LEXINGTON, Ky. — Martha Layne Collins, the first and only woman elected governor of Kentucky, died on Saturday. She was 88.
The Democrat’s most visible legacy is a sprawling Toyota auto assembly plant — arguably the biggest industrial plum of its day and the linchpin of her economic-development strategy. She also worked for years to overhaul the state’s public education system.
“When I became governor, you have lots of priorities, but when I’d sit down and think about it, education always came back as the first thing you have to start with,” the former teacher explained in a 1992 interview with the Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky. “I feel like I made an impact in education and bringing in new jobs; I hope we made the people of Kentucky feel good about themselves.”
Collins served as governor from 1983 to 1987, at a time when Kentucky governors were limited to single terms.
Gov. Andy Beshear’s office announced her death, calling her a “powerhouse” and “a remarkable woman who made an undeniable difference.”
Kentucky Republican Attorney General Russell Coleman said that as the father of two daughters, he applauds her “service to Kentucky and busting through the glass ceiling to show that there are no limitations in our Commonwealth.”
Collins was in the national political spotlight in the summer of 1984 as chairwoman of the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco. She was interviewed by Walter F. Mondale, the party’s presidential nominee, as a possible running mate, but Mondale ultimately chose a different woman — Rep. Geraldine Ferraro of New York.
There was a cloud over Collins’ administration — her husband’s financial dealings — and it burst into a full-blown scandal with his indictment in July 1992.
As a witness at her husband’s trial, she presented an image of a governor blind to the exploitation of her office by her husband and a handful of campaign cronies who had been installed, at his insistence, in key positions. The former governor claimed she remained aloof from her husband’s business and was unaware the couple’s net worth increased 700% during her term.
“He was doing his business, and I was running government,” Collins said.
Bill Collins was ultimately convicted in 1993 for extorting money from underwriters who handled state bond issues.
The late governor’s son Steve Collins, reached by phone, declined comment but said he would have more to say later. Services are not yet complete, he said.
