Julian Morton Carroll (April 16, 1931 – December 10, 2023) was an American lawyer and politician from the state of Kentucky. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 54th governor of Kentucky from 1974 to 1979, succeeding Wendell Ford, who resigned to accept a seat in the United States Senate. He last served a member of the Kentucky Senate, representing Anderson, Franklin, Woodford, Gallatin, and Owen counties from 2005 to 2021. He was the first Kentucky governor from the state's far-western Jackson Purchase region. Thelma Stovall, who served as lieutenant governor with him, was the first woman to be elected lieutenant governor of Kentucky.
After graduating from the University of Kentucky and spending three years as a United States Air Force lawyer, Carroll returned to McCracken County, Kentucky, where he gained acclaim for leading a campaign to allow the Tennessee Valley Authority to provide low-cost electricity to the county. He was elected to the first of five terms in the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1962 and served as speaker of that body from 1968 to 1970. He ran for lieutenant governor in 1971 on an informal ticket with former governor Bert T. Combs. Combs lost in the Democratic primary to Wendell Ford, but Carroll defeated his primary opponents and went on to win the general election. He was elevated to the governorship in December 1974, after Ford unseated moderate Republican U.S. Senate member Marlow Cook. Carroll won a term as governor in his own right in 1975.
As governor, Carroll increased funding for public education and promoted the use of coal as a means of alleviating the 1973 energy crisis. He also oversaw a major reorganization of the state's judicial system following voters' approval of a constitutional amendment in 1975. Many natural and man-made disasters occurred during his term in office, including the Great Blizzard of 1978 and the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire, leading to better safety practices and stricter law enforcement in the state. When Carroll left office, both he and his predecessor were under the cloud of an investigation for an alleged insurance kickback scheme, but Carroll was not convicted of any wrongdoing. In 2004, he was elected to the Kentucky Senate. Re-elected in 2008 and 2012, he won a fourth term without opposition in 2016. He announced shortly after his 88th birthday that he would not run for re-election in 2020.
Early life
Julian Carroll was born in West Paducah, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in McCracken County, Kentucky west of Paducah, Kentucky. He was the third of eleven children born to Elvie B. "Buster" and Eva (Heady) Carroll. His father was a tenant farmer, but shortly after the Ohio River flood of 1937, the family moved to Heath in McCracken County, where Buster Carroll sold tractor implements and in 1940 opened an automobile repair shop.
In 1949, Carroll was selected to represent Heath High School at Kentucky Boys State and Girls State, a week-long civic affairs summer camp for high school seniors-to-be. Participants in the camp create a miniature state government based on their state's actual government. The following year, he graduated as salutatorian and student body president of Heath High School.
Carroll began dating Charlann Harting near the end of 1950. In mid-1951, they parted ways to attend college – Harting, whose family was better off financially, at the University of Kentucky and Carroll at nearby Paducah Junior College. The ceremony took place on July 22, 1951, and the couple eventually had four children – Kenneth, Patrice, Bradley, and Ellyn. Ellyn, born June 27, 1975, was the first child born to a Kentucky First family while they were residing in the Kentucky Governor's Mansion. That summer, the family moved to Lexington where Carroll matriculated to the University of Kentucky. He funded his further education working for the Fayette County Agriculture Stabilization and Conservation Office. By graduation, he had risen to the rank of Commandant of Cadets, the highest rank of any student at the university. For three years, he served as an Air Force attorney, then returned to Paducah and joined the law firm of Reed, Scent, Reed, and Walton.
Political career
State legislature
The TVA campaign had put Carroll squarely in the public eye in McCracken County, and in 1962, he was elected to the first of five consecutive terms representing the county in the Kentucky House of Representatives. He was chosen Speaker of the House from 1968 through 1970. In the 100-member House of Representatives, it was not uncommon for lobbyists to roam the floor freely, for members to bring their lunches to their desks, or for them to bring their friends and family members onto the floor during debate. Determined to bring a higher degree of decorum to the chamber's proceedings, Carroll opened the 1968 legislative session with a single, powerful whack of his gavel. The gavel shattered, stunning the legislators. Carroll subsequently barred outsiders from the floor during debate and forbade eating in the chamber. Carroll shattered three more gavels during the legislative session – he was finally given a sturdier one made of solid oak and Formica – but he brought order to the chamber's proceedings. At the end of the session, a member of the opposing party declared from the floor, "The decorum of this House has improved 100 percent... I must compliment the present Speaker of this House for ... eliminating the abominable practices. Today every member has a right to speak ... without fear of interruption and catcalls or being shouted down." The legislator's compliment was followed by a standing ovation for Carroll.
