Greg Stumbo

Gregory D. "Greg" Stumbo is the Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives. Stumbo, a member of the Democratic Party, served as Kentucky Attorney General from 2003 to 2007.

Early career

A native of Prestonsburg in Floyd County, Stumbo served as Assistant Floyd County Attorney and held the position of Martin city attorney for three years. He also served as trial commissioner to the Floyd County District Court for one year.

Prior to his election as attorney general, served in the Kentucky House of Representatives for twelve terms from 1980 to 2003. During this time Stumbo was Kentucky's longest-serving House Majority Leader (1985–2003). Stumbo returned to the House of Representatives not long after his Attorney General term ended.

Attorney General of Kentucky

Stumbo's office led an investigation into the hiring practices of Kentucky Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher which resulted in indictments, but was dismissed by agreement with the prosecutors. On September 12, 2007, Stumbo sued Fletcher for appointing too many Republicans to the governing bodies of state universities. State law requires "proportional representation of the two leading political parties" based on voter registration. A majority of registered voters in Kentucky are Democrats, but Fletcher appointed seven Republicans and two Democrats to the University of Kentucky and eight Republicans and two Democrats to the University of Louisville.^[1] Stumbo was also, in his time as Attorney-General, known for leading a somewhat controversial and very effective attack on the sale of prescription drugs over the internet and through "pill mills", which led to the most stringent laws preventing these sales in the nation. The Ryan Haight Act, the federal law that prohibits the internet only based sale of narcotic prescription drugs by these same websites was modeled on the law Stumbo passed in Kentucky. A large part of the controversy surrounding Stumbo's efforts to control the sale of internet "prescriptions" was based in the objections of other states, who saw part of Stumbo's efforts intruding on their own state sovereignty and authority, particularly in the states where the internet pharmacy sites were based. Stumbo also faced considerable criticism from pain patient's rights groups, particularly The Pain Relief Network and its president, Siobhan Reynolds, who threatened to file lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the proposed law. The suit was never filed and the law became the first in the nation requiring registration of internet pharmacies, wherever they were located, in the state in order for them to deliver any medication to Kentucky.

Other Statewide Elections

Stumbo was the running mate for Bruce Lunsford in the 2007 Democratic gubernatorial primary, but their ticket lost to that of Steve Beshear and Daniel Mongiardo, 40.9% to 20.4%.

Stumbo formed an exploratory committee to run against Senator Mitch McConnell in 2008, but did not run for the office.

Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives

On January 6, 2009, he was endorsed by Democratic lawmakers to be the party's nominee for Speaker of the House.^[2] He was sworn in as Speaker the next day, January 7.^[3]

Stumbo advocates creating new usable land for recreational opportunities from strip mining techniques, as well as for other forms of post-mining economic reclamation. As an indication of his commitment to Kentucky's coal industry, Stumbo built his home in Prestonburg on a clearing where a mountaintop used to be, near the manicured, 18-hole Stone Crest Golf Course.^[4]

Personal

In his free time, Stumbo is an outdoorsman, a golfer, and a chess player.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Greg Stumbo.

• Representative Greg Stumbo (D), Speaker of the House official Kentucky Legislature site
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Bills, amendements and roll call votes from KentuckyVotes.org
• Attorney General Greg Stumbo archived biography
• 2007 Campaign Site
• 2008 Exploratory Campaign Site

v t e Current statewide elected officials and legislative leaders of Kentucky U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell Rand Paul State government Steve Beshear, Governor Jerry Abramson, Lieutenant Governor Alison Lundergan Grimes, Secretary of State Jack Conway, Attorney General James Comer, Agriculture Commissioner Todd Hollenbach, Treasurer Adam Edelen, State Auditor Senate President – Robert Stivers Damon Thayer, Majority Leader R.J. Palmer, Minority Leader House Greg Stumbo, Speaker of the House Rocky Adkins, Majority Leader Jeffrey Hoover, Minority Leader Supreme Court John D. Minton, Jr., Chief Justice Bill Cunningham Daniel J. Venters Lisabeth Hughes Abramson Mary C. Noble, Deputy Chief Justice Michelle M. Keller Will T. Scott AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY