Kentucky Democratic Party taps 1st African American chairman

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP/WTVQ) – The Kentucky Democratic Party will have an African American chairman for the first time in its history.

A party news release says Colmon Elridge was elected chairman of the party on Saturday after Gov. Andy Beshear nominated him for the position.

Elridge is a Cynthiana native and served as a special advisor to former Gov. Steve Beshear from 2007 to 2015.

He also recently was the government relations director for the Kentucky Education Association and has served in Democratic Party-related roles.

Elridge is a graduate of Transylvania University, holds an M.B.A. from Sullivan University and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of the Cumberlands.

Elridge will replace Ben Self, who became chairman in 2017 and announced in September that he would resign at the end of the year.

The following are excerpts from the Kentucky Democratic Party release:

“As a Kentuckian, it is an honor to be asked to lead my party into the future. I am grateful to Governor Beshear for his friendship, his guidance, his leadership, and his trust in my ability to lead our party. As a father, it is humbling to be able to live out the prayer my parents prayed for my sister and I, and that Victoria and I pray for our three boys — that when they grow up, they can be anything they want to be — including the head of their own state political party. As a black man who was the first person in his immediate family to have been born with the right to vote, it is an honor to be able to make history today. I believe the Kentucky Democratic Party has a strong future ahead of it and I can’t wait to apply things I’ve learned from my experience to help Democratic candidates win in 2022 and beyond,” Elridge said.

“I’ve known Colmon for a long time and I can’t think of a better person to continue to build the Democratic Party here in Kentucky. Colmon is a devoted father and husband who is committed to trying to build a better world for his kids and all of Kentucky’s kids,” Gov. Andy Beshear said. “As chair, Colmon will work every day to elect Democrats committed to public education, access to quality and affordable healthcare and good paying jobs.”

In a statement, outgoing chair Ben Self said the future of the party is in good hands with Elridge.

“As a Kentucky Democrat, I’m excited that Colmon Elridge will lead our party into the future. As a party, we have made great progress and laid the groundwork for future success for Democratic candidates,” Self said. “We have built and hopefully will continue to build a permanent campaign infrastructure that allows our party to speak to Kentuckians all year around with no “off-years” so that we can build the trust needed to win elections when the time comes. I know that Chairman Elridge will take that foundation and run even further with it in the years to come.”