Brereton Chandler Jones (June 27, 1939 – September 18, 2023) was an American politician from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. From 1991 to 1995, he was the state's 58th governor, and had served from 1987 to 1991 as the 50th lieutenant governor of Kentucky. After his governorship, he chaired the Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP), a lobbying organization for the Kentucky horse industry.
Born in Ohio and raised in West Virginia, Jones became the youngest-ever member of the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1964. Two years later, he was chosen as the Republican floor leader in the House. In 1968, he decided to leave politics and focus on his real estate business. He married Elizabeth "Libby" Lloyd in 1970 and in 1972 the family moved to historic Airdrie Farm, Libby's family estate in Woodford County, Kentucky. There, Jones founded Airdrie Stud, now an internationally recognized Thoroughbred farm. Although he remained mostly out of politics, Jones changed his party affiliation to Democratic in 1975, and was appointed to various boards and commissions by governors John Y. Brown Jr. and Martha Layne Collins.
In 1987, Jones announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor, admitting that he considered the office a stepping stone to some day becoming governor. He was elected, but experienced a poor relationship with Governor Wallace Wilkinson throughout their four-year terms. Jones was elected governor in 1991, turning back a challenge from Governor Wilkinson's wife Martha in the Democratic primary. Although Jones maintained a strained relationship with the Kentucky General Assembly following comments he made in the wake of the federal Operation Boptrot investigation, he was still able to pass much of his agenda, including an amendment that would allow state officials to succeed themselves in office once. However, he achieved only a partial victory on his top priority – healthcare reform. While the legislature acceded to many of Jones's proposals, such as eliminating the practice of denying insurance coverage to those with pre-existing conditions, they did not approve his mandate for universal health care for all Kentuckians.
Following his term in office, Jones founded the Kentucky Equine Education Project.
Although his family lived in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, Brereton Jones was born on June 27, 1939, in Gallipolis, Ohio, the site of the nearest hospital to the family's home. One of six children born to E. Bartow Jones II, who served two terms in the West Virginia Senate, and Nedra Wilhelm Jones, he was raised on a dairy farm in Point Pleasant.
Jones was a star football player in the public schools of Point Pleasant (Point Pleasant High School, Class of 1957). After graduating from high school as valedictorian, he attended the University of Virginia on a football scholarship, playing both offensive and defensive end. He earned a Bachelor of Commerce in 1961. For one semester, he studied at the University of Virginia School of Law, but he returned home to West Virginia and established a real estate and construction business.
In 1964, Jones' political career began with his election as a Republican to the West Virginia House of Delegates. He was the youngest person ever elected to that body. In 1966, he was chosen as the Republican floor leader in the House. In 1968, Jones announced that he would not seek re-election to his seat, despite facing no opposition. Among the factors influencing his decision was his perception of corruption in state politics.
After his service in the West Virginia House, Jones began to concentrate on his real estate business and established a small horse farm just outside Huntington. His interest in the horse business led him to make several trips to Keeneland race track in central Kentucky; it was on one of these trips that he met his future wife, Elizabeth "Libby" Lloyd, daughter of Arthur Lloyd, the former Adjutant General of Kentucky. Jones and Lloyd married in 1970; they had two children – Lucy and Bret. In 1972, the Joneses moved to Airdrie Farm, Libby's childhood home in Woodford County, Kentucky. Jones leased a portion of the farm from his father-in-law and founded Airdrie Stud, a thoroughbred horse farm that has since been internationally recognized for its horses. Airdrie contains the original site of Woodburn Stud, a top thoroughbred farm in the 1800s. The property had not been used for breeding for 70 years prior to Jones' creation of Airdrie Stud. Jones went on to chair the Kentucky Thoroughbred Commission and serve as treasurer of the Breeders' Cup.
In 1975, Jones registered as a Democrat, citing his disenchantment with the Nixon administration and his desire to participate in Kentucky primary elections. At the time, Democrats outnumbered Republicans in Kentucky by a 2-to-1 margin. Governor John Y. Brown Jr. named him to the board of directors for the University of Kentucky and the Chandler Medical Center. In the mid-1980s, Jones created the Kentucky Health Care Access Foundation to provide free health care to individuals who fell below the poverty line but did not qualify for Medicaid. Governor Martha Layne Collins chose Jones to chair her Medicaid Program Review Team and serve on her Council on Education Reform.
In late 1985, Jones announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor in the 1987 election, conceding that he sought the office because he would like to serve as governor in the future. He convincingly won in the Democratic primary against Paul E. Patton, who later became governor, and David L. Armstrong, the sitting Attorney General and later Mayor of Louisville. Wallace G. Wilkinson, winner of the Democratic gubernatorial primary, praised Jones and said that, if elected, he would make Jones the head of a blue-ribbon economic development council. Wilkinson and Jones went on to win the general election; Jones defeated Republican nominee Lawrence R. Webster by a convincing vote of 517,811 to 186,321.
Soon after the election results were announced, Jones was quoted in a newspaper as saying that he had talked with Wilkinson about opening channels with the media, whom Wilkinson often refused to speak with. Jones also said that he did not agree with all of Wilkinson's political positions and would not be his "yes man". These comments angered Wilkinson, who backtracked on his promise to give Jones an active role in the administration. Relations between Jones and Wilkinson further deteriorated as both men tried to recoup the money spent during their campaigns.
During the 1988 legislative session, Governor Wilkinson proposed an amendment to the Kentucky Constitution that would allow state officials, including the sitting incumbents, to succeed themselves in office once. As presiding officer in the Senate, Jones insisted that any such measure also include a runoff provision if a candidate did not receive a majority of votes in the party primary. Wilkinson opposed this provision, and the measure died in the state senate. Wilkinson's proposed education program also failed in the session, and Jones suggested that the governor should build a consensus among legislators before including the program on the agenda of a special legislative session, which Wilkinson had proposed for January 1989. After the 1988 session, Wilkinson called Jones a backstabber and accused him of sabotaging the succession amendment. The two did not meet for six months following the session.
As lieutenant governor, Jones advocated for the preservation of family farms and for school reform. He won praise for his efforts to include a "Made in Kentucky" label on produce grown in the state. Further, he claimed the state could save $500,000 a year by merging the offices of lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and state treasurer. Jones maintained that the arrangement would give the lieutenant governor something specific to do between legislative sessions and would provide a broader record upon which voters could judge the officeholder should they seek higher office. Jones' proposal, which would have required a constitutional amendment, was never adopted. Jones also claimed to have saved his office $200,000 by choosing not to live in the lieutenant governor's mansion, by reducing the number of Kentucky State Police troopers used for security at the mansion, and by giving up seven cars assigned to the office – two for him and wife Libby, and five used by the state troopers.