John William Conway (born July 5, 1969) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 49th attorney general of Kentucky from January 7, 2008, to January 4, 2016. Prior to his election as attorney general, he was the Democratic nominee for in the 2002 elections, narrowly losing to Republican incumbent Anne Northup.
Conway was the Democratic nominee in the 2010 U.S. Senate election, seeking the seat of the retiring Republican Senator Jim Bunning. He lost the general election to Republican nominee Rand Paul on November 2, 2010. He won re-election to a second term as Attorney General in 2011 with 55% of the vote.
Conway ran for Governor of Kentucky in the 2015 gubernatorial election, with State Representative Sannie Overly as his running mate. During the primary election held on May 19, 2015, Conway easily defeated retired engineer Geoff Young for the Democratic Party nomination. The Republican nominee Matt Bevin defeated Conway 52.5% to 43.8% with independent candidate Drew Curtis receiving 4% in the November 3, 2015 general election.
Conway currently practices law with the firm of Dolt, Thompson, Shepherd & Conway, focusing primarily on medical negligence, products liability, personal injury, trucking and auto accidents, and general negligence. He also sits on the bipartisan advisory board of States United Democracy Center.
Early life and education Conway was born in Louisville, Kentucky and raised in a Catholic family, the eldest of four siblings. His parents are Tom, a Louisville lawyer, and Barbara Conway. A graduate of St. Xavier High School, Conway earned a bachelor's degree in public policy studies from Duke University in 1991. From 1991 to 1997, he worked as legislative aide to the U.S. House Banking Committee. He graduated with a Juris Doctor from George Washington University Law School in 1995.
Personal life On May 20, 2006, Conway married Elizabeth Davenport; the couple has two children.
Conway and his father are partners in thoroughbred racehorse Stately Victor, named after Jack's childhood best friend, whose given name was Victor, who died at age 23. On April 11, 2010, the colt won the Grade I Blue Grass Stakes and later ran in the Kentucky Derby.Shapiro, T. Rees. "Stately Victor's owner, Jack Conway, will follow up Kentucky Derby with Democratic Senate primary", The Washington Post, April 30, 2010.
Political career Conway joined Paul E. Patton's gubernatorial campaign in September 1995. After being elected, Patton employed Conway as legal counsel to his executive cabinet and his chief energy advisor. Conway was the primary architect of the Kentucky Higher Education Reform Act of 1997, one of Patton's signature legislative accomplishments.
On August 3, 1999, Patton appointed Conway deputy secretary of his executive cabinet, serving under secretary Crit Luallen. Conway was responsible for drafting Patton's 2000 legislative package to the General Assembly. He also co-chaired task forces charged with investigating changes to the state's regulation of electrical utilities and the exposure of workers at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant to radioactive plutonium.
Campaign for U.S. House of Representatives
Conway announced his resignation from Patton's cabinet in May 2001 amid speculation that he would seek the 3rd district congressional seat of incumbent Anne Northup. He believed Northup's vote to impeach President Bill Clinton in 1998 made her vulnerable in the Democratic-leaning district. Washington, D.C.-based Roll Call listed Northup among the ten most vulnerable incumbents entering the 2002 elections.
After leaving state government, Conway joined the law firm of Conliffe Sandman Sullivan. On June 18, 2001, he officially announced his candidacy for Northup's seat. Later that week, Patton named Conway chair of the newly formed Kentucky State Energy Policy Advisory Board. The move angered state Republicans; state party chair Ellen Williams said that Conway's appointment "injected hard-core partisan politics" into the issue of the state's energy future. In May 2002, Conway resigned from the board, citing his election campaign.
The race also affected the General Assembly's ability to pass a reapportionment bill in 2002. The state Senate's Republican majority proposed adding Republican-leaning Oldham County to the 3rd district, while the Democrat-controlled state House resisted the plan, resulting in an impasse for much of the legislative session. Ultimately, the Assembly passed a plan that kept the 3rd district entirely within Jefferson County, adding several politically conservative suburbs of Louisville instead of Oldham County. Even with the addition of these areas, however, Democrats held a voter registration advantage of nearly two-to-one in the district. Both Conway and Northup expressed support for the approved district boundaries. Despite an extended filing deadline, neither candidate faced a challenge in their respective party primaries.
Conway portrayed Northup as an ineffective legislator who would not protect Social Security and healthcare benefits. Northup countered that, at 33 years old, Conway lacked experience, and said not being married had deprived him of "a responsibility to somebody else". She attacked Conway for his ties to Governor Patton, who had become embroiled in a sex-for-favors scandal. Northup's campaign raised and spent almost twice as much money as Conway's – aided by fundraisers featuring President George W. Bush (twice) and Vice President Dick Cheney – allowing her to run more television ads on the district's four network television stations. Conway countered with a rally at the headquarters of the local chapter of the United Auto Workers – who gave him their endorsement – featuring then-Democratic House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt. Gephardt promised if Conway were elected and if Democrats gained control of the House, that he would appoint Conway to the powerful Appropriations Committee, of which Northup was then a member. In the November 5 general election, Northup defeated Conway with 51.6% of the vote to Conway's 48.4%. Patton later told the Lexington Herald-Leader that he thought the scandal in his administration cost Democrats several legislative races, including Conway.
Political interim Following the loss to Northup, Conway joined his father's legal practice. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee tried to convince Conway to run again for the same seat in 2004, but he declined, saying another loss could damage his nascent political career. He was also nominated as chairman of the state Democratic party, but withdrew his name from consideration, saying the position would take too much time from his law practice. In September 2004, Conway was named chairman of John Kerry's presidential campaign in Kentucky.
After State Auditor Crit Luallen and Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson declined to seek the 2007 Democratic nomination for governor, Conway told the Lexington Herald-Leader that he would "step up and look at the race", although he conceded he would need to move quickly to raise enough money to run a competitive campaign. In November 2006, Conway announced that former Governor Brereton Jones had asked Conway to consider being his running mate if Jones sought the nomination; Conway said he would consider Jones' proposal while continuing to explore his own gubernatorial bid. When Congressman Ben Chandler, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee in 2003, announced in late November that he would not seek the nomination, Conway said he was seeking a running mate and lining up support for a gubernatorial campaign, estimating that he would need to raise a minimum of $2.5 million to be competitive.
In early December, Democratic leaders believed that Jones and Conway would run as a ticket for governor and lieutenant governor, but the deal fell apart days later when Jones announced he would not seek the office. A week later, State Treasurer Jonathan Miller, who had also discussed forming a ticket with Conway, announced he would seek the gubernatorial nomination with Jefferson County Attorney Irv Maze as his running mate instead of Conway. In late January 2007, after Bruce Lunsford named sitting Attorney General Greg Stumbo as his running mate in the gubernatorial contest, Conway said it was "highly likely" that he would seek that office in lieu of a gubernatorial bid.
Attorney General of Kentucky
Election
On January 30, 2007, Conway officially announced his candidacy for state attorney general at a rally at the Capitol Rotunda. His opponent in the Democratic primary was former Assistant Attorney General Robert Bullock. Conway stated that, as attorney general, he would prioritize a crackdown on drug and computer crimes and secure additional resources for local prosecutors such as county and commonwealth's attorneys. Bullock's campaign called Conway an "inexperienced candidate – one who embraces style over substance".
Conway's campaign raised over $320,000, more than the five other attorney general candidates – Republican and Democrat – combined. The paper's editorial board endorsed Conway, although it opined, "Democrats can't go wrong Tuesday when they pick a nominee for attorney general." Conway received the endorsements of several labor organizations, including the AFL–CIO, the United Auto Workers, and the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers. Conway criticized Bullock for accepting the endorsement of the politically conservative Freedom's Heritage Forum, which issued the endorsement, in part because of Bullock's opposition to state universities' extension of domestic partnership benefits to its employees. Conway secured the Democratic nomination, winning the primary with 71.8 percent of the vote.
Conway's opponent in the general election was Lexington's Stan Lee, the minority whip in the state House of Representatives, who the Lexington Herald-Leader referred to as an "arch-conservative". Conway started with a large advantage in campaign cash, having carried over $154,544 from his primary campaign. Lee, the leading Republican fundraiser with over $134,000 raised in the primary campaign, started the race with only $3,365 left in his war chest.
Early in the race, Lee sought to make an issue of Democratic gubernatorial nominee Steve Beshear's call to amend the state constitution to allow casino gambling in the state. Lee publicly opposed the plan, saying it would lead to higher crime rates, and called on Conway to also denounce it. Conway's spokesman said his candidate would support putting the amendment on the ballot for voters to decide, provided the number of casino licenses were limited, counties were given a local option regarding whether to allow casinos in their communities, and all state revenue generated by the casinos was designated for healthcare, education, and protecting the state's economy.