Alison Lundergan Grimes

Alison Case Lundergan Grimes (born November 23, 1978) is an American lawyer and Democratic politician who was the secretary of state of Kentucky from 2012 until 2020.

Grimes went to Lexington Catholic High School in Lexington, Kentucky, and then went on to graduate from Rhodes College in 2001.

Grimes majored in political science, with a minor in history.

Grimes is a member of the Chi Omega sorority and served as president of her college chapter; she also served as a student trustee and a member of student government.

Grimes received her Juris Doctor degree cum laude from the Washington College of Law at American University in Washington, D.C. While at American, Grimes participated in public policy research for the National Kidney Foundation.

Prior to running for Secretary of State, Grimes was a practicing attorney in Lexington.

She served as an associate at Stoll Keenon Ogden from 2004 to 2011, specializing in intellectual property and complex business litigation.

Grimes has served numerous times as delegate to the Democratic National Convention, supporting candidate Hillary Clinton in 2008, Barack Obama in 2012, and party nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Grimes served as president of the Fayette County Women Lawyers' Association, and was awarded the 2010 Outstanding Young Lawyer Award by the Fayette County Bar Association.

In 2010, Grimes announced her candidacy for the office of Secretary of State of Kentucky, left open by term limited incumbent Republican Trey Grayson.

When Grayson resigned to accept a position at the Harvard Institute of Politics, Governor Steve Beshear appointed Bowling Green mayor Elaine Walker over Grimes to fill the rest of Grayson's term in office.

Despite this, Grimes stayed in the race and defeated Walker by a double-digit margin in the May primary.

Grimes faced Republican businessman and former Senate candidate Bill Johnson in the general election.

A main aspect of the campaign was Grimes's opposition to Johnson's proposal to require photo IDs in order to vote.

Grimes argued this would take away voting rights from the homeless among others.

She said her goals when elected included "updating business and election laws, increasing voting access for veterans and protecting the identity of domestic-violence victims in registration records."

She became well known through commercials that showed her elderly grandmothers.

Grimes defeated Johnson with over 60% of the vote.

Grimes was elected in 2011 after defeating incumbent Elaine Walker in the Democratic primary and Republican candidate Bill Johnson in the general election.

She received a higher percentage of the vote than any other Kentucky statewide Democratic candidate during the 2011 elections.

Her term as Secretary of State began on January 2, 2012.

In 2012, Grimes visited the Middle East to observe the voting process of overseas military personnel.

This experience led her to become an advocate of an improved voting process for the U.S. military.

Grimes's recommendations received bipartisan support in the Kentucky General Assembly and were signed into law in April 2013.

The Kentucky Military Heroes Voting Initiative law allows military members and other covered voters to register to vote and update their registration online, ensures that military voters have sufficient time to vote in special elections, and extends existing protections to state and local elections and National Guard members.

She was the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate in 2014, unsuccessfully challenging Republican incumbent and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

She was re-elected for a second term as Secretary of State of Kentucky on November 3, 2015, defeating Republican Stephen Knipper.

She addressed the 2016 Democratic National Convention on the evening of the official roll call vote as a close personal friend of the party's nominee Hillary Clinton.

She was named one of the "new stars of the Democratic Party" after her address.

Grimes led the Democratic ticket in each of her three statewide races.

She currently serves on the board of advisors of Let America Vote, an organization founded by former Missouri secretary of state Jason Kander designed to combat voter suppression.

On March 14, 2016, Grimes launched the online voter registration system GoVoteKY.com.

A statewide voter registration drive she led during the 2016 presidential election resulted in more than 100,000 new voters.

Grimes continues to push for introducing in-person early voting in Kentucky elections.

Term limited in 2019, she was succeeded by Republican Michael Adams.

Alison Case Lundergan was born in Maysville, Kentucky, the daughter of Charlotte (née Case) and Jerry Lundergan, a former Kentucky Democratic chairman and state representative.

She is the middle child of five siblings, all girls.

As a child, she knocked on doors on behalf of her father's political campaigns, and later drove voters to the polls on election day.

Grimes grew up wanting to be a doctor, but changed majors in college after passing out while watching carpal tunnel surgery.

Grimes endorsed Charles Booker in the 2020 U.S. Senate election in Kentucky over Amy McGrath, a surprise to some observers of the race who note that Booker is the more progressive of the two candidates.