KDP Statement on Sen. Jim Justice's Invitation to RPK's Lincoln Dinner

FRANKFORT, KY - On July 15, 2025, Kentucky Democratic Party (KDP) Chair Colmon Elridge released the following statement on the Kentucky GOP’s Lincoln Dinner keynote speaker, West Virginia Sen. Jim Justice, whose companies owe Kentucky hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result of putting our miners at risk of death or serious physical harm:

“After the passage of the most harmful federal budget in American history, the RPK could not have chosen a headline speaker who better represents their political philosophy of selling out working families to benefit the ultra-wealthy.  For decades, Senator Justice’s companies forced hard-working Kentucky coal miners to operate in life-threatening conditions, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in health and safety fines.

“Today, despite a personal net worth pushing a billion dollars, Senator Justice and his companies have yet to repay that debt to the Commonwealth and to the Kentuckians he took advantage of. If Senator Justice is going to visit, the KDP urges him to pay Kentuckians what they’re owed while he’s in town.”