Jerry Edwin Abramson (born September 12, 1946) is an American Democratic politician who was the 55th

lieutenant governor of Kentucky The lieutenant governor of Kentucky was created under the state's second constitution, which was ratified in 1799. The inaugural officeholder was Alexander Scott Bullitt, who took office in 1800 following his election to serve under James Garra ...

. On November 6, 2014, Governor Steve Beshear announced that Abramson would step down from his position as lieutenant governor to accept the job of Director of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Obama White House. He was replaced by former

State Auditor State auditors (also known as state comptrollers, state controllers, or state examiners, among others) are fiscal officers lodged in the executive or legislative branches of U.S. state governments who serve as external auditors, program eval ...

Crit Luallen. Abramson previously served as the mayor of

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

for an unprecedented two decades. He was the only three-term mayor of the old city of Louisville (1986–1999) and subsequently served two terms as the first mayor of the

consolidated city-county In local government in the United States, United States local government, a consolidated city-county (#Terminology, see below for alternative terms) is formed when one or more city, cities and their surrounding County (United States), county (Lis ...

of ''Louisville Metro'' (2003–2011). Abramson's long period of service to Louisville as its mayor, as well as the weak opposition he faced in mayoral elections, led to the local nickname of "Mayor for life", a title frequently used by Louisville's own popular radio personality

Terry Meiners Terry Allen Meiners (born January 22, 1957) is an American radio and television personality on WHAS (AM) and WHAS-TV in Louisville, Kentucky. On radio, ''The Terry Meiners Show'' has aired weekday afternoons since 1985. Meiners is known for bro ...

. Abramson's popularity resulted in Bluegrass Poll approval ratings ranging from a 91 percent high in 1990 to a 73 percent low in 1994. From 1993 to 1994, he was President of the

United States Conference of Mayors The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) is the official non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. The cities are each represented by their mayors or other chief elected officials. The organization was founded ...

. He was a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...

and Boston mayor

Thomas Menino Thomas Michael Menino (December 27, 1942 – October 30, 2014) was an American politician who served as the mayor of Boston, from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three mont ...

. At the conclusion of Obama's second term, Abramson returned to Louisville to serve as Executive-in-Residence at

Bellarmine University Bellarmine University ( ; BU) is a private university, private Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky, UNited States. It opened on October 3, 1950, as Bellarmine College, established by Archbishop John A. Floersh of the Archdiocese of Louis ...

. He had previously served in the same post in 2011. He departed

in 2018 and is currently serving as Executive-in-Residence at Spalding University.

Early life

Abramson grew up in the Louisville suburb of Strathmoor Village, Kentucky. Before serving as a mayor of Louisville, he worked at Abramson's Market at 738 South Preston Street 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 An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

, but did not see combat. While a student at

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

, 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. Abramson practiced law with Greenebaum Doll & McDonald, PLLC. Before his first run for mayor, Abramson also served as

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

for two terms and as

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

to governor John Y. Brown Jr.

Mayor of Louisville

In the 1985

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, Abramson defeated the Republican candidate Bob Heleringer, a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

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 ...

from 1980 to 2002. Abramson was highly popular as mayor from 1986 to 1999 because of growth in the Louisville economy as the decline in urban population that began in the 1950s slowed greatly. Abramson began the nonprofit civic beautification program Operation Brightside, which included the $700 million expansion of

Louisville International Airport Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport — also known by its former official names as Standiford Field and Louisville International Airport — is a civil-military airport in Louisville in Jefferson County, Kentucky. The airport was ...

. He worked to revitalize the city's waterfront with the creation of Waterfront Park and expanded the local economy by recruiting the international headquarters for Tricon Global Restaurants (now

Yum! Brands Yum! Brands, Inc. (sometimes called simply Yum!) is an American multinational fast food corporation. It is a spin-off of PepsiCo, after they acquired KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. PepsiCo divested the brands in 1997, and these consolidated as ...

), the

Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PCUSA, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination in the Religion in the United States, United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States too. Its th ...

and

United Parcel Service United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) is an American multinational corporation, multinational package delivery, shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializi ...

