Steve Beshear

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In 1973, Beshear began his political career by being elected to represent the 76th District (Fayette County) in the Kentucky House of Representatives. During his first term, his colleagues named him the most outstanding freshman legislator. He was re-elected in 1975 and 1977; both campaigns featured close Democratic primaries between Beshear and Jerry Lundergan.

As a legislator, Beshear gained a reputation as a consumer advocate, and sponsored bills to increase environmental protections and end the practice of commercial bail bonding. In 1974, Beshear voted against a resolution condemning the practice of desegregation busing because it called for changes to the federal constitution. One of his major accomplishments in the House was spearheading legislation to improve neonatal care at the University of Kentucky Medical Center. Although he considered a 1978 bill requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in Kentucky classrooms to be unconstitutional, he abstained from voting on it rather than voting against it, a move he later claimed he regretted.

Beshear was the first candidate to announce his bid for the post of Attorney General of Kentucky in the 1979 election. Shortly after declaring his candidacy, he was endorsed by outgoing Attorney General Robert F. Stephens. The central issue of Beshear's campaign was his pledge to be an advocate of the consumer in cases of proposed utility rate hikes. After winning the Democratic primary, he defeated Republican nominee Ron Snyder by a vote of 471,177 to 302,951. When incumbent Attorney General Stephens resigned in December 1979 to accept an appointment to the Kentucky Supreme Court, Beshear was appointed to fill the vacancy until his term officially began in January. As attorney general, Beshear created the state's first Medicaid fraud division and his office took a leading role in the Leviticus Project, an eight-state coalition committed to prosecuting organized crime in the country's coal fields.

Two minor controversies marked Beshear's tenure as attorney general. The first came in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the 1980 case of Stone v. Graham. The ruling struck down the state law requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in all of the state's classrooms on grounds that it violated the Establishment Clause of the federal constitution. State Superintendent Raymond Barber asked the Supreme Court to clarify whether its ruling meant that all of the copies of the Commandments already posted had to be taken down or whether it simply invalidated the Kentucky requirement for them to be posted; the Court refused the request for clarification. Beshear then issued an advisory opinion that displaying the Commandments in classrooms under any circumstances was banned by the Court's ruling.

The second controversy arose as a result of the renovation of the governor's mansion. Phyllis George Brown, Kentucky's first lady, created the Save the Mansion Fund to help cover the costs of the renovation. When the renovation was complete, she planned a nine-day showcase of the mansion for the general public. Guests were charged $10 to take a tour of the mansion. Legislator Eugene P. Stuart objected to taxpayers being charged a fee to view a mansion their tax dollars supported. He asked Beshear to protest the charge, and Beshear requested an injunction against the Save the Mansion Fund. A Lexington judge refused to grant the injunction, and Beshear appealed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, which upheld the lower court's decision. Beshear's actions caused a rift between him and Governor John Y. Brown Jr.

Limited to one term as attorney general by the state constitution, Beshear declared his candidacy for lieutenant governor in 1983. In a seven-candidate Democratic primary in May, Beshear captured 183,662 of the 575,022 votes cast to defeat a field that included former state Auditor George L. Atkins, Jefferson County judge executive Todd Hollenbach, Agriculture Commissioner Alben Barkley II, and former Kentucky Wildcats basketball star Bill Spivey. In the general election, Beshear faced Republican Eugene Stuart and Don Wiggins, who became the nominee of the newly formed Consumers Lobby Party after losing in the Republican gubernatorial primary. Stuart categorized Beshear as being too liberal for Kentucky, citing his opinion in the Ten Commandments case, as well as his support for abortion rights and gun control. Beshear denied advocating for gun control and charged that Stuart, a state senator from Jefferson County, had not shown any leadership worthy of election to the lieutenant governor's office. Beshear easily defeated Stuart by a vote of 568,869 to 321,352; Wiggins captured just 7,728 votes.

