Paul E. Patton

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Paul E. Patton (born May 26, 1937) served as Democratic governor of Kentucky from 1995 to 2003. He was succeeded by Ernie Fletcher. He is a Presbyterian, and lives in Pikeville, Kentucky.

Patton was born in Fallsburg, Kentucky. In 1959, he received his B.S. in mechanical engineering at the University of Kentucky, and was a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity there.

[edit] Entrance into politics

Patton entered into politics after 20 years in the coal mining business. He started his political career as deputy secretary of transportation. He was elected county judge-executive of Pike County, Kentucky and served in that office from 1981 to 1991.

In 1987, he ran for Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky and won 130,713 votes in the Democratic primary, placing him third - ahead of state senator David Boswell and Superintendent of Public Instruction Alice McDonald, but behind Attorney General David L. Armstrong (147,718) and the 189,058 votes won by Brereton Jones. Jones won the primary and the general election.

Patton sought the office of lieutenant governor again in 1991. In a crowded seven candidate field in the Democratic primary, the front runner seemed to be Attorney General Fred Cowan of Louisville. Just days before the primary it was reported that Cowan's campaign had sent a fundraising letter to a firm that his office was investigating for criminal conduct regarding state contracts. Patton surged past Cowan with 146,102 votes to Cowan's 104,337. (Other candidates included Steve Collins, son of former governor Martha Layne Collins, and former Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives Bobby H. Richardson.) Patton went on to a lopsided victory in the general election, winning 514,023 votes to 250,857 for Republican Eugene Goss.

Upon his election as lieutenant governor, Patton resigned his office as Pike County judge-executive. He was an active lieutenant governor. Governor Brereton Jones appointed Patton as secretary of economic development, making Patton the first lieutenant governor to serve as an appointed cabinet secretary.

[edit] Governor

Patton ran for governor himself in 1995. It was the first year in which candidates for governor slated with running mates for lieutenant governor; Patton chose Steve Henry, a surgeon and county commissioner from Louisville, as his running mate. Patton won the Democratic primary with 152,203 votes to 81,352 for secretary of state Bob Babbage and 71,740 for John A. "Eck" Rose, the President Pro Tempore of the Kentucky Senate. Patton entered the fall campaign as a perceived underdog. The year before, Republicans had taken over both houses of Congress, including a majority of Kentucky's congressional delegation, for the first time in decades. Patton's campaign seemed an uphill battle, but Patton won, using some themes similar to those used by President Bill Clinton in his successful re-election campaign the following year. Patton won 500,605 votes (50.9%) to 479,227 (48.7%) for the Republican nominee, Larry Forgy.

Patton's achievements during his first term as governor included major overhaul of the state's workers compensation laws and significant changes to higher education governance and funding.

During his term, Kentucky carried out its first execution since the early 1960s, when Harold McQueen, Jr. was electrocuted on July 1, 1997.

Due to a constitutional amendment enacted under Jones, Patton became the first governor in more than 100 years who could succeed himself. Patton was re-elected to a second term in 1999 over a weak Republican nominee, Peppy Martin, and two other candidates. Patton won a second term as governor with 352,099 votes, 60.6% of the total in an election with very low turnout. He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Royal Confraternity of Sao Teotonio.

[edit] Affair

In 1997, he picked up artistry; he spent much time in Rix Mills, Ohio and there became renownd for folk art. also, in 1997 he began an affair with Tina Conner, the operator of a nursing home in Clinton, a small town in Kentucky's far-western Purchase region. The relationship ended in 1999, but he continued to call her until she completely broke off the affair in October 2001. Two months after she broke off the affair, her nursing home was cited by state regulators for numerous violations of health and safety rules. By July 2002, the state had pulled all Medicare and Medicaid payments from the facility, which soon went bankrupt.^[1]

The affair became public after Conner filed a suit against Patton, alleging that he had directed state regulators to shut down her business as retaliation for her ending their affair.

Patton had publicly stated that he was planning a run against Republican U. S. Senator Jim Bunning in 2004, but the scandal derailed those plans. The subsequent Democratic nominee, Dan Mongiardo, lost to Bunning.

Patton retired to Pikeville after the election of his successor Ernie Fletcher.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Members of Patton Administration

v • d • e Governors of Kentucky Shelby • Garrard • Greenup • Scott • Shelby • Madison • Slaughter • Adair • Desha • Metcalfe • J. Breathitt • J. Morehead • Clark • Wickliffe • Letcher • Owsley • Crittenden • Helm • Powell • C. Morehead • Magoffin • Robinson • Bramlette • Helm • Stevenson • Leslie • McCreary • Blackburn • Knott • Buckner • Brown • Bradley • Taylor • Goebel • Beckham • Willson • McCreary • Stanley • Black • Morrow • Fields • Sampson • Laffoon • Chandler • Johnson • Willis • Clements • Wetherby • Chandler • Combs • E. Breathitt • Nunn • Ford • Carroll • Brown Jr. • Collins • Wilkinson • Jones • Patton • Fletcher • Beshear Kentucky also had two Confederate Governors: George W. Johnson and Richard Hawes.