Eugenia Crittenden Blackburn "Crit" Luallen (born July 21, 1952) is an American politician who served as the 56th lieutenant governor of Kentucky from November 13, 2014, to December 8, 2015. Luallen previously served as Kentucky State Auditor.

Early life and career

Luallen is a native of Frankfort, where she graduated from Frankfort High School before continuing on to study at

Centre College Centre College is a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky. It is an undergraduate college with an enrollment of approximately 1,400 students. Centre was officially chartered by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1819. The college is a ...

in Danville, Kentucky, graduating in 1974. Luallen is descended from John Jordan Crittenden and Luke Pryor Blackburn, and she shares her name with both men. After graduating from Centre College, Luallen began working in the mailroom of

Wendell Ford Wendell Hampton Ford (September 8, 1924 – January 22, 2015) was an American politician from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He served for twenty-four years in the U.S. Senate and was the 53rd Governor of Kentucky. He was the first person to be ...

's senate campaign. She worked her way up in the campaign to working in communications. After Ford's campaign, Luallen worked on

Julian Carroll Julian Morton Carroll (born April 16, 1931) is an American lawyer and politician from the state of Kentucky. A Democrat, he served as the 54th Governor of Kentucky from 1974 to 1979, succeeding Wendell H. Ford, who resigned to accept a seat ...

's gubernatorial campaign and in the administration of John Y. Brown Jr. In 1983, Luallen worked on

Martha Layne Collins Martha Layne Collins (née Hall; born December 7, 1936) is an American former businesswoman and politician from the Commonwealth of Kentucky; she was elected as the state's 56th governor from 1983 to 1987, the first woman to hold the office and ...

's gubernatorial campaign as the campaign media coordinator. She served in the Collins administration as a special assistant and was later appointed Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of the Arts. As Commissioner of the Arts, Luallen helped found the Kentucky

Governor's School for the Arts The Governor's School for the Arts is a regional secondary arts school sponsored by the Virginia Department of Education and the public school divisions of Chesapeake, Franklin, Isle of Wight County, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Southampton County, ...

. After Governor Collins left office in 1988, Luallen took a position working with the Greater Louisville Economic Development Partnership, a position she retained until 1992. Luallen returned to government in 1992 after taking the position of Secretary of the Kentucky Tourism Cabinet, a position she held until 1994. From 1994 to 1995, Luallen served as Secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet. In 1995,

Paul E. Patton Paul Edward Patton (born May 26, 1937) is an American politician who served as the 59th governor of Kentucky from 1995 to 2003. Because of a 1992 amendment to the Kentucky Constitution, he was the first governor eligible to run for a second ter ...

was elected Governor and Luallen served as Secretary of the Executive Cabinet until 2002. Luallen received attention during her tenure under Governor Patton, especially for helping negotiate a 1997 tax incentive package for the

United Parcel Service United Parcel Service (UPS, stylized as ups) is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializing in telegraphs, UPS has grown t ...

, during the 2000 tax reforms, and for her role in the 1997 higher education reforms.

Kentucky Auditor

She was elected to the position of state auditor in November 2003 and was re-elected by a wide margin in the 2007 Kentucky State Elections. Luallen was not eligible to run for another term as Auditor in 2011. As Auditor, Luallen received near-universal praise, "uncovering millions of dollars in fraud—sending up a then-unheard-of 120 cases to law enforcement." She was seen as "a non-partisan figure whose work resulted in the prosecution of 34 public officials, many from her own party." On Luallen's willingness as state auditor to search out crime, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Taylor commented, "I am very impressed with that office under her. They have the right attitude about being a watchdog." During her tenure as Auditor, Luallen successfully battled colon cancer and another unspecified cancer in 2004 and 2005. Luallen was considered a top contender for the Democratic nomination to challenge Senator Mitch McConnell in the 2008 Election before announcing her decision not to run but instead to remain as Auditor. In December 2011, Luallen said "At this stage in my career, I think the next race for me if I decide to run for statewide race would be for governor", and ruled out running against McConnell in 2014. In April 2014, she ruled out running for Governor in 2015.

Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky

On November 6, 2014, Governor Steve Beshear appointed Luallen Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, effective November 13, 2014. Luallen completed the term of

Jerry Abramson Jerry Edwin Abramson (born September 12, 1946) is an American Democratic politician who was the 55th lieutenant governor of Kentucky. On November 6, 2014, Governor Steve Beshear announced that Abramson would step down from his position as lieute ...

who was appointed Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

Honors

*1994-

Distinguished Alumni induction *2001- National Excellence in Leadership award from Women Executives in State Government *2009- Public Officials of the Year honoree from ''

Governing Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, norms, power or language of an organized society over a social system ( family, tribe, formal or informal organization, a territory or across territories). It is done by the gove ...

'' *2012- Fontaine Banks Award for Distinguished Service from Bluegrass Council of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...

*2012-

award from Women Leading Kentucky *2012- Honorary degree from

Spalding University Spalding University is a private Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. History Spalding University traces its origins to Nazareth Academy, one of the oldest educational instituti ...

*2012- Kentucky Women Remembered induction *2015- Louisville ''

Business First American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes The Business Journals, which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States, Hemmings Motor New ...

'' Enterprising Woman of Achievement

References

External links