Alison Lundergan Grimes

Alison Lundergan Grimes
76th Secretary of State of Kentucky
Incumbent
Assumed office January 2, 2012
Governor	Steve Beshear Matt Bevin
Preceded by	Elaine Walker
Personal details
Born	Alison Case Lundergan (1978-11-23) November 23, 1978 Maysville, Kentucky, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Andrew Grimes (2006–present)
Alma mater	Rhodes College American University
Religion	Roman Catholicism[1]
Website	Government website

Alison Case Lundergan Grimes (born November 23, 1978) is an American attorney and Democratic politician who is the Secretary of State of Kentucky, having defeated incumbent Elaine Walker in the 2011 primary election and Republican candidate Bill Johnson in the 2011 general election. Grimes was the Democratic candidate for the United States Senate in 2014 but was defeated by Republican incumbent Mitch McConnell.

She was re-elected for a second term as Secretary of State of Kentucky on November 3, 2015, defeating Republican candidate Stephen Knipper.

Early life and education

Grimes was born in Maysville, Kentucky. She is the daughter of Charlotte (née Case) and Jerry Lundergan, a former Kentucky Democratic chairman and state representative.^[2] Grimes was the third of five children, all girls. As a child, Grimes knocked on doors on behalf of her father's political campaigns, and also drove voters to the polls on election day. Grimes grew up wanting to be a doctor, but changed majors in college after passing out while watching carpal tunnel surgery.^[3]

Grimes went to Lexington Catholic High School in Lexington, Kentucky, and then went on to graduate from Rhodes College in 2001. Grimes majored in political science, with a minor in history. Grimes is a member of the Chi Omega sorority, as well as a student trustee and a member of student government. Grimes graduated cum laude from the Washington College of Law at American University in Washington, D.C. While at American, Grimes participated in public policy research for the National Kidney Foundation.^[4]

Career

Prior to running for Secretary of State, Grimes was a practicing attorney in Lexington.^[5] She served as an associate at Stoll Keenon Ogden from 2004 to 2011, specializing in intellectual property and complex business litigation.^[6] Grimes credits a domestic abuse case she won as helping to inspire her to pursue a political career rather than attempting to become a partner at her firm.^[3]

Grimes served as president of the Fayette County Women Lawyers' Association, and was awarded the 2010 Outstanding Young Lawyer Award by the Fayette County Bar Association.^[7] She was also a precinct officer for the 75th Legislative District in Kentucky as well as a member of the 2008 Democratic National Committee rules committee.

Grimes was a two-time delegate to the Democratic National Convention, supporting Hillary Clinton in 2008 and Barack Obama in 2012.^[8]

Secretary of State

Alison Lundergan Grimes (second from right) appearing at the 2016 Politicon at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, California.

In 2010, Grimes announced her candidacy for the office of Secretary of State of Kentucky, left open by term limited incumbent Republican Trey Grayson.

When Grayson resigned to accept a position at the Harvard Institute of Politics, Governor Steve Beshear appointed Bowling Green Mayor Elaine Walker over Grimes to fill the rest of Grayson's term in office. Despite this, Grimes stayed in the race and defeated Walker by a double digit margin in the May primary.^[5]

Grimes faced Republican businessman and former Senate candidate Bill Johnson in the general election. A main aspect of the campaign was Grimes' opposition to Johnson's proposal to require photo IDs in order to vote. Grimes argued this would take away voting rights from the homeless among others. She also became well known through commercials that showed her elderly grandmothers.^[9] Grimes defeated Johnson with over 60% of the vote.^[10] She received a higher percentage of the vote than any other Kentucky statewide Democratic candidate during the 2011 elections.

Her term as Secretary of State began on January 2, 2012.

