1991 Kentucky lieutenant gubernatorial election

The 1991 Kentucky lieutenant gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1991, to elect the lieutenant governor of Kentucky. Incumbent Democratic Lieutenant Governor Brereton Jones chose not to seek re-election to a second term in office, instead running for governor.

Pike County executive Paul E. Patton won the general election against attorney Eugene Goss, by a margin of 514,023 to 250,857 votes. This would be the last time the lieutenant governor and the governor were elected separately.

Throughout the primary, attorney general Fred Cowan had generally been seen as the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. However, on May 15, 1991, it was revealed that Cowan had sent a campaign contribution letter to Eric P. Shaffer, a registered architect who was under investigation for political contributions by Cowan's office, just days before he was scheduled to appear in Court. In the letter, Cowan asked for a campaign contribution request of $2,000 from Shaffer. Shaffer was subpoenaed April 3, and was scheduled to arrive in court on April 9. The date of the letter was April 7. This made it look like Shaffer was being pressured to give a campaign contribution to Cowan in return for clemency.

Cowan had stated that he was not aware that Shaffer was under subpoena, and that his letter was one of many sent out in early April. Nonetheless, this severely hurt his image.^[2] On election day, Cowan lost to Pike County executive Paul E. Patton by a margin of 41,765 votes.^[3]

• Paul E. Patton, Pike County executive, and candidate for this seat in 1987

• Fred Cowan, Incumbent Attorney General of Kentucky
• Steve Collins, son of former governor Martha Layne Collins
• Bobby H. Richardson, former Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives (1982–1986)
• Pete Worthington, Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from the 70th district
• Judge Ray Corns, circuit judge
• John Frith Stewart, mayor of Pewee Valley

• Charles Eugene Goss, Harlan County attorney and former secretary of transportation and health and human services^[5]

• Lawson Walker, Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from the 66th district
• Tommy Klein, perennial candidate