you give people something to believe in, and and give them a real sense that their lives are better with Democrats in office, then the rigid political identities that so many get stuck in become a lot less rigid, especially across our redder communities. You see, that’s how we bring people into the fold. That’s how we welcome them into our tent. That’s how we get people believing in the Democratic Party again. And I’ll tell you, we could use some old-fashioned belief right now in our party.

I will tell you the first thing I said when I was elected to lead the Democratic National committee is that we’re going to take the gloves off, we’re going to push back, we’re going to punch back when we need to, and we’re not going to be weak anymore as a Democratic party. This is the question for Democrats in this moment: If we are not willing to fight like hell for the things we believe in, do we really believe in them at all? Think about that. Because if we believe in them, we have to stand up and fight. We have to stand up and fight back, and we have to stand up and fight for what we believe in every single day.

When we give a people a sense that you give a damn about them, when we use our capital to actually improve people’s lives, and when we put our efforts into organizing to build meaningful relationships with voters, that’s how Democrats show their might.

Now look, I’m a Midwesterner, I grew up in Minnesota. What you might not know about me is my mom was 15 years old when she had me. She was raising four kids by herself by the time she was 20 years old. I don’t say that to get some sort of pity here or share a sad story. There’s many people in this room and throughout this country who have similar stories. But let me tell you. As these Doge brothers and Elon Musk were running around looking at spreadsheets ... behind every single number on a spreadsheet is a person like me, is a family, is a child, is someone who’s relying on government to create a station so no one falls through the cracks, and we cannot forget that.

When I see these guys in Washington brokering shady bathroom deals to line their pockets and steal healthcare and food for billionaire tax cuts, I literally get sick to my stomach. They have no shame in taking meals from hungry children. They have no shame in ripping postpartum care from moms or shutting rural nursing homes. They smirk at their own corruption and they threaten anybody who doesn't kiss the ring. Meanwhile, small businesses collapse from tariffs and mayors plead for federal help after tornadoes level their towns.

At the heart of this American experiment is a simple but radical idea that everyone deserves a fair shot. No matter where you’re from, no matter where you live, no matter who you are or who you love, every single person should have an opportunity not just to get by, but to get ahead, to build a better life for themselves and their families.

Politics is not a game. A lot of people treat it as a sport, right? The people who tally mark up on them, raise a little trophy, be proud to run an election, go home. No, listen, at the end of the day, politics is really about improving people’s lives. We fight and organize and campaign because people’s lives are on the line, because the stakes are getting higher. We fight to elect leaders who share our values, leaders who believe government should lift people up, not tear them down. We fight to form a government that doesn’t just govern, but gives a damn about its people.

So let me say loud and clear to all of you tonight. We don’t build political power to hoard it. We don’t build it to sit on it. And we sure as hell don’t build political power to use it as a weapon. We build power to use it, to make lives better, to tear down barriers.

KDP Chair Colmon Elridge

When I became chair of the Kentucky Democratic Party, outside of so many people in this room who called on that first Saturday, Ken Martin was the first person that called me. And imagine being newly elected as the chair and getting this call from someone from Minnesota,

And look, let me be clear. I love our past. I was there for a lot of it, but I don't want to hear any more stories about how we used to decide general elections in the Democratic primary. I want us to write and tell the story of how when the odds were against us, when it was hard, when it was lonely, when the pressure was on us, we did not shrink away. Remember that diamonds are not made when it is easy. It is under pressure that precious stones are made. If we are going to rebuild this party, it is gonna be under pressure and hard.

We believe that out of many, we are one. That diversity is not a weakness in this commonwealth, it is our superpower. I want us to write and tell the story of how we re-elected the first woman — and I’m going to try to say this without crying because I’ve known her for way too long — the first woman to take the oath of office as our lieutenant governor back to back. I want us to write and tell the story of how next year we will not only hold legislative seats, we will flip legislative seats. Let’s write and tell the story of a party that fights back. Not with cruelty, but with compassion; not with division, but with unity; not for the headlines, but for the people, to make people’s lives better. Let us be, as Chairman Martin said, the party that gives a damn.

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