Harvey I. Sloane (born May 11, 1936), a physician and Democrat, served two terms as Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky and also a term as county judge-executive of Jefferson County, Kentucky. He narrowly lost two Democratic primaries for

Governor of Kentucky The governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of government of Kentucky. Sixty-two 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-e ...

and lost a race for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

to incumbent Mitch McConnell.

Early life

Sloane grew up in an affluent family, graduated from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

and from the medical school at Case Western Reserve University. He worked as a surgeon in federal programs for the poor, including in eastern

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

and later in South Vietnam during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

. Returning to the United States in 1966, Sloane opened a community health center in Louisville's mostly black West End. He also developed Louisville's first emergency ambulance squads and was active in leading local efforts against

air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different typ ...

Mayor of Louisville

In 1973 Sloane ran for mayor of Louisville. He faced Carroll Witten in the Democratic primary; Witten was president of the Board of Aldermen and favored to win, but Sloane upset him, winning in all twelve of Louisville's aldermanic wards. Sloane defeated Republican former

police chief The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and ...

C. J. Hyde by a greater than two to one margin in the general election. Sloane's first term as mayor was from December 1, 1973 to December 1, 1977. Due to state law at the time, Sloane could not run for re-election as mayor. During his first term Louisville was hit by a

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

during the Super Outbreak on April 3, 1974 and faced a

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

by sanitation workers that same year. A federal court ordered busing to desegregate Louisville's schools. Sloane established Louisville's mass transit system, the Transit Authority of River City (TARC), which is still in existence today. Sloane also began Louisville's Emergency Medical Service. Sloane also helped establish the Louisville Galleria project. In 1981 Sloane ran for a second term as mayor and won, defeating Republican nominee Louie R. Guenthner Jr., a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, by almost a two to one margin. A change in the law resulted in Sloane's second term beginning January 1, 1982 and ending January 1, 1986.

Governor bids

In 1979 Sloane ran for

but was narrowly defeated in a crowded Democratic primary by John Y. Brown Jr. who went on to win the office. Sloane won 139,713 votes statewide to finish second; Brown won with 165,188. Terry McBrayer finished third with 131,530 votes, Congressman Carroll Hubbard finished fourth with 68,577 votes, Lieutenant Governor

Thelma Stovall Thelma Loyace Stovall (nee Hawkins; April 1, 1919 – February 4, 1994) was a pioneering American politician in the state of Kentucky. In 1949 she won election as state representative for Louisville, and served three consecutive terms. Over the n ...

was fifth with 47,633 and four minor candidates split another 14,175 votes. In 1983 Sloane ran for

a second time, losing by a small margin in the Democratic primary to Lieutenant Governor

Martha Layne Collins Martha Layne Collins (née Hall; born December 7, 1936) is an American former businesswoman and politician from the Commonwealth of Kentucky; she was elected as the state's 56th governor from 1983 to 1987, the first woman to hold the office and ...

. Sloane again finished second, winning 219,160 votes to Collins' 223,692; Grady Stumbo finished third with 199,795 and three minor candidates split 15,807 votes.1983 Kentucky Governor primary results at Kentucky Board of Elections site

Post-mayoral and senate race

As Sloane's second term as mayor came to an end he ran for the office of Jefferson County Judge-Executive and won, serving in that capacity from January 4, 1986 to January 1, 1990. He won the office by defeating Republican nominee George Clark by a two to one margin. In 1990 Sloane was the Democratic nominee for the

against incumbent Mitch McConnell. Governor Wallace G. Wilkinson, angry that Sloane had not supported him in the 1987 gubernatorial primary, had John Brock, the state superintendent of public instruction, run against Sloane in the Democratic primary for the Senate seat, exhausting some of Sloane's resources. Wilkinson refused to assist Sloane in the general election and the state Democratic party leadership, following the governor's lead, did little to assist Sloane. Despite these obstacles Sloane held McConnell to 52% of the vote but McConnell was reelected. The 1990 campaign would be Sloane's last in

. In 1991, with his term as judge-executive at an end, Sloane left Louisville to work on health care projects in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In 1995 Sloane became the public health commissioner for the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

but was later fired by Mayor

Marion Barry Marion Shepilov Barry (born Marion Barry Jr.; March 6, 1936 – November 23, 2014) was an American politician who served as the second and fourth mayor of the District of Columbia from 1979 to 1991 and 1995 to 1999. A Democrat, Barry had served ...

because Sloane issued a public health advisory to boil water without notifying Barry first.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sloane, Harvey I. 1936 births Living people Mayors of Louisville, Kentucky County judges in Kentucky Kentucky Democrats