ABOUT THE CANDIDATES
Rand Paul - R
Dr. Rand Paul has been married for 19 years to the former Kelley Ashby, who is originally from Russellville, Kentucky. Rand and Kelley have three sons: William, 17; Duncan, 13; and Robert, 10. Dr. Paul and his family live in Bowling Green, where Rand has practiced medicine and performed eye surgery for 17 years. Rand owns his own ophthalmology practice, which employs 3 full-time staff members.
Dr. Paul is the third of five children born to Carol and Ron Paul. He grew up in Lake Jackson, Texas and attended Baylor University. He graduated from Duke Medical School in 1988. Dr. Paul completed a general surgery internship at Georgia Baptist Medical Center in Atlanta and completed his residency in ophthalmology at Duke University Medical Center. Upon completion of his training in 1993, Rand and Kelley moved to Bowling Green to start their family and begin his ophthalmology practice.
In 1995, Rand founded the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic, an organization that provides eye exams and surgery to needy families and individuals. Rand is a former president and 17 year member of Lions Clubs International, which is dedicated to preserving sight by providing eyeglasses and surgery to the less fortunate around the world. In recognition of his outstanding and sustained efforts to provide vision care to Kentuckians in need, Lions Clubs International has awarded Rand many of its highest commendations, including:
- Melvin Jones Fellow Award for Dedicated Humanitarian Services, Lions Club International Foundation
- Lion of the Year Award, Bowling Green Lions
- President’s Award, Bowling Green Lions
- Fines E. Davis Fellow Award for Dedicated Humanitarian Service, Kentucky Lions Eye Foundation
- Governors Appreciation Award for Sight Conservation, Lions Club International
In addition to his work with the Lions Clubs, Dr. Paul has provided free eye surgery to children from around the world through his participation in the Children of the Americas Program.
A large part of Rand’s daily work is dedicated to preserving the vision of our seniors. In 2002, The Twilight Wish Foundation recognized Rand for Outstanding Service and Commitment to Seniors.
In 1993, Dr. Rand Paul founded the Kentucky Taxpayers United (KTU) in an effort to better inform all Kentuckians on how their elected officials were voting on key spending and taxation issues. KTU is a non-partisan citizens watchdog group dedicated to rating the state legislature’s tax honesty. Rand’s work with KTU has helped to promote the Americans for Tax Reform pledge, which commits legislators to keeping their promises regarding income tax increases.
Rand is a devoted husband and father. He regularly volunteers to coach teams for each of his three sons in Little League baseball, soccer, and basketball. Rand and Kelley have been members of The Presbyterian Church since 1993, where Kelley currently serves as a Deacon. Rand Paul is a hard-working, dedicated physician, not a career politician. His entrance into politics is indicative of his life’s work: a desire to diagnose problems and provide practical solutions.
Jack Conway - D
Jack Conway has a record of getting results for the people of Kentucky. Elected in 2007 as Attorney General, Jack previously served as Deputy Cabinet Secretary and Deputy General Counsel in Governor Paul Patton’s administration from 1996 to 2001. While there he worked to craft economic development programs that put the Commonwealth on a path to prosperity and the landmark 1997 higher education reform bill, which won national acclaim for propelling Kentucky’s institutions of higher learning into the 21st century.
Jack has always considered the highest duty of a public servant to be protecting those who are unable to protect themselves. Since the voters of Kentucky elected Jack as Attorney General, his office has increased Medicaid recoveries by 600%, taking on pharmaceutical giants and recovering more than $100 million for taxpayers. He has advocated for consumers and saved Kentucky families over $150 million in proposed utility rate increases. Jack has taken on the big oil companies for gas price gouging, and in his first year as Attorney General, increased elder abuse and neglect investigations by 300%.
He followed through on his commitment to prosecute child predators and crack down on Internet crimes when he created a CybercrimesUnit, which has initiated numerous child pornography investigations, eliminated over 68,000 illegal images and videos from the Internet, and continues to conduct trainings for police and prosecutors across Kentucky. Simultaneously, Jack reduced costs in the Attorney General’s office by 26%, setting a strong example by taking a pay cut and giving his official vehicle back to the state. Jack has a proven record of combating waste, fraud, and abuse in government.
As a United States Senator, Jack has a plan to create jobs, cut the deficit, and restore accountability to Wall Street and Washington. Jack has a plan, which is estimated to create 731,000 jobs nationwide and 10,975 jobs in Kentucky through a combination of tax credits and small business lending. He has already identified $430 billion in savings that can be recouped for taxpayers by: shutting down offshore tax shelters and closing loopholes in the corporate tax code that encourage companies to invest and ship jobs overseas; making big pharmaceutical companies negotiate with Medicare for lower prices on prescription drugs; and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare. Additionally, Jack will fight for Wall Street reform that puts taxpayers first, protects consumers, and cracks down on the big banks by preventing any institution from ever again becoming “too big to fail.”
Jack is a proud Kentuckian. His father, Tom, was born on a family farm in Western Kentucky’s Union County. He put himself through law school at night at the University of Louisville, while teaching history and coaching at Fairdale High School. Jack’s mother, Barbara grew in up in Louisville’s South End, the daughter of a union blacksmith.
