Daniel Mongiardo
.jpg)
Daniel Mongiardo, (born July 4, 1960) is a physician and a Democratic U.S. politician from the state of Kentucky.
Before Politics
Born to Italian immigrants in Hazard, Kentucky, Mongiardo attended Transylvania University and completed a medical degree at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in 1986. From 1986 to 2000, Mongiardo worked as a physician, first as a medical resident in Lexington, and later in his hometown of Hazard.
In Hazard, he helped to establish a free clinic for the poor, volunteering his time while working at the Appalachian Regional Medical Center, where he became Chief of Surgery and, later, Chief of Staff. The ARMC became a major health care center in eastern Kentucky, growing to house over a hundred doctors.
State Senator
In 2000, Mongiardo entered politics, challenging Hazard's state senator with a campaign to reform health care in Kentucky. He won, and was soon appointed to the Health and Welfare Committee and a leadership role in the joint Medicaid Oversight Task Force. Due to partisan politics, he was removed from the Task Force chair shortly thereafter, and his health care proposals were blocked by the Republican Senate leadership.
After Kentucky's state districts were redrawn in 2002, Mongiardo found himself running for re-election. Because of the redistricting he was actually serving two separate districts. He won his old district by a large margin and could have actually been the senator in two separate Kentucky districts. However he resigned the Northern Kentucky district that the Republicans had placed him in.
2004 Senate Race
In 2004, Mongiardo declared that he would run to unseat Jim Bunning, a former baseball player and 1st-term U.S. Senator. Although early polls showed Mongiardo to be the decided underdog against the fairly popular and well-financed Bunning (Bunning had an estimated $4 million campaign war chest, while Mongiardo had only $600,000), he gained support in September and October due to Bunning's controversial remarks, and negative attacks that questioned the single Mongiardo's sexuality. [1] Mongiardo denied being gay, and criticized the remarks, noting that he was a co-sponsor of the Kentucky Senate bill that stated Kentucky would "provide that only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized" as well as prohibit "a legal status identical to or substantially similar to that for marriage"[1].
Bunning also made comments on Mongiardo's Italian background. In response to Mongiardo's dark features, Bunning declared that Mongiardo "looked like one of Saddam Hussein's sons." [2] Bunnings later went on to declare that Mongiardo's "thugs" had assaulted his wife. [3] Democrats began pumping more money to Mongiardo when it became clear Bunning's remarks were costing him votes, buying $800,000 of television airtime on his behalf.
The November 2 election was one of the closest in Kentucky history, with Mongiardo leading for much of the night, even with as much as 80% of the returns in. However, Bunning eventually won by just over a percentage point. It's speculated that Bunning may have benefited from George W. Bush's 20-point victory in the state.
2007 Lieutenant Governor Race
Mongiardo is currently running for Lt. Governor of Kentucky as the running mate of Steve Beshear, a former state attorney general and lieutenant governor. Because Kentucky is one of the few states to hold elections in odd years, Mongiardo will remain a state senator even if his ticket does not win the race. Several other Democrats are in the race to unseat incumbent Governor Ernie Fletcher (R).