page_title: Jack Conway (politician)
section_title: Campaign for U.S. House of Representatives
hierarchical_section_title: Jack Conway (politician) / Political career / Campaign for U.S. House of Representatives
caption_attribution_description: Anne Northup, former member of the United States House of Representatives.
context_page_description: John William Conway is an American lawyer and politician from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. A member of the Democratic Party, Conway served as the 49th Attorney General of Kentucky from January 7, 2008 to January 4, 2016. 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.
  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. 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.
context_section_description: 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. He believed Northup's vote to impeach President Bill Clinton in 1998 made her vulnerable in the Democratic-leaning district. 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. 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. 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. Northup countered that, at 33 years old, Conway lacked experience, and said not being married had deprived him of "a responsibility to somebody else". She attacked Conway for his ties to Governor Patton, who had become embroiled in a sex-for-favors scandal. Northup's campaign raised and spent almost twice as much money as Conway's – aided by fundraisers featuring President George W. Bush (twice) and Vice President Dick Cheney – allowing her to run more television ads on the district's four network television stations. Conway countered with a rally at the headquarters of the local chapter of the United Auto Workers – who gave him their endorsement – featuring then-Democratic House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt. Gephardt promised if Conway were elected and if Democrats gained control of the House, that he would appoint Conway to the powerful Appropriations Committee, of which Northup was then a member. In the November 5 general election, Northup defeated Conway with 51.6% of the vote to Conway's 48.4%. Patton later told the Lexington Herald-Leader that he thought the scandal in his administration cost Democrats several legislative races, including Conway.
caption: Anne Northup defeated Conway in the 2002 congressional elections.
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