FRANKFORT, Ky. (Legal Newsline) - Touting his increase in civil collections and promising to fund education, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, a Democrat, declared Thursday he will run for governor in 2015.
Conway and his running mate, state Rep. Sannie Overly, seek to replace term-limited Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat and former Kentucky attorney general.
Conway released a video of his announcement, in which the two-term attorney general points to his record on civil collections as a selling point.
"We increased civil collections by 600 percent, returning over $300 million dollars to the Medicaid program," Conway says in the video.
"We tripled elder abuse prosecutions, took on the for-profit colleges and stood up to the big banks that committed mortgage fraud, recovering more than $63 million dollars for the homeowners of Kentucky."
Conway also talked about investing in education.
"We must restore funding for our schools, because it is unacceptable teachers are using their own money to purchase their own supplies," he says. "Education and jobs go hand-in-hand. And jobs will be our highest priority."
However, Conway won't depend solely on education to create jobs if elected.
"As governor, I will create a business environment to retain and recruit jobs," he says in the video, adding that he will continue to protect the coal industry from Washington.
As of May 8, no other Democrats have announced their candidacy for governor.
On the Republican side, Hal Heiner announced his candidacy on March 4.
From Legal Newsline: Reach David Yates at elections@legalnewsline.com.
Kentucky AG to run for governor in 2015
