Larry Forgy, 3-time Kentucky governor candidate, dead at 82

WUKY | By Associated Press

Published January 13, 2022 at 12:27 PM EST

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Kentucky Republican activist Larry Forgy speaks out against casinos in the state's racetracks, during a press conference Thursday Feb. 9, 2012 at the Capitol in Frankfort, Ky. Forgy, a former GOP nominee for governor, said it was shameful for the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce to form a coalition to promote a constitutional amendment to be put on the November ballot. (AP Photo/John Flavell)

Larry Forgy, a Republican stalwart who ran for governor three times in Kentucky, losing a heartbreakingly close election in 1995, has died. He was 82.

Forgy's sister, Republican state Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr of Lexington, said on her Facebook page that he died early Thursday at University of Kentucky Hospital. He suffered a heart attack in 2016, and Kerr said he had been in declining health for several years. His 1995 running mate, London attorney Tom Handy, told the Lexington Herald-Leader that Forgy was an independent thinker and sometimes at odds with Republican leadership.