Former Chairman of Kentucky Republican Party Robert ‘Bob’ Gable dead at age 90

Robert “Bob” Gable, a businessman and prominent figure in Kentucky’s Republican Party for years, died at age 90 on Friday.

Gable, of Frankfort, died at Baptist Health in Lexington, according to his obituary. He served as the chairman of Kentucky’s Republican Party for seven years in the 1980s and 1990s and ran the Stearns Coal and Lumber Company, which his great-grandfather, Justus Stearns, founded in 1902.

Gable was born in 1934 in New York City and spent his childhood in Port Orford, Oregon, and Tucson, Arizona. He attended Stanford University, where he graduated in 1956 with an engineering degree.

He went on to serve in the U.S. Navy after graduating college.

Gable and his wife, Emily Brinton Thompson, settled in Stearns, Kentucky, where the couple raised three children and he ran the family’s coal business.

He entered Kentucky’s political sphere in the 1960s, helping run political campaigns and serving as commissioner of Kentucky State Parks under former Gov. Louie B. Nunn.

In 1972, he lost a race for a seat in the U.S. Senate. He made a run at the office of Governor of Kentucky in 1975 and again in 1995, losing both races.

Several Kentucky Republicans have issued statements mourning Gable’s death and praising his contributions to Kentucky’s Republican Party.

In a statement on X, Attorney General Russell Coleman said, “Today’s Republican Party of Kentucky, and those of us privileged to serve our Commonwealth in office, stand on the shoulders of the great Bob Gable.”

Robert Benvenuti, the current chairman of the Kentucky Republican Party, noted how Republicans were the minority party in the General Assembly during Gable’s era of leadership. The party now holds a supermajority in the legislative body, however.

“When Bob first took the helm of our state party in 1986, the electoral challenges Republicans faced in Kentucky were daunting. At that time, Republicans held only one statewide office and were in the extreme minority in the General Assembly. Yet Bob’s unwavering commitment to our party guided us as we began laying the groundwork to reshape Kentucky’s political landscape,” Benvenuti wrote.

Gable was preceded in death by his wife, Brinton Thompson, who died in 2017. He is survived by his children, James Gable, Elizabeth Gable Hicks and John Gable, and two grandchildren.

Joseph Gerth contributed. Contact reporter Killian Baarlaer at kbaarlaer@gannett.com or at @bkillian72 on X.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Robert ‘Bob’ Gable, former chairman of KY Republican Party dies

EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel