She’s a 27-year retired veteran of the United State’s Air Force, who as a judge advocate general and non-profit lawyer has practiced and implemented civil and criminal law both stateside and internationally for nearly four decades.
She’s also a legal professor, an ordained minister, a wife, a mother, an avid quilter and a two-term Kentucky State Representative out of Louisville’s 43rd District — a place she was born and raised.
She’s a first-ever black woman interested in the position, and a Democrat.
And now, she’s less than 60 days from the general election — hoping to be the Commonwealth’s next attorney general.
Col. Pam Stevenson had this, and much more, to say during her intimate visit with the Trigg County Democratic Woman’s Club Thursday afternoon.
There, in the backside of the Cadiz Restaurant, she called the job “The People’s Lawyer,” and unveiled a three-point plan for the office should she win it.
No. 1: “everybody wants to live in the safe community,” which requires a supported, valued, salaried and trained police force — one that is trusted and ready in a moment’s notice.
No. 2: “the most vulnerable” must be taken care of and protected — including children, the elderly, the disabled and veterans.
And No. 3: address Kentucky’s drug epidemic with health care options, and not criminal law.
She said, much like a quilt, she wants the AG’s office to be connected better to all 120 counties — especially with Commonwealth’s attorneys and county leaders, who need strong rulings on local and regional issues, as opposed to discussions and forays into national, “du jour” headlines.
There are a number of reasons Stevenson ran for office this term, and to her, they all matter equally. Her military background — one that led her into worldwide litigation — played its part, as did her ethnicity, gender, central Kentucky upbringing and state representative efforts.
She was also approached by Governor Andy Beshear and his staff to consider the role, and she said she “prayed about it” before ultimately filing for office.
In a July 26 article from Lexington Herald-Leader’s Austin Horn and Tessa Duvall, it was brought to attention that Stevenson currently doesn’t have license to practice law in Kentucky.
However, the state’s constitution doesn’t require admittance to the Kentucky Bar Association, and only asks one be a law practitioner for at least eight years before Election Day.
Her campaign has issued a statement on this matter, noting she’s “close” to being accepted into the KBA.
Stevenson’s opponent is GOP Russell Coleman. He’s a partner of Louisville firm Frost Brown Todd, a member of the KBA since 2004, and previously served as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky as a 2017 appointee by then-President Donald Trump.
