Daniel Mongiardo

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Daniel Mongiardo
53rd Lt. Governor of Kentucky
Incumbent
Assumed office  December 11, 2007
Governor	Steve Beshear
Preceded by	Steve Pence
Born	July 4, 1960 (1960-07-04) (age 47) Hazard, Kentucky
Political party	Democratic
Profession	Physician/Lieutenant Governor

Daniel Mongiardo, (born July 4, 1960) is a physician, a Democratic United States politician, and Lieutenant Governor from the state of Kentucky.

[edit] Before politics

Born to Italian immigrants in Hazard, Kentucky, Mongiardo attended Transylvania University and was a member of the Alpha Theta Chapter of the Kappa Alpha Order and completed a medical degree at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in 1986. From 1986 to 2000, Mongiardo worked as a physician, first as a medical resident in Lexington, and later in his hometown of Hazard.

In Hazard, he helped to establish a free clinic for the poor, volunteering his time while working at the Appalachian Regional Medical Centre, where he became Chief of Surgery and, later, Chief of Staff. The ARMC became a major health care center in eastern Kentucky, growing to house over a hundred doctors.

[edit] State Senator

In 2000, Mongiardo entered politics, challenging Hazard's state senator with a campaign to reform health care in Kentucky. He won, and was soon appointed to the Health and Welfare Committee and a leadership role in the joint Medicaid Oversight Task Force.

[edit] 2004 U.S. Senate race

In 2003, Mongiardo declared that he would run to unseat Jim Bunning, a former baseball player and 1st-term U.S. Senator. Although early polls showed Mongiardo to be the decided underdog against the fairly popular and well-financed Bunning (Bunning had an estimated $4 million campaign war chest, while Mongiardo had only $600,000), he gained financial support from national Democrats in October 2004 due to Bunning's controversial remarks, and negative attacks.

Bunning made comments on Mongiardo's Italian background. In response to Mongiardo's dark features, Bunning declared that Mongiardo "looked like one of Saddam Hussein's sons." ^[1] Bunning later went on to declare that Mongiardo's "thugs" had assaulted his wife. ^[2] The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee began pumping money to Mongiardo when it became clear Mongiardo was closing rapidly in the polls, buying $800,000 of television airtime on his behalf.

The November 2 election was one of the closest in Kentucky history, with Mongiardo leading for much of the night, even with as much as 80% of the returns in. However, Bunning eventually won by just over a percentage point. It's speculated that Bunning may have benefited from George W. Bush's 20-point victory in the state and passage of the constitiutional amendment to ban same sex marriages by a 3-to-1 margin.

[edit] 2007 Lieutenant Governor race

On May 22, 2007, Mongiardo was nominated by Kentucky Democrats to be Lt. Governor on the bottom half of a ticket featuring Steve Beshear as the gubernatorial nominee. The Beshear-Mongiardo ticket received over 40% of the vote in the closed primary, thus avoiding a runoff election. Beshear-Mongiardo faced incumbent Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher on November 6th, 2007 winning with 60% of the state vote.

Mongiardo did not risk losing his seat in the state senate because Kentucky holds its constitutional officer elections in odd years.

[edit] See also

• Kentucky gubernatorial election, 2007

[edit] References

1. ^ CNN.com - Bunning almost watches lead disappear - Nov 2, 2004
2. ^ FOXNews.com - Bunning Overcomes Mongiardo Challenge - You Decide 2004

[edit] External links

• Official State Website - Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo
• Official Beshear and Mongiardo campaign site
• Follow the Money campaign contributions
  • 2006 2004 2002 2000
• Project Vote Smart - Senator Frank Daniel Mongiardo (KY) profile, issue positions, voting record, campaign finances
• Politics Nationwide - Senator Daniel Mongiardo profile