As Secretary of State, Grimes has visited the Middle East to observe the voting process of overseas military personnel. This experience led her to become an advocate of an improved voting process for the U.S. military. Grimes' recommendations received immense bipartisan support in the Kentucky General Assembly and were signed into law in April 2013. The Kentucky Military Heroes Voting Initiative law allows military members and other covered voters to register to vote and update their registration online, ensures that military voters have sufficient time to vote in special elections and extends existing protections to state and local elections and National Guard members.^[11]

2014 U.S. Senate campaign

In a July 2013 press conference, Grimes announced that she would run for the United States Senate seat held by Mitch McConnell.^[12]

On May 20, 2014, she won the Democratic primary with 77% of the vote.^[13] She faced Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in the general election on November 4, 2014 and lost, despite that the race was initially considered to be competitive by both the Cook Political Report and the Rothenberg Political Report, which considered the race to "lean Republican." ^[14][15] Senator McConnell won by a large margin, defeating Grimes by 15.5 points and receiving 56.2% of the vote compared to Grimes' 40.7%.^[16]

In April 2014, Grimes attended a Chicago meeting of the Democracy Alliance, a group of liberal donors who pool their resources in support of progressive causes, where she was a featured speaker at the event.^[17][18] Hollywood executives Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Katzenberg have hosted fundraising events for Grimes in New York City and Beverly Hills.^[19] Her father's involvement in the campaign has been noted as a factor in the race because of the political and fundraising connections he brings.^[20][21]

Grimes and McConnell disagreed over debate proposals; McConnell preferred a series of Lincoln-Douglas style debates with only candidates asking questions and no audience, while Grimes said she wants members of the audience to ask questions.^[22] They ultimately had a single debate, aired October 13 on KET; host Bill Goodwin posed the questions and also relayed questions from viewers.^[23][24]

On October 26, Grimes received endorsements from the editorial boards of the The Courier-Journal and The Lexington Herald-Leader.^[25][26]

On November 4, McConnell defeated Grimes, 56.2% to 40.7%, to win re-election.^[16][27]

2015 reelection campaign

After her defeat in the 2014 elections for the US Senate, Grimes was speculated as a candidate for re-election to office of Secretary of State of Kentucky, for Governor of Kentucky and for Attorney General of Kentucky. She openly considered running for each of them,^[28][29][30] but in January 2015 she announced her plans to run for re-election as Secretary of State.^[31] She eventually won the race for reelection by a 51-49 percent margin.

Political positions

Grimes stated she would vote to delay the employer mandate for small businesses in the Affordable Care Act, but supports the act's goals of increasing coverage.^[32] She has criticized Mitch McConnell's votes to defund the act on the grounds that doing so would "destroy Kynect," Kentucky's state-based insurance exchange.^[33][34][35]

In November 2013, Grimes said that as a member of the National Rifle Association, her "strong support for the Second Amendment is unquestioned" and added that she was "proud of Kentucky's long-held gun ownership, sporting and hunting traditions", inviting McConnell to go shooting with her.^[36]

Grimes has said that she is "pro-choice down the line on abortion" and opposes efforts to prohibit abortion after 20 weeks.^[33] She explained "I come from a family of five women. I would never pretend to tell one of my sisters what to do with their body and I don't want the federal government doing that either.… When it comes to choice, I believe, should a woman have to make that decision, it's between herself, her doctor, and her God."^[37]

Grimes supports Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system.^[38]

Grimes opposes further EPA rules on powerplant emissions, arguing that they will result in job losses in Kentucky's coal industry.^[39]

Grimes supports reducing taxes for businesses that provide child care to their employees, has called for pay equity for female employees and expressed her desire to increase the federal minimum wage.^[40]

Electoral history

Personal life

Married since September 2, 2006, Grimes lives with her husband, Andrew, in downtown Lexington.^[41][42]

References

External links

• Office of Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes
• Official Alison Lundergan Grimes Campaign Website
• Alison Lundergan Grimes at DMOZ
• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission

Current statewide elected officials and legislative leaders of Kentucky
U.S. Senators	Mitch McConnell Rand Paul
State government	Matt Bevin, Governor Jenean Hampton, Lieutenant Governor Alison Lundergan Grimes, Secretary of State Andy Beshear, Attorney General Ryan Quarles, Agriculture Commissioner Allison Ball, Treasurer Mike Harmon, Auditor
Senate	Robert Stivers, President Damon Thayer, Majority Leader Ray Jones, Minority Leader
House	Greg Stumbo, Speaker Rocky Adkins, Majority Leader Jeff Hoover, Minority Leader
Supreme Court	John Minton, Chief Justice Mary Noble, Deputy Chief Justice Bill Cunningham Daniel Venters Lisabeth Hughes Michelle Keller Samuel Wright, Justices