FRANKFORT, Ky. — Again this year, Gov. Andy Beshear has refused to identify friends and political supporters who buy prime tickets to the Kentucky Derby made available by Churchill Downs for the governor’s entourage.
The governor’s office responded to an Open Records Act request from the Lantern with a letter saying it has no records of who got the tickets or who was invited to Beshear’s black-tie Derby eve party at the Old Governor’s Mansion in Frankfort.
The office referred questions about the tickets and the party to a nonprofit corporation Beshear created at the outset of his administration to act as broker for his Derby tickets and manage the party.
But the nonprofit, First Saturday in May Inc., is not covered by the Kentucky Open Records Act. And as it did last year, First Saturday refused the Lantern’s request to review details of its income and spending. It ignored the Lantern’s questions asking how many tickets it bought this year, the cost of the tickets and to whom the tickets were sold.
First Saturday did, however, release a copy of its most recent (2023-24) tax return, which it is required by law to do. The tax return reveals only basic financial information — $990,000 in income that year and $965,000 in expenses.
First Saturday reported in that tax return that it is a 501(c)(4) charitable organization whose mission is “to organize and manage events for the promotion of economic development in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.”
The nonprofit released a brief statement to the Lantern which noted its role in hosting the state’s “economic development and tourism guests at the Kentucky Derby.”
But the statement also acknowledged, “Additional tickets to the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby were privately purchased from Churchill Downs by the First Saturday in May at no expense to the Commonwealth.”
This is the only hint from First Saturday of the substantial payments it has received in recent years from Democratic Party groups — particularly the Democratic Governors Association, or DGA.
The 2025 Kentucky Derby was run as Beshear explores a campaign for president in 2028. Beshear’s national profile was enhanced in December when his fellow Democratic governors elected him vice chair of the DGA and as chair-elect for 2026.
The DGA used the events of Beshear’s Derby weekend — including the private formal party on Derby Eve — as a fundraiser this year. And disclosures filed by the association with the Internal Revenue Service show that it has maintained a close relationship with First Saturday in May since Beshear first became governor.
The IRS calls 501(c)(4) groups “social welfare organizations” which are permitted to participate in some political activity as long as politics isn’t their primary purpose.
The Democratic Governors Association did not respond to numerous phone messages and emails from the Lantern.
For its part, Churchill Downs refused to answer questions from the Lantern.
Precedent broken
Last year the Lantern reported that Beshear broke from the practice of his four immediate predecessors — including his father Steve Beshear, governor from 2007-15 — by refusing to release lists of those who bought Derby tickets from the allotment set aside by Churchill Downs for the governor.
Several news reports dating back to 1999 published lists released by those governors of the people who bought their tickets from a large allotment set aside by Churchill Downs for purchase at face value by the governor’s guests. The practice was to release lists of actual buyers of the tickets to reporters after the Derby, when the records were no longer considered preliminary.
According to those news reports, each year a small portion of those tickets were bought by state government to host official guests — job creators and tourism promoters. Most tickets were bought by political donors, lobbyists, administration officials and friends.
That is apparently the case this year. The “spending search” function on state government’s “Transparency” website shows that the state has paid First Saturday $106,291 so far this year — apparently for the cost of tickets and related expenses for the official guests.
But the number of such official guests — job creators and tourism promoters from out of state — is not large. The Beshear administration has said 40 such guests were entertained at the 2024 Derby.
The past news articles reported that Churchill sold as many as 553 Derby tickets to the governor’s group while Democrat Paul Patton was governor in 1999, and as few as 237 in 2016 under Republican Matt Bevin.
Critics quoted in those articles questioned the propriety of Churchill — an entity closely regulated by the state and a massive political donor — making so many tickets available to the governor — far more tickets than needed for the official state guests.
The ability to buy a prime Derby ticket at face value is a rare opportunity. Demand exceeds supply and many Derby fans must go online to the secondary market to buy tickets at high prices set by sellers.
Norman Ornstein, an authority on ethics in government and emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, told the Lantern last year that he was not so bothered by this potential conflict of interest. “My only question now would be: Why are you not letting us know what other governors have let us know?” Ornstein said.
First Saturday and the Democratic Governors Association
One conclusion that can be drawn from available public records about First Saturday in May is that from its creation it has had a close relationship with the Democratic Governors Association.
The DGA and its affiliated nonprofit group are required to file finance reports with the Internal Revenue Service. Those reports show that since First Saturday in May was created in 2019 through the end of 2024 the DGA has paid it $491,000.
(The specific payments were: $105,000 in January 2022; $172,200 in February 2023; $37,300 in April 2023; $26,500 in March 2024. Also, a DGA affiliated non-profit named America Works USA reported that it made a $150,000 grant to First Saturday in early 2020.)
The DGA is not required to disclose its receipts and spending for the first half of 2025 until July.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reported in April that the DGA used Derby weekend as a fundraising opportunity.
An invitation obtained by the Lexington Herald-Leader said that for a $15,000 donation ($25,000 for two people) a guest would get a ticket to the Oaks, the Derby and the Beshears’ gala at the Old Governor’s Mansion. The gala was not exclusively for the DGA donors and the state’s economic development guests. Beshear Communications Director Crystal Staley said, “Many different people from a variety of groups attend the gala.”
The DGA’s fundraiser invitation offered the opportunity for donors to not only party with Beshear, but also three other Democratic governors: The 2024 Democratic nominee for vice president Tim Walz of Minnesota, Maura Healey of Massachusetts and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico.
Last year a DGA spokesperson told the Lantern that the DGA has hosted events in Kentucky on Derby weekend for many years.
Besides the DGA, other political groups have made payments to First Saturday.
The Kentucky Democratic Party has reported to the FEC that it has paid a total of $99,370 since May of 2022 to First Saturday. And the Democratic Attorneys General Association has disclosed to the IRS that it has paid First Saturday $24,400.
New leadership for First Saturday in May
First Saturday in May Inc. was formed by Beshear soon after his first inauguration in December 2019. It was not a unique idea; governors going back to Paul Patton had created similar nonprofits to handle expenses of their Derby activities.
Records of Kentucky’s secretary of state show that in mid-February this year, the leadership of the nonprofit changed. Lindy Karns, Beshear’s CPA who also has served as treasurer of his campaign committees, is no longer treasurer and contact person for First Saturday. Jack Dulworth, a Louisville businessman and longtime Beshear supporter, moved from the president’s job to vice president. The new president is Jonathan Smith, who has worked closely with Beshear since Beshear’s 2015 campaign for attorney general.
(Officers of First Saturday receive no salaries, according to the organization’s tax returns.)
Smith resigned last year as deputy chief of staff in the governor’s office. At the time of his resignation, the Herald-Leader reported that Smith “is seen by many political insiders as a liaison between Beshear and others in the political world.”
This article is republished under a Creative Commons license from Kentucky Lantern, which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com. Follow Kentucky Lantern on Facebook and Twitter.
Tom Loftus is a native of Cincinnati and a graduate of The Ohio State University. His long career in Kentucky journalism includes four years as Frankfort bureau chief for The Kentucky Post and 32 years as Frankfort bureau chief for The Courier Journal. He is a member of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame and a freelance reporter for the Kentucky Lantern.
