Louie B. Nunn - Political Career

Political Career

On June 17, 1953, Nunn declared as a Republican candidate for county judge and was ultimately the only Republican to declare. In the Democratic primary, one of the challengers charged that the incumbent had used his office for personal gain. In the wake of the investigation, a group of disgruntled Democrats formed an organization to elect Nunn, who defeated his Democratic challenger by a vote of 5,171 to 4,378, becoming the first Republican elected county judge in the history of the heavily Democratic county.

In 1956, Nunn served as statewide campaign manager for Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidential bid, as well as the senatorial campaigns of John Sherman Cooper and Thruston Morton. The Kentucky Junior Chamber of Commerce named him "Young Man of the Year" in 1956. He was not a candidate for re-election as county judge in 1957, but was appointed as city attorney for the city of Glasgow in 1958. He considered running for governor in 1959, but became convinced it would be a bad year for Republicans and did not make the race. He managed successful re-election campaigns for Senator Cooper in 1960 and Senator Morton in 1962. He also managed the state campaign of presidential candidate Richard Nixon in 1960. Although John F. Kennedy won the election, Nixon carried Kentucky 54% to 46%.

Nunn was the Republican nominee for governor of Kentucky in 1963. During the campaign, he attacked an executive order issued by sitting Democratic governor Bert T. Combs that desegregated public accommodations in the state. Calling the order "a dictatorial edict of questionable constitutionality", Nunn charged that it had been dictated by U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy. In a television appearance, Nunn displayed a copy of the order and declared "My first act will be to abolish this." The New Republic accused him of conducting "the first outright segregationist campaign in Kentucky". He lost the election to Democrat Ned Breathitt by a margin of just over 13,000 votes.