Brereton Jones

Brereton Chandler Jones ( born May 27, 1939 in Gallipolis, Ohio ) is an American politician and former governor of the state of Kentucky.

Early years and political rise

Jones graduated in 1961 from the University of Virginia. His political rise began in West Virginia. There he was a member of the Republican Party 1965-1969 Member of the House of Representatives. He later left the Republicans and stepped over to the Democratic Party. After moving to Kentucky, he founded in 1972 together with his wife Libby a stud, were grown in the race horses. In addition, Jones was still in the real estate business. In 1987, he was surprisingly an outsider Democratic candidate for the office of Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky. He won elections and now officiated the next four years as Deputy Governor Wallace Wilkinson. However, the ratio of the two men was tense. In 1991, when the next gubernatorial queuing, Wilkinson could not run because of a constitutional provision. The wife of Wilkinson failed in the primaries for the nomination. Lieutenant Governor Jones was elected Democratic candidates.

Governor of Kentucky

The actual elections Jones won with 64.7 % of the vote against Larry Hopkins, who came to 35.3 % of the vote. His term of office began on 10 December 1991 and ended on 12 December 1995. As Governor, he sat down very involved in environmental protection and thus angered the industry, especially the owners of coal mines, which he imposed restrictions on coal mining. He tried to solve the problem of health insurance in Kentucky. However, this task remained stuck in the early days. Even in 2005 the lack of health insurance was not only a problem in Kentucky, but also in other parts of the USA. In Kentucky, 2005, more than 500,000 professionals were not covered by health insurance, which corresponded to 19% of the working population. The governor sat through a constitutional amendment for Kentucky, the elected officials, including the governor, a second consecutive term in office allowed in the respective offices. His predecessor Wilkinson had already made ​​an attempt in this direction, but was hampered by the requirement that the system should apply the same for him. Jones avoided this problem by agreeing to a transition clause that excluded him and all the other incumbents before entry into force of the new Constitution of a second term. Through sound fiscal policies Brereton Jones is among the few governors who achieved a budget surplus.

Further CV

After the end of his tenure, Jones devoted back of horse breeding. His horses have since won many awards, and the stud has acquired an international reputation. In 2003, Jones had played with the idea to re-visit to apply for the post of governor. He then decided yet against this plan and renounced his candidacy. He still cares about his stud. Jones is married to Libby Lloyd, the couple has two children.