Jack Conway

John William Conway (born July 5, 1969) is an American lawyer and politician from the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

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.

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.

He believed Northup's vote to impeach President Bill Clinton in 1998 made her vulnerable in the Democratic-leaning district.

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.

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.

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.

Prior to his election as attorney general, he was the nominee for Kentucky's 3rd congressional district in the 2002 elections, narrowly losing to Republican incumbent Anne Northup.

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.

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.

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.

A member of the Democratic Party, Conway served as the 49th attorney general of Kentucky from January 7, 2008, to January 4, 2016.

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.

On April 11, 2010, the colt won the Grade I Blue Grass Stakes and later ran in the Kentucky Derby.

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 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.

Conway was born in Louisville, Kentucky and raised in a Roman Catholic family, the eldest of four siblings.

His parents are Tom, a Louisville lawyer, and Barbara Conway.