Friday, November 17, 2006

2007: Jonathan Miller for Governor

Pol Watchers reports on what may very well be the strongest ticket out there by far: Jonathan Miller for Governor and Jack Conway for Lt. Governor. With Mayor Abramson and Auditor Luallen out, with Chandler staying put, this is by far the strongest ticket of the Good Government wing.
Conway said yesterday he and Jones talked Thursday in “general terms” about Jones’ political plans.

“He came in and told me he was considering it (running for governor) and asked if I would consider being a running mate. He didn’t offer anything.”

Conway, 37, said the two agreed to “keep talking.”

In the meantime, Conway reiterated that he is seriously considering his own run for governor. He said he only began giving serious consideration to the idea when Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson and state Auditor Crit Luallen announced on Tuesday that they would not seek the Democratic nomination.

“I would offer a drastically different vision and agenda,” he said. “It would certainly be a changing of the guard.”

Conway said he would make a final decision “in a matter of a few weeks,” if not “faster than that.”

Meanwhile, state Treasurer Jonathan Miller said yesterday through spokesman Kenneth Mansfield that he is “seriously considering” running for governor, especially since this week’s announcements by Luallen and Abramson.

Miller, a Democrat who is in his second and final four-year term as treasurer, said he is not considering running for lieutenant governor. If “a strong consensus candidate” for governor emerges for the Democratic Party, Miller said, he will consider running for attorney general.

Greg Stumbo, the current attorney general and a Democrat, said this week that he has no plans to run for governor at this time, but he did not rule it out.

Former Lt. Gov. Steve Henry and Lexington attorney Gatewood Galbraith have both said they intend to seek the Democratic nomination for governor. A number of other potential candidates have stated publicly that they are considering a run for governor, including state Sen. David Boswell, D-Owensboro, state Sen. Daniel Mongiardo, D-Hazard, and Lexington attorney Terry McBrayer.
Tom Loftus at the Courier-Journal also has an article on the race.
Former Gov. Brereton Jones and Louisville lawyer Jack Conway met Thursday to discuss the 2007 governor’s election, but each said later he had made no decision about whether to enter the race.

In a related development, another Democrat, state Treasurer Jonathan Miller, said Friday he’s seriously considering the governor’s race, but has no interest in running for lieutenant governor.

Many leading Democrats have said it was important for their party’s candidates for governor to announce candidacies soon after this year’s election. But so far the only announcements since Election Day have been decisions by Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson and state Auditor Crit Luallen not to run for governor.

All Democrats considering the race are awaiting a decision by Ben Chandler, who was re-elected on Nov. 7 to the 6th District seat in the U.S. House.

Chandler has said he would probably not run for governor in 2007 if the Democrats took control of the U.S. House -- which they did. But he has yet to make a firm announcement on whether he’s in or out of the governor’s race.[...]

with Jones, but gave few details of the discussion. He said the meeting produced no major decision.

“We had a cordial meeting. Nothing was offered. He mentioned to me he was considering a run for governor but that no firm decisions had been made,” Conway said. “He also mentioned he’d be talking to other people as well about supporting his candidacy or whether or not he could support someone else.”

Conway said he’s receiving a lot of encouragement to run for governor. And he said he could agree to be a lieutenant governor candidate under the right circumstances.

Miller made clear he is not considering lieutenant governor. “Right now I am seriously considering the governor’s race,” Miller said. “I’ve never really considered the lieutenant governor’s race. Frankly, I’m just not interested in that position.”
Of all the tickets being rumored right now, this is the ONLY one that I could enthusiastically support and endorse.

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