Matt Bevin, center, takes the oath of office from Kentucky Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. to become the 62nd Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky as his wife Glenna, right, holds the Bible, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015, in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, Pool)
Referring to himself as the “tip of the spear” for Kentucky, Republican Matt Bevin took the oath of office to become Kentucky’s 62nd governor during an invitation-only ceremony just after midnight Tuesday (12/08) in the state Capitol.
Bevin succeeds Democrat Steve Beshear, who could not seek re-election because of term limits. His election was historic, becoming only the ninth Republican governor in the state’s 223-year history, the second one in more than four decades. And Jenean Hampton, his lieutenant governor running mate, becomes the first black person to ever hold statewide elected office in Kentucky.
Tuesday was filled with events which included a worship service, a parade and a public swearing-in ceremony on the Capitol steps.
A businessman from Louisville, Bevin has never held public office. He was born in Denver, Colorado, but grew up as one of six children in a three-bedroom house in rural New Hampshire. He spent four years in the Army before going to work in the financial industry. He came to Kentucky in 1999, where he eventually started his own investment firm that he later sold. He now owns all or part of 10 different companies, ranging from a bell manufacturer in Connecticut to a medical device company.
As governor, Bevin now has about two months to write a two-year state spending plan for lawmakers to debate in the upcoming legislative session. The budget will have to address massive shortfalls in the state’s largest public pension plans, along with how to pay for the expanded Medicaid population that Bevin wants to eventually repeal.
Source: AP
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