Trey Grayson
Encyclopedia
Charles Merwin "Trey" Grayson III (born April 18, 1972, in Kenton County, Kentucky
Kenton County, Kentucky
Kenton County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, United States. It was formed in 1840. In 2010, the population was 159,720. It is the third most populous county in Kentucky behind Jefferson County and Fayette County. Its county seats are Covington and Independence...

) is the director of the Institute of Politics
Harvard Institute of Politics
Harvard Institute of Politics was created to serve as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy and inspire Harvard students into careers in politics and public service, much as President Kennedy was inspired during his days as a student at Harvard. The IOP also brings together the academic...

 at Harvard Kennedy School, a former Secretary of State
Secretary of State (U.S. state government)
Secretary of State is an official in the state governments of 47 of the 50 states of the United States, as well as Puerto Rico and other U.S. possessions. In Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, this official is called the Secretary of the Commonwealth...

 of Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 and a candidate in the 2010 GOP primary to replace Jim Bunning
Jim Bunning
James Paul David "Jim" Bunning is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher and politician.During a 17-year baseball career, he pitched from 1955 to 1971, most notably with the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Phillies. When he retired, he had the second-highest total of career...

, losing to Rand Paul
Rand Paul
Randal Howard "Rand" Paul is the junior United States Senator for Kentucky. He is a member of the Republican Party. A member of the Tea Party movement, he describes himself as a "constitutional conservative" and a libertarian...

.

Early years and career

A product of the Kenton County public school system, Secretary Grayson was inducted into the Kentucky Association for Academic Competition Hall of Fame for his achievements in the Governor’s Cup and other academic competitions at Dixie Heights High School. Grayson was a 1989 Governor’s Scholar and later served as President of the Program’s Alumni Association

Grayson went to Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, where he graduated with honors in 1994 with an A.B.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 in government. He then returned to Kentucky, entering a JD/MBA dual-degree program at the University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...

, where he was one of the first Kentucky MBA scholars and one of the first two Bert T. Combs
Bert T. Combs
Bertram Thomas Combs was a jurist and politician from the US state of Kentucky. After serving on the Kentucky Court of Appeals, he was elected the 50th Governor of Kentucky in 1959 on his second run for the office. Following his gubernatorial term, he was appointed to the Sixth Circuit Court of...

 Scholars, the College of Law’s
University of Kentucky College of Law
The College of Law is a college of the University of Kentucky. Founded initially from a law program at Transylvania University in 1799, the law program at UK began operations in 1908; it was one of the nation's first public law schools...

 top scholarship. After earning both degrees in 1998, he worked as an attorney with Greenebaum Doll & McDonald and later Keating, Muething & Klekamp, where he focused on estate planning and corporate law.

Although a member of the Democratic Party during his collegiate years, shortly after graduating Grayson became a member of the Republican Party, citing his conservative beliefs.

Trey Grayson was a member of the Harvard Republican Club.

National Leader

Secretary Grayson has been repeatedly and nationally recognized as one of the top new leaders in the United States of America. In 2005, he was selected for the inaugural class of the Aspen-Rodel Fellowships in Public Leadership which recognizes the nation’s top young elected officials. In 2004, The Council of State Governments selected him to participate in the prestigious Toll Fellowship Program, and he was recognized at the 2004 Republican National Convention by United Leaders as a “Rising Star” in the Republican Party.
In 2004, Grayson became a member of the Senior Advisory Committee to Harvard University's Institute of Politics, serving alongside political notables such as Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and Senator Edward Kennedy. Grayson has served on a variety of advisory boards to several national, election-related organizations and the steering committee for the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools.

Secretary Grayson’s colleagues have asked him to serve in a variety of prominent national leadership positions, including chair of the Republican Association of Secretaries of State. A former NASS Treasurer, chair of the NASS Elections committee, co-chair of the NASS Presidential Primary subcommittee, vice-chair of the NASS committee on voter participation, and NASS representative on the Council of State Government Executive Committee, Grayson also serves on the NASS standing committee on business services and the NASS executive committee. Through these positions, Grayson has become a national authority on presidential primary reform and election administration.

Secretary of State

Grayson was elected Kentucky's Secretary of State in November 2003. When he was sworn into office, Grayson was the youngest Secretary of State in the nation at the age of 31. Grayson has modernized the Office of the Secretary of State by bringing more services online, enhanced Kentucky’s election laws through several legislative packages, and revived the civic mission of schools in Kentucky by leading the effort to restore civics education in the classroom.

Grayson's first term was marked by strong success. During his first term, his office placed millions of images online and launched several new online services which tore down the bureaucratic red tape to start a business or to run for office. He led a nationally recognized effort to increase the civic literacy of Kentucky's youth and vastly improved Kentucky's election laws, including a repeal of taxpayer funded gubernatorial campaigns.

