Eldon Steven Dummit (August 6, 1896 – May 4, 1973) was an American politician and attorney from Kentucky. He served as the 34th

Attorney General of Kentucky The attorney general of Kentucky is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of Kentucky, created by the Kentucky Constitution (Ky.Const. § 91). Under Kentucky law, they serve several roles, including the state's chief prosecutor (KRS 15.700), ...

and was the Republican nominee for

Governor of Kentucky The governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Kentucky. Sixty-two men and one woman have served as governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; sinc ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

Early life and education

Dummit was born and raised on a farm in southwest

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. He graduated from high school in

Monett, Missouri Monett is the most-populous city in Barry and Lawrence counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. The city is located in the Ozarks, just south of Interstate 44 between Joplin and Springfield. According to the 2024 census population estimate, th ...

before attending

Drury College Drury University, formerly Drury College and originally Springfield College, is a private university in Springfield, Missouri, United States. The university's mission statement describes itself as "church-related". It enrolls about 1,590 undergr ...

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

. He earned a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from the

University of Kentucky College of Law The University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law, also known as UK Rosenberg College of Law, is the law school of the University of Kentucky located in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded initially from a law program at Transylvania Univers ...

Career

After graduating from law school, Dummit worked as a legal instructor at the

University of Tennessee College of Law The Winston College of Law is the law school of the University of Tennessee located in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1890, the College of Law is fully accredited by the American Bar Association and is a charter member of the Association of Ame ...

. In 1921, he established a legal practice in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

. A member of the

Republican Party of Kentucky The Republican Party of Kentucky is the affiliate of the Republican Party in Kentucky and follows its nationally established platform. The party's headquarters is in Frankfort, Kentucky. The party gained relevance around the 1940s, though Kentu ...

, Dummit served as the 34th

from 1944 to 1948.

1947 gubernatorial election

Dummit was nominated to succeed

Simeon Willis Simeon Slavens Willis (December 1, 1879April 1, 1965) was an American attorney who served as the 46th Governor of Kentucky, United States, serving from 1943 to 1947. He was the only Republican elected governor of Kentucky between 1927 and 1967. ...

, the last Republican governor of Kentucky since Flem D. Sampson. Dummit's opponent in 1947 was

Earle Clements Earle Chester Clements (October 22, 1896 – March 12, 1985) was a Kentucky politician. He represented the Commonwealth of Kentucky in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and was its 47th Governor, serving from 1947 ...

, a former member of the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a ...

who was then representing

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

. Dummit was also the last Republican to be the

until Daniel Cameron, the state's first African American attorney general, was elected in 2019. Clements defeated Dummit, taking 387,795 votes (57.4%) to Dummit's 287,756 (42.6%). Clements went on to serve in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

after serving as governor, and Kentucky did not elect another Republican governor until

Louie Nunn Louie Broady Nunn (March 8, 1924 – January 29, 2004) was an American politician who served as the 52nd governor of Kentucky. Elected in 1967, he was the only Republican to hold the office between the end of Simeon Willis's term in 1947 and ...

in 1967.

References

External sources

* The Kentucky Encyclopedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Dummit, Eldon Kentucky attorneys general Kentucky Republicans 1896 births 1973 deaths 20th-century Kentucky politicians