Lieutenant governor
thumb|right|alt=A black-and-white portrait of a man in his fifties wearing a suit|Wendell Ford's election to the [[United States Senate in 1974 elevated Carroll to governor]]
Carroll had considered running for the United States Senate in 1968, but dropped out of the race after just two weeks when he discovered that it would take well over $100,000 to run a competitive primary campaign. In 1971, former governor Bert Combs sought a second term as governor and chose Carroll as his informal running mate.
Seven other Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor entered the race, the most formidable being sitting Attorney General of Kentucky John B. Breckinridge. While Combs lost to sitting Lieutenant Governor Wendell Ford in the gubernatorial primary, Carroll won the separate primary for lieutenant governor, partly on the strength of the Eastern Kentucky votes he gained from his association with Combs. The main issue of the campaign was the imposition of desegregation busing on the city of Louisville, Kentucky. Gable rang the bell every time that he perceived that Carroll was not telling the truth. Eventually, the moderator of the debate, newspaper publisher Al Smith, ordered Gable to put the bell away, and Gable's credibility suffered in the eyes of voters. He carried every congressional district, as well as Jefferson County, where a Democrat had not won a race in 20 years. His separately selected running mate, Thelma Stovall, became the first woman elected lieutenant governor of Kentucky.
Carroll was charged with implementing an amendment to the state constitution approved by voters in 1975 to drastically reorganize the state's judicial system. He strengthened the Minimum Foundation Program and provided free textbooks. He was called to testify before several congressional committees and served as an energy adviser to President of the United States Jimmy Carter. Extreme cold gripped the entire state in 1977 and 1978, including the Great Blizzard of 1978.
Carroll's credibility took a severe hit as a result of an investigation into an alleged insurance kickback scheme during the Ford administration and carrying on into his administration. Carroll again returned to his Frankfort law practice. In 2001, Kentucky's Purchase Parkway was renamed the Julian M. Carroll Purchase Parkway. In 2003, Carroll actively lobbied the General Assembly to legalize casino-style gambling at the state's horse racetracks. The district included all or portions of Anderson, Fayette, Franklin, and Woodford counties. He made headlines in 2007 when he called on Fletcher's lieutenant governor, Steve Pence, to resign for his disloyalty after Pence endorsed Anne Northup in the Republican gubernatorial primary rather than backing Fletcher's re-election bid. Pence refused to resign, citing an investigation of the administration's hiring practices as his reason for refusing to endorse Fletcher.
Carroll was re-elected without opposition in 2008. In advance of the 2011 legislative session, he unsuccessfully ran for the open position of Senate Democratic floor leader, losing to R. J. Palmer of Winchester. Carroll blamed his contentious relationship with President of the Kentucky Senate David L. Williams as the reason his colleagues were hesitant to choose him for the post. He was re-elected without opposition in 2016 from a district now comprising Anderson, Woodford, Franklin, Owen, and Gallatin counties.
Controversies
On July 22, 2017, Spectrum News reported allegations by a male photographer that Carroll had groped him and propositioned him for sex in 2005. The following day, the Senate Democratic caucus voted to remove Carroll from his position as caucus whip and called on him to resign his seat immediately after hearing an audio recording allegedly containing Carroll's proposition to the man.
Carroll announced shortly after his 88th birthday that he would not run for re-election in 2020 and was endorsing State Representative Joe Graviss to succeed him. His term expired December 31, 2020. He had spent his final months in hospice care in Frankfort. In a statement following his death, Governor Andy Beshear said that Carroll "dedicated his career to public service" and that "for decades he worked to support public education and those he represented in Frankfort". His memorial service would be held in the rotunda the same day as well, with his family and numerous Kentucky state officials delivering remarks.