Jerry Abramson

Jerry Abramson
Jerry Abramson while campaigning for Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant Governor-elect of Kentucky
Taking office December 13, 2011
Governor	Steve Beshear
Succeeding	Daniel Mongiardo
1st Mayor of Louisville Metro
In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Office created
Succeeded by	Greg Fischer
47th Mayor of Louisville
In office January 1, 1986 – January 1, 1999
Preceded by	Harvey I. Sloane
Succeeded by	David L. Armstrong
Personal details
Born	September 12, 1946 (1946-09-12) (age 65) Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Madeline
Residence	Crescent Hill, Louisville, Kentucky
Alma mater	Indiana University Bloomington, Georgetown University Law School
Profession	Attorney, politician
Religion	Jewish

Jerry Edwin Abramson (born September 12, 1946) is a Democratic politician who is currently the Lieutenant Governor-elect of Kentucky.^[1]

Abramson previously served as the longest serving Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky. Before his most recent term as the Metro Mayor of the merged city-county government Louisville Metro (a merger he championed), Abramson was the only person to have served three terms as Mayor of Louisville, fulfilling the allowed term limit. Abramson's original third term was extended by one year as part of a state-mandated transition to align the dates of local and federal elections.

Abramson's long period of service to Louisville as its mayor, as well as the fact that Abramson had never faced strong opposition in mayoral elections, led to the nickname of "mayor for life" being used locally, including by Louisville's own popular radio personality Terry Meiners. Abramson's popularity resulted in Bluegrass Poll approval ratings ranging from a 91 percent high in 1990 to a 73 percent low in 1994.^[2]

From 1993 to 1994, he was President of the United States Conference of Mayors. He is currently a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition,^[3] an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston mayor Thomas Menino.

On July 19, 2009, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear announced that Abramson will be running for Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky on his ticket in 2011.^[4] Abramson is currently an executive-in-residence at Bellarmine University.^[5]

Early life

Abramson grew up in the Louisville suburb of Strathmoor Village, Kentucky.^[6] Before serving as a mayor in two different forms of government of Louisville he worked at Abramson's Market at 738 South Preston Street^[6] in Louisville's Smoketown neighborhood, then owned by his father Roy and founded by his grandparents. He graduated from Seneca High School and served for two years in the Army, but did not see combat.

While a student at Indiana University Bloomington, Abramson became active in politics by volunteering for Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 campaign for president. After graduating from IU, Abramson attended Georgetown University Law School.^[6]

Abramson practiced law with Greenebaum Doll & McDonald, PLLC. Before his first run for mayor, Abramson also served as alderman for two terms and as general counsel to governor John Y. Brown, Jr.^[6]

Mayor of Louisville

Abramson's tenure as mayor from 1985 to 1998 was marked by high popularity as Louisville's economy grew and the decline in urban population that began in the 1950s slowed greatly. Abramson began the nonprofit civic beautification program Operation Brightside, led the $700 million expansion of Louisville International Airport, revitalized the city’s waterfront with the creation of Waterfront Park and expanded the local economy by recruiting the international headquarters for Tricon Global Restaurants (known as Yum! Brands, Inc. today), Presbyterian Church (USA) and UPS Air Hub 2000.

Subsequent to his first tenure as mayor, Abramson practiced law with the Frost Brown Todd LLC firm and taught at Bellarmine University.^[7]

Metro Mayor

Abramson while serving as Mayor

After the merger of Louisville and Jefferson County was approved, the previous term limits no longer applied. Abramson was easily elected Louisville's first Metro Mayor in 2002 by 73.4 percent of the vote over Republican challenger Jack Early, former mayor of Hurstbourne, Kentucky, a major suburb of Louisville.^[8]

One of Abramson's first actions as Metro Mayor was to appoint Robert C. White Chief of the troubled Louisville Metro Police Department, the first African-American to hold the post. The move proved to be politically wise, helping to calm criticism of the department from the black community in Louisville.^[9]

Abramson was re-elected mayor in November 2006; his opponent was Metro Council member Kelly Downard (R).^[10]

Abramson is the first person of Jewish faith to have served as mayor of Louisville. He lives in the Crescent Hill neighborhood with his wife, Madeline.^[6]

Kentucky Monthly magazine's readers voted Abramson "Kentucky's Best" civic figure five times (2002–2006).

Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky

See also: Kentucky gubernatorial election, 2011

On July 19, 2009, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear announced that Abramson would step down after his second term as Mayor of Louisville Metro to become his Lieutenant Governor running mate in his re-election campaign in 2011. This comes after Dan Mongiardo decided to run for U.S. Senate. Since Abramson's planned departure was announced, many candidates announced that they would run to succeed him in 2010.^[4] Businessman Greg Fischer won the Democratic nomination and general election to succeed Abramson.

See also

• Government of Louisville, Kentucky
• Louisville Metro Council
• Louisville mayoral election, 2010

References

1. ^ Sanders, Chase (2011-11-08). "Gubernatorial race: Beshear wins second term". Kentucky Kernel. http://kykernel.com/2011/11/08/gubernatorial-race-beshear-wins-second-term. Retrieved November 8, 2011. 
2. ^ Gerth, Joseph (2005-02-18). "The Courier-Journal Bluegrass Poll; Mayor, council get good job review". Courier-Journal. pp. 1A. 
3. ^ "Mayors Against Illegal Guns: Coalition Members". Archived from the original on 2008-01-18. http://web.archive.org/web/20080118080847/http://www.mayorsagainstillegalguns.org/html/about/members.shtml. Retrieved June 12, 2007. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Gerth, Joseph (2009-07-19). "Abramson to be Beshear's running mate in 2011". The Courier-Journal. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/courier_journal/access/1796069351.html?dids=1796069351:1796069351&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jul+19,+2009&author=Joseph+Gerth&pub=Courier+-+Journal&edition=&startpage=n/a&desc=Abramson+to+be+Beshear's+running+mate+in+2011. Retrieved 2009-07-20. 
5. ^ "Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson Joins Bellarmine University as Executive-in-Residence in 2011". http://www.bellarmine.edu/news/more.asp?event_id=794. Retrieved January 7, 2010. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d e} Gerth, Joseph (2006-10-22). "Friends turn foes for mayoral campaign". Louisville, Kentucky: The Courier-Journal. p. 1A. 
7. ^ Rodriguez, Nancy (2002-10-27). "Louisville/Jefferson County Mayor; Abramson looks toward biggest career challenge". The Courier-Journal. 
8. ^ Rodriguez, Nancy (2002-11-06). "ELECTION 2002; Abramson wins easily, eyes future". The Courier-Journal. 
9. ^ Gerth, Joseph (2002-12-19). "White named police chief". The Courier-Journal. 
10. ^ Gerth, Joseph (2006-11-07). "Abramson claims victory". The Courier-Journal. 

External links

• "Abramson for Mayor campaign website". Archived from the original on 2007-05-19. http://web.archive.org/web/20070519045106/http://www.abramsonformayor.com/. 
• Beshear/Abramson 2011
• Mayor's webpage on Louisville Metro Government website
• Profile in The Economist
• The U.S. Conference of Mayors website

Political offices
Preceded by Harvey I. Sloane	Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky January 1, 1986–January 1, 1999	Succeeded by David L. Armstrong
Preceded by New office	Mayor of Louisville Metro January 6, 2003–January 2, 2011	Succeeded by Greg Fischer
Preceded by Daniel Mongiardo	Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky Elect 2011–present	Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Daniel Mongiardo	Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky 2011	Succeeded by Most recent

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Persondata
Name	Abramson, Jerry Edwin
Alternative names
Short description	Kentucky politician
Date of birth	September 12, 1946
Place of birth	Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Date of death	living
Place of death	none