Rocky Adkins


Rocky J. Adkins is an American politician from Kentucky. He is a member of the Democratic Party and is serving as Senior Advisor to the Governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear. He is a former member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, representing the 99th District of the Kentucky House from 1987 to 2019. His House district was in eastern Kentucky and includes Elliott, Lewis, and Rowan Counties. From 2003 through 2016 he was the House majority leader. From 2016 to 2019, he was the chamber's Minority Floor Leader.
Adkins ran for governor of Kentucky in the 2019 Kentucky gubernatorial election, with running mate Stephanie Horne. During his campaign, he raised $1.5 million. Adkins finished in second place in the Democratic primary, losing to Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear. Adkins joined the Beshear administration on December 10, 2019, as the governor's senior advisor.

Education

Adkins attended Elliott County High School Morehead State University. He played college basketball for the Morehead State Eagles in 1981 and 1982 as the starting point guard. Adkins earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at Morehead State University. In 2017, Morehead's new dining commons was dedicated to and named after Adkins. He was inducted into the MSU Alumni Hall of Fame in 2004 and named the recipient of the 2012 Founders Award for University Service.

Community support

Adkins is active in his hometown community of Sandy Hook, Kentucky and communities in Kentucky. He approved of and presented $730,000 dollars to help upgrade and maintain the sewage system for Sandy Hook.
A cancer survivor himself, Rep. Adkins sponsors the annual "Rocky Adkins Charity Golf Outing – Cure for Cancer" which has raised over $2.3 million for cancer research since its beginning in 1995.

Kentucky Legislative Tenure

Adkins was a member of the Commonwealth of Kentucky House of Representatives between 1987 and 2019. He has long been a strong supporter of education in Eastern Kentucky. He currently is a member of the House Democratic Leadership office.
Adkins has run unopposed in 11 out of his 12 most recent re-elections to his seat in the Kentucky Legislature, the only contested election being in 2016 when he won by a margin of 32%.

Candidate for Kentucky governor

, who served as Kentucky governor from 1995 to 2003, endorsed Adkins.

Political positions

Adkins supports “a fully-funded pension system.”
Adkins supports the use of medicinal marijuana, which he believes could provide income to help fund public pensions.
Adkins believes the state legislature needs to work with the federal government to try to expand Medicaid.
Adkins opposes increased regulation on gun ownership.