Air Hub 2000 (a facility now known as Worldport). Abramson normally would have left office in 1998. However, his original third term was extended by one year as part of a state-mandated transition to align the dates of local and federal elections. Subsequent to his first tenure as mayor, Abramson practiced law with the Frost Brown Todd firm and taught at

Mayor of Louisville Metro

After the merger of Louisville and Jefferson County was approved, the previous term limits no longer applied. Abramson was easily elected the first mayor of Louisville Metro in 2002 by 73.4 percent of the vote over Republican challenger Jack Early, former mayor of Hurstbourne, Kentucky, a major suburb of Louisville. One of Abramson's first actions as Metro mayor was to appoint Robert C. White Chief of the troubled

Louisville Metro Police Department The Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) began operations on January 6, 2003, as part of the creation of the consolidated city-county government in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It was formed by the merger of the Jefferson County P ...

, the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

to hold the post. The move proved to be politically wise, helping to calm criticism of the department from the black community in Louisville. Abramson was re-elected mayor in November 2006; his opponents were Republican Metro Council member Kelly Downard and Independent Ed Springston. Abramson is the first person of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

faith to have served as mayor of Louisville. He lives in the Crescent Hill neighborhood with his wife, Madeline. '' Kentucky Monthly'' magazine's readers voted Abramson "Kentucky's Best" civic figure five times (2002–2006).

Lieutenant governor of Kentucky

Guard responds immediately after tornadoes 120303-A-EJ272-001

On July 19, 2009, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear announced that Abramson would step down after his second term as mayor of Louisville Metro to run as

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

in his re-election campaign in 2011. This came after Dan Mongiardo decided to run for U.S. Senate. Since Abramson's planned departure was announced, many candidates announced they would run to succeed him in 2010. Businessman Greg Fischer won the Democratic nomination and general election to succeed Abramson. The Beshear-Abramson ticket won in a landslide against Senate President David Williams and his running mate Richie Farmer. Abramson took office as the 55th

on December 13, 2011. His political future had been a subject of considerable speculation, but in an August 2013 speech before the Elizabethtown

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...

, he announced that he would not run for governor in 2015, saying,

I would like to in the next chapter of my life focus on one thing I really believe will make a significant difference in the development of Kentucky. And that focus is on education.

Resignation as lieutenant governor and presidential appointment

On November 6, 2014, Abramson announced that he had been appointed 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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

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

to the position of deputy assistant to the president and White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. Abramson also informed Governor Beshear of his intention to resign as lieutenant governor of Kentucky effective November 13, 2014, at 5:00 pm. Gov. Beshear also announced on November 6 his appointment of former State Auditor Crit Luallen to serve out the remainder of Abramson's term.

Post-government career

In early 2017, upon Obama's exit from the White House, Abramson rejoined the faculty of

as its Executive-in-Residence. In late 2018, Abramson left Bellarmine to join Spalding University in Louisville as its Executive-in-Residence. At Spalding, the university named a lecture series after Abramson in early 2019. "The Abramson Leadership Exchange" was a partnership with Ignite Louisville and Young Professionals Association of Louisville, with the former Mayor chairing the events, the Abramson Leadership Exchange brought the university's Ed.D. students, alumni, and community leaders together for panel discussions on cutting-edge topics related to public affairs, government, media, and business. On July 29, 2021, Abramson was appointed by Governor

Andy Beshear Andrew Graham Beshear ( ; born November 29, 1977) is an American attorney and politician serving as the 63rd governor of Kentucky since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 50th attorney gen ...

to serve on the University of Louisville board of trustees, replacing Matthew Barzun who vacated that position on August 2, 2021. Abramson's term expires on January 13, 2027.

References

External links

*
Beshear/Abramson 2011

Mayor's webpage on Louisville Metro Government website

Profile in ''The Economist''

The U.S. Conference of Mayors website
* , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Abramson, Jerry E. 1946 births 20th-century mayors of places in Kentucky 21st-century American Jews 21st-century mayors of places in Kentucky American gun control activists Bellarmine University faculty Georgetown University Law Center alumni Kelley School of Business alumni Indiana University Bloomington alumni Jewish American people in Kentucky politics Jewish American mayors Kentucky Democrats Lieutenant governors of Kentucky Living people Mayors of Louisville, Kentucky Presidents of the United States Conference of Mayors Seneca High School (Louisville, Kentucky) alumni 20th-century American Jews 20th-century Kentucky politicians