who is the governor of kentucky 2012?
Steve Beshear
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 With the collapse of the Whig Party in the 1850s , Democrats took control of the governorship for the duration of the Third Party System , with Charles S. Morehead of the Know Nothing Party being the only exception . The election of Republican William O 'Connell Bradley in 1895 began the only period of true two @-@ party competition for the governorship ; from Bradley 's election through 1931 , five Republicans and six Democrats held the office of governor of Kentucky . Since 1931 , only four Republicans have served as governor of Kentucky ; current governor Matt Bevin , whose term began in 2015 , is the most recent . 

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 Matthew Griswold " Matt " Bevin ( born January 9 , 1967 ) is an American businessman and the 62nd and current Governor of Kentucky . He is the third Republican elected Governor of Kentucky since World War II , after Ernie Fletcher ( 2003 – 2007 ) and Louie B. Nunn ( 1967 – 1971 ) . 

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 Paul Edward Patton ( born May 26 , 1937 ) is an American politician . He was the 59th Governor of Kentucky , serving from 1995 to 2003 . Because of a 1992 amendment to the Kentucky Constitution , he was the first governor eligible to succeed himself in office since James Garrard in 1800 . Since 2013 , he has been the chancellor of the University of Pikeville in Pikeville , Kentucky after serving as its president from 2010 to 2013 . He also served as chairman of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education from 2009 to 2011 . 

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 As Wilkinson 's term ended , he appointed himself to a six @-@ year term on the University of Kentucky 's board of regents . The move was unprecedented , and was particularly controversial because of Wilkinson 's open feuds with Charles T. Wethington , Jr . , the university president . An incensed legislature passed a law shortly thereafter that dissolved the existing boards of trustees at all Kentucky public colleges and universities and mandated that they be reconstituted by allowing the governor to select each member from a list of three candidates recommended by an independent review board . Jones , who succeeded Wilkinson as governor , used the provisions of the law to remove Wilkinson and several of his appointees from the university boards . 

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 The Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of the executive branch of government in the Commonwealth of Kentucky . Fifty @-@ seven men and one woman have served as Governor of Kentucky . The governor 's term is four years in length ; since 1992 , incumbents have been able to seek re @-@ election once before becoming ineligible for four years . Throughout the state 's history , four men have served two non @-@ consecutive terms as governor , and two others have served two consecutive terms . Kentucky is one of only five U.S. states that hold gubernatorial elections in odd @-@ numbered years immediately before the United States Presidential Election . The current governor is Matt Bevin , who was first elected in 2015 . 