Several changes were proposed to the office of lieutenant governor during Beshear's tenure. In 1984, state representative Bobby Richardson proposed a constitutional amendment to abolish the office. When that effort failed, Richardson introduced a bill in the 1986 General Assembly that would have revoked the lieutenant governor's right to live rent-free in the state's Old Governor's Mansion, eliminated his or her police protection, and restricted his or her use of the state's two executive helicopters. The measure would also have eliminated the lieutenant governor's salary, paying him or her per diem for days served as acting governor or president of the state senate instead. The measure would further have lifted the ban on the lieutenant governor holding other employment. Although the bill would have exempted Beshear from its provisions, Beshear still opposed it and charged that it was politically motivated. Richardson had expressed interest in running for lieutenant governor in the past, and Beshear claimed that because he was never elected to the office, he "doesn't want anybody else to have it." Richardson denied that his efforts were a political ploy; he claimed the office was largely ceremonial and served only as a stepping stone to the governorship. Three of the previous four lieutenant governors had subsequently been elected governor, including sitting governor Martha Layne Collins.

Despite opposing Richardson's changes to the office, Beshear conceded that the provision of the state constitution that made him acting governor every time Governor Collins left the state was "archaic." During its 1987 organizational session, the General Assembly relieved the lieutenant governor of his membership on the committees that assigned bills to other committees and that managed the flow of legislation on the Senate floor. Later that year, a subcommittee of the Commission on Constitutional Review proposed requiring the governor and lieutenant governor to run as a ticket and combining the office with that of the secretary of state. These recommendations were not acted on during Beshear's term.

During his service as lieutenant governor, Beshear formed and chaired the Kentucky Tomorrow Commission, a privately financed group assembled to make recommendations for the state's future growth and development. The 30-person commission was formed in July 1984 and presented its report – containing more than 100 recommendations – in September 1986. Among the recommendations in the commission's report were several changes to the state constitution, adopted in 1891. The recommended changes included eliminating the offices of state treasurer, secretary of state, and superintendent of public instruction, holding elections only in odd-numbered years instead of every year, and raising the term limit for the state's constitutional officers from one term to two consecutive terms. The state legislature showed little interest in calling a constitutional convention, however, and the commission's recommendations were not immediately adopted, though several have since been implemented. Other recommendations in the commission's report included the creation of lifelong learning programs, implementation of criminal justice reforms, and improvements in worker training. The commission was hailed by some as the most substantial undertaking by a lieutenant governor to date, but was panned by others as a move by Beshear to better position himself for a run for governor in 1987.

Among Beshear's other activities as lieutenant governor was his participation in an investigation of Kentucky Utilities' coal-buying practices. At issue was whether it was legal and ethical for the company's coal buyer to accept gifts and other perks from coal suppliers. Beshear had clashed with the company over similar issues during his term as attorney general. The company attempted to block Beshear's participation in the investigation, but the Kentucky Public Service Commission rejected the attempt. Due to the length of the investigation and the number of appeals filed, the matter was not fully adjudicated until 1992, well past the end of Beshear's term. The Kentucky Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of Kentucky Utilities.

In 1987, Beshear entered a crowded Democratic gubernatorial primary that included former governor Julian Carroll, millionaire bookstore magnate Wallace Wilkinson, and Eastern Kentucky physician Grady Stumbo. Beshear had the backing of the Collins administration and the endorsement of several labor leaders and the state teachers' association; he appeared to be the front-runner in the race until former governor John Y. Brown Jr. entered late and became the instant favorite. Beshear spent much of the campaign running ads that blasted Brown for his jet-setting lifestyle, including, the ads claimed, his "wild nights in Vegas". Brown countered with ads claiming that Beshear was distorting the facts and could not be trusted. Both Beshear and Brown claimed the other would raise taxes if he were elected. The feud between Beshear and Brown allowed Wilkinson, who was last among the candidates according to polls as late as February 1987, to launch his own blitz of ads claiming both Beshear and Brown would raise taxes and proposing a state lottery as an alternative means of raising funds for the state. In the final days of the campaign, Wilkinson surged past both Brown and Beshear and captured 221,138 votes to win the primary; Beshear finished third with 114,439, trailing Brown (163,204 votes) but leading Stumbo (84,613 votes), Carroll (42,137 votes), and three minor candidates.

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