During his first term there was a controversy involving the State Board of Elections' purging of approximately 8,000 Kentucky voters from the Kentucky voter rolls because the voters had moved out of state. Grayson and the state board of elections were defendants in a lawsuit filed by then Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo. A circuit judge ruled that the Board's actions were legal but asked Grayson to take additional steps to ensure voters would not be disenfranchised. Grayson later admitted to National Public Radio that the Office had made a technical mistake in purging some of the voters, but that the concept was important.

Grayson was re-elected as Secretary of State in November 2007 by a 14 point margin. He became one of only two Republican state-wide elected constitutional officers to win a second consecutive term in modern history

In Grayson's second term, he has launched new services that allow companies to start businesses online, reducing by several days that amount of time it takes start a business in Kentucky. He also led the effort to modernize Kentucky's business laws, making it easier to start a business in Kentucky. His office was the first government entity in Kentucky to put its spending online so that taxpayers could hold his office accountable for how their tax dollars are being spent. He also cut spending in his office by 15%.

Grayson supported a policy change made by Democratic Governor Steve Beshear that made it easier for some convicted felons to apply to have their voting rights restored. The Secretary of State's office is part of the technical process to restore voting rights, as the governor's paperwork is filed within the office. He did not support automatic restoration of voting rights to all convicted felons.

Grayson administered the $37 million Kentucky received in Federal funds to implement the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), as well the $169,755 grant from the Federal Election Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities (EAID). These funds allowed every Kentucky county to purchase a new machine for every precinct.

U.S. Senate candidate

On January 14, 2010, Trey Grayson filed for the 2010 US Senate GOP
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 primary in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 against Rand Paul
Rand Paul
Randal Howard "Rand" Paul is the junior United States Senator for Kentucky. He is a member of the Republican Party. A member of the Tea Party movement, he describes himself as a "constitutional conservative" and a libertarian...

. He lost by a 23 point margin.

Endorsements

Grayson garnered endorsements from Senator Mitch McConnell
Mitch McConnell
Addison Mitchell "Mitch" McConnell, Jr. is the senior United States Senator from Kentucky and the Republican Minority Leader.- Early life, education, and military service :...

, former Vice President Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....

, former presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani KBE is an American lawyer, businessman, and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....

, Senator Rick Santorum
Rick Santorum
Richard John "Rick" Santorum is a lawyer and a former United States Senator from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Santorum was the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference -making him the third-ranking Senate Republican from 2001 until his leave in 2007. Santorum is considered both a social...

, Representative Hal Rogers
Hal Rogers
Harold Dallas "Hal" Rogers is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1981. He is a member of the Republican Party.-Early life, education, and early career:...

, and several members of Kentucky's State Legislators.

In late April, Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family is an American evangelical Christian tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 1977 by psychologist James Dobson, and is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Focus on the Family is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s...

's founder James Dobson
James Dobson
James Clayton "Jim" Dobson, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder in 1977 of Focus on the Family , which he led until 2003. In the 1980s he was ranked as one of the most influential spokesman for conservative social positions in American public life...

 endorsed Grayson saying saying he was the only candidate with the conviction to lead Kentucky. A week later, however, claiming to have been misled by senior Republican officials about Paul's stance on abortion, Dobson rescinded his endorsement of Grayson and endorsed Paul. Although Dobson did not claim Grayson was complicit in misleading him, two days later Paul aired commercials claiming that Grayson along with other GOP leaders "deliberately deceived one of America's leading conservatives, Dr. James Dobson." The ads were later removed.

Election Result

With complete, but uncertified, reports from all but one of Kentucky's 120 counties, Grayson lost the election by a 23.33% margin to Rand Paul; winning 124,710 votes compared to Paul who won 206,812 votes.

After conceding the election to Mr. Paul, Grayson said, "It's time to put all differences aside, unite behind Dr. Paul, he needs our help and I for one stand ready to serve". Grayson also downplayed the Tea Party movement
Tea Party movement
The Tea Party movement is an American populist political movement that is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian, and has sponsored protests and supported political candidates since 2009...

 support for Paul following his defeat by saying, "I think there are just so many things at work here-- it's hard to pinpoint it. I think the tea party [vs.] conservative establishment thing is a little too simplistic."

Resignation

It was announced on January 7, 2011 that Grayson would resign from the office of Secretary of State to accept a position at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

.
Governor Steve Beshear
Steve Beshear
Steven Lynn "Steve" Beshear is an American politician who is the 61st Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. A Democrat, Beshear previously served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1974 to 1979, was the state's Attorney General from 1980 to 1983, and was Lieutenant Governor from...

 named Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Bowling Green is the third-most populous city in the state of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, with a population of 58,067 as of the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Warren County and the principal city of the Bowling Green, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area with an estimated 2009...

 Mayor Elaine Walker
Elaine Walker
Elaine Nogay Walker is an American politician and the Secretary of State of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. She assumed office on January 29, 2011 and is a member of the Democratic Party...

 as Grayson's replacement. Grayson's resignation became effective January 29, 2011.

External links

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