Scotty Baesler

Henry Scott Baesler (1941-) is a Democratic politician and former Representative from Kentucky.

Related Topics:
1941 - Democratic - Representative - Kentucky

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Baesler was born in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1941, and graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1963 and from law school there in 1966. While at UK, Baesler played basketball under legendary coach Adolph Rupp.

Related Topics:
Lexington, Kentucky - 1941 - University of Kentucky - 1963 - 1966 - Adolph Rupp

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After graduating from law school, Baesler practiced law and served as an administrator for Legal Aid, Inc., a nonprofit entity which provides free legal services to indigent persons facing criminal charges. He later served as a District Court Judge in Fayette County for some years before serving as mayor of Lexington from 1982 to 1993.

Related Topics:
Fayette County - 1982 - 1993

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In 1991, Baesler ran for governor in the Democratic primary and was narrowly defeated by Brereton Jones, who won the general election.

Related Topics:
Governor - Brereton Jones

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In 1992, Baesler was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for the 6th Congressional district of Kentucky after 14-year Republican incumbent Larry Hopkins retired; Hopkins had never recovered from being heavily defeated by Jones in the 1991 governor's race. He served there for three terms. He left his seat in 1998 to run for an open Senate seat, but was very narrowly defeated by fellow congressman Jim Bunning, a Republican.

Related Topics:
1992 - Republican - 1991 - 1998 - Senate - Jim Bunning

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In 2000, Baesler tried to regain his House seat against the Republican who had replaced him, Ernie Fletcher. Baesler had heavily defeated Fletcher in 1996, but was badly wounded from his narrow loss to Bunning two years earlier. He wasn't helped when Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore all but conceded Kentucky to Republican George W. Bush in August (Bush went on to win Kentucky by 15 points). Earlier, all four of Lexington's TV stations pulled a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ad for Baesler, claiming the ad falsely charged Fletcher with cutting funding for education. In the general election, Fletcher defeated Baesler by 18 points.

Related Topics:
2000 - Ernie Fletcher - 1996 - Al Gore - George W. Bush - August - Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

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