Steven Lynn "Steve" Beshear (born September 21, 1944) is an American politician of the Democratic Party, and the 61st and current governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Beshear had previously served in the Kentucky House of Representatives as well as the state's Attorney General from 1980 to 1984 and Lieutenant Governor from 1984 to 1988.
Education and early career
Beshear attended the University of Kentucky, where he received a bachelor's degree and a law degree. He was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity at UK.[1]
Beshear was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives to begin his political career. He represented the 76th District and served in the House from 1974 to 1979. He was elected Attorney General of Kentucky in 1979, defeating Republican nominee Ron Snyder with 471,177 votes to Snyder's 302,951, and served as Attorney General from 1980 to 1984.
In 1983, Beshear was elected lieutenant governor of Kentucky on a Democratic ticket headed by Martha Layne Collins. Beshear defeated Eugene P. Stuart, the running mate of Jim Bunning, 568,869 votes to 321,352.
In 1987, he ran for Governor of Kentucky and lost in a packed Democratic primary field. Beshear won 114,439 votes in the primary, good for a third place finish behind former governor John Y. Brown, Jr.'s 163,204 votes and 221,138 votes garnered by Wallace G. Wilkinson, who went on to win the general election that fall. Beshear placed ahead of former governor Julian Carroll's 42,137 votes and also defeated Grady Stumbo, who won 84,613 votes. Three other candidates combined for an additional 8,187 votes in that primary.
After his defeat in the 1987 election, Beshear practiced law in Lexington, Kentucky. He was the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate in 1996, losing to incumbent Mitch McConnell after a spirited campaign.
2007 election
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On December 18, 2006, Beshear formally announced his candidacy for governor of Kentucky in the 2007 election with State Senator Daniel Mongiardo as his lieutenant governor. Beshear won the primary; each of his opponents conceded the race to him. Because he exceeded 40 percent of the vote, he avoided a runoff.[2] In the general election, Beshear opposed incumbent Governor Ernie Fletcher . Beshear's platform included expanded gambling, which Fletcher opposed due to the social ills he said come with casinos. On November 6, 2007, Beshear defeated Fletcher by a 59% to 41% margin.[3]
Governor
On December 11, 2007, Beshear was sworn in as Kentucky's 61st governor by Kentucky Supreme Court Associate Justice Bill Cunningham in a private ceremony in the Governor's Mansion in Frankfort. Beshear received the oath of office again during a public ceremony on the steps of the Kentucky State Capitol later that afternoon. The oath of office was administered during the public ceremony by Associate Justice Mary C. Noble.
On February 15, 2008 Beshear unveiled legislation that would allow casino gambling in Kentucky, which he claimed would generate "several hundred millions of dollars" in tax revenue for the state.[4]
Despite his support for casino gambling, Beshear is a staunch advocate of a statewide prohibition of online gambling.[5]
Governor Beshear, is currently leading Kentucky in a suit against gambling related domains. The state is asking the courts to give it control of over 140 gambling-related domains in an attempt to block Kentucky residents from accessing the sites. “Unlicensed, unregulated, illegal Internet gambling poses a tremendous threat to the citizens of the Commonwealth because of its ease, availability and anonymity,” said Beshear. “The owners and operators of these illegal sites prey on Kentucky citizens, including our youth, and deprive the Commonwealth of millions of dollars in revenue.”[6]
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