Judge Pamela Goodwine was elected to the Kentucky Supreme Court in November — with a big assist from a half million dollars of spending by an independent political committee that was entirely funded by groups affiliated with Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.
Beshear’s outsized influence in the nonpartisan race for one of Kentucky’s top judicial seats was already an issue ahead of the disclosure of these contributions, which now raises more questions about the independence of the branch and potential conflicts.
Kentuckians for Good Judges filed a campaign finance report this week indicating it received two contributions totaling $510,000 just two weeks ahead of the election. In This Together, Beshear’s federal leadership PAC, contributed $335,000, while Heckbent — his 501(c)(4) nonprofit that can conceal the identity of donors — gave $175,000.
These were the only two contributions to Kentuckians for Good Judges — chaired by Eric Hyers, the governor’s top political strategist — which ended up spending nearly all of it on political mailers advocating for Goodwine’s election. The mailers stated that Goodwine is needed to “keep politics out of the courtroom” and is “fair, impartial and unbiased.”
Goodwine, currently on the Kentucky Court of Appeals, ended up winning the race over Frankfort attorney Erin Izzo by a blowout margin, picking up 77% of the vote.
The Kentucky Judicial Campaign Conduct Committee, an independent judicial watchdog group, criticized the partisan endorsements of both candidates during the nonpartisan judicial race, saying this could erode public confidence in the impartiality of the state’s high court. The criticisms were similar to what the group lodged at candidates in one of the 2022 races for the Supreme Court in northern Kentucky.
Beshear and his leadership PAC endorsed Goodwine in June, while Izzo touted the endorsements of local Republican groups in the closing month of the campaign.
In an open letter to Goodwine in June, the Judicial Campaign Conduct Committee expressed concern about Beshear’s support and whether this could “present an appearance of conflict, if not actual conflict, for any justice who was supported by the sitting governor.”
In response to the committee, Goodwine wrote that she has earned bipartisan respect for her integrity on the bench in her 25-year career as a judge, and the “voluntary endorsement” of Beshear was “based upon my record of impartiality, fairness and justice.”
“Upon election to the Kentucky Supreme Court, I will continue to adhere to the highest ethical standards and, if faced with a situation where my impartiality was reasonably called into question, I would carefully consider the circumstances and if necessary recuse myself to ensure the integrity of the judicial process,” Goodwine wrote.
Asked about the significant ad spending that was funded by Beshear’s committees and whether it might necessitate her to recuse from future Supreme Court cases where the governor is a party, Goodwine told Kentucky Public Radio she would make such decisions on a case-by-case basis.
“I think each case must be examined on the facts of each case, and I don't think that a specific monetary amount that was contributed by any party mandates recusal,” Goodwine said. “So I don't think it mandates automatic recusal, but I'm not going to say I'll never recuse from a case involving the governor.”
Goodwine pointed out that the committee spending a half million dollars in support of her was independent of her own campaign, and the amount of the Beshear groups’ contributions “doesn't change my commitment to the high ethical standards that I have adhered to for the past 25 years.”
In response to questions to Beshear asking if Goodwine should recuse herself from cases involving the governor, Hyers responded in an email that she “will be an impartial justice who has a 25 year history of ruling fairly from the bench.”
When at least two Kentucky Supreme Court justices recuse themselves from a case, the governor appoints the temporary justices who replace them.
In addition to her own campaign spending five times that of Izzo’s, Goodwine was also supported by nearly half a million in spending from Liberty & Justice for Kentucky, another independent political committee that was mostly funded by two in-state teachers unions — the Kentucky Education Association (KEA) and Jefferson County Teachers Association.
PAC contributions have led to recusals in recent years
In recent years, large PAC contributions have raised questions about potential conflicts for both judges and attorneys general in Kentucky.
In 2023, Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd recused himself from a lawsuit involving the KEA, at the request of then-Attorney General Daniel Cameron. Cameron’s office had cited the KEA’s $100,000 contribution to Liberty & Justice PAC, which spent $161,000 on ads to support Shepherd in his 2022 reelection race.
In his order, Shepherd wrote that public confidence in the court system is “more easily undermined by vast independent expenditures than publicly reported individual donations that are limited by law.”
“If the Court rules in favor of the KEA, reasonable people may wonder if the ruling was influenced by the KEA’s financial support for the independent expenditure supporting the judge in the last election,” Shepherd wrote. “If the Court rules against the KEA, reasonable people may wonder if the Court rejected valid arguments against the legislation in order to avoid the appearance of favoritism.”
Cameron also recused himself from matters involving two companies that contributed to his campaign and PACs spending in support of his 2023 run for governor. He recused himself from his office’s investigation of a drug treatment organization whose executives donated $7,600 to his campaign.
He also recused himself that year from a lawsuit involving Pace-O-Matic, a “gray machine” company that contributed $100,000 to an independent PAC spending heavily in support of Cameron’s campaign, as well roughly $30,000 to his campaign. The contributions came just before the company filed their lawsuit against the state, challenging a new law banning their games.
This summer, Attorney General Russell Coleman also recused himself from all matters involving Addiction Recovery Care (ARC) — shortly before the FBI announced it is investigating the large treatment organization for potential health care fraud. While he did not give a specific reason other than acting “out of an abundance of caution,” Tim Robinson, the CEO of ARC, contributed $20,410 to a PAC buying ads in support of Coleman’s 2023 campaign, while ARC employees also hosted campaign fundraisers.
State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
