Joshua Baker

Joshua Baker's career experience includes working in hospitality management. He served in the U.S. Army from 2010 to 2011.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I was born in the heart of the Appalachians but was raised running around the woods of NKY since before I can remember. I attended both CCHS and the local trade school C.E.McCormick ATC.

I enlisted in the Army straight out of High School but suffered a back injury that cut my career painfully short. Once home, I had no desire to take on the debt of college so I did what most of us do, I went to work.

I bounced my way around all corners of the service industry till finally finding my niche in Hospitality, earning my first GM title by the age of 27.

In 2020 we watched COVID-19 wreck havoc on the service industry, and saw how all of us "essential workers" had to choose between daily health risks and keeping our jobs. That was when it first crystalized to me - our elected officials treat us the exact same way as that toxic boss from your last job. They guarantee everything, say they'll treat us like family, and promise a fair financial compensation - only to break those promises and then ignorantly ask why we don't have more 'team spirit?'.

After the 2024 election, I could no longer continue watching bad leadership disregard the needs of us in the service industry & working Kentuckians as a whole. In January 2025 I started researching how to run for State Senate, 18 months later and I'm typing out answers for a [the profile publisher] questionnaire. Wild

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Transparent, accountable government - The leadership skills of our elected politicians have fallen so far that you might step on it, if you don't watch your step. Closed door meetings, convoluted laws riddled with confusing language, political party loyalty, wealthy insiders, bills written by lobbyists - this has all come to be accepted as+ "that's just how politics work". But I am standing up to call bulls***.

This is a government for the people, by the people and anything less is unacceptable. Legislators are elected to enact the will of the people, not the will of their political party or private donors. I am a person for the people, not a political party's shill for sale.We need to fully fund education and statewide healthcare - If you look at KY HB900's over 300 seperate sections, you will see hundreds of millions of dollars allocated for "economic development" in a single budget. "Economic Development and tax cuts" has been a battle-cry for KY Republicans since they took control of our state legislature. But I am asking, has it been worth the costs in the loss of funding for our schools? What about our healthcare?

"Economic Development" often means giving our tax revenue directly to private, for-profit companies. Y'all, where are our priorities? Why are we spending our taxes on private companies but underfunding our schools and hospitals?Cannabis needs to be recreationally legal - Experts have already estimated that Kentucky tax revenue from recreational cannabis would generate hundreds of millions of dollars every year. This revenue can be put directly into a trust fund that can be used to fund our schools, infrastructure projects, and healthcare systems.

Recreational cannabis would also add an entirely new industry to the state - growers, processors, testing facilities, transportation needs, retail shops, etc.

If you still need one more reason, we would attract millions of tourists every year from Nashville, Atlanta, and most of the Southeast.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am personally passionate about protecting KY's people and natural environment. Whether it is labor protections, guaranteeing civil rights and healthcare for all, or conserving our unique ecology - I will unflinchingly stand-up to and fight against the exploitation of our home.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

I've always admired brave actions that won hard earned results and while growing up those folks were the heroes of conservation - Steve Irwin, Jane Goodall, Marty Stouffer, The Kraft Brothers, David Attenborough, etc. Their contributions to global conservation awareness, and my personal love of nature, are impossible to understate.

These folks followed their passions and work to protect what they love, I try to do the same

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Being an elected leader is a responsibility, not a career choice. An elected leader must be able to listen to the experts, stay in constant communication with their constituents, and be willing to accept any-and-all of the consequences from their decisions & actions. Transparency should be the bare minimum we expect from our elected officials, not a campaign promise.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Listening to your constituents' concerns, asking experts and local leaders what solutions we need, and then working your a** off in Frankfort to push through those solutions.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I want Kentucky and my fellow citizens to be more prosperous, happier, and healthier than we are right now. And spearheading the creation of a recreational cannabis industry in Kentucky, that would be pretty cool.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

I worked for a market research company that employed folks at the Florence Mall to walk around and ask people if they wanted to take a paid survey (usually a whole $3) - movie trailers, consumer products, nicotine products, etc.

I believe I worked there for a little over 6 months.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Working conditions in the Service Industry sectors where labor unions are not the norm (mainly hospitality, food service, & retail). Inconsistent scheduling, expensive (and usually subpar) health insurance plans, little to no additional benefits, and at-will employment. This is our employment reality for the majority of the service industry.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

The governor & legislature should be working hand-in-hand to enact the will of the people. Schoolhouse Rock taught my generation that the legislature writes the laws and the executive enforces those laws.

But we have watched deep partisan lines form between the branches of our State government. It has been like watching a pair of school children argue over the right answer when the teacher has already written it on the chalkboard. We (through the legislative research commission) have the ability to access not only the data but the expert insight to find the best solutions for our uniquely Kentuckian problems. Partisan politics makes for bad governance.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Kentucky's greatest challenge going forward, I believe, is our leaders in Frankfort continuing to allow out-of-state corporations or private companies to exploit us for their own profits.

Our leaders have historically allowed our resources and our labor to be stolen for pennies on the dollar. Our coal fueled a growing nation while our miners were confined to company towns. Our moonshiners out foxed the overreach of prohibition while the feds were dumping literal poison into liquor barrels. Our tobacco farms supplied the world over, while our farmers relied on local labor from school kids to break even.

Now we have AI Hyperscale Data Centers wanting to invest in Kentucky because we have "cheap resources and a lack of regulations". That is shareholder speak for, "exploiting us for less cost than the value they can extract".

It is past time that we use our resources for the betterment of Kentuckians, not private investors.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

Compromise is necessary, capitulation is not. We can compromise on tax incentives, government contracts, or budget line items. I will never capitulate on the issues of civil rights, bodily autonomy, and the funding for our State's education & healthcare.

What was the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember?

I remember my parents (any many other adults in my life) were very concerned about Y2K. My dad even made sure we had a couple weeks of rations on hand, just in case.