Sloppy Derby

Lots of mud and money

John Y. Brown knew how to sell chicken, that was for sure. The ex-encyclopedia salesman bought Colonel Sanders' Kentucky Fried operation and parlayed it into an empire that he sold for an estimated $35 million profit. But even with all his money and with the help of his new wife, TV Personality Phyllis George, it was unclear whether he could sell himself as the nominee for Governor to the Bourbons, thoroughbreds and mountain boys of Kentucky.

After all, the field of nine in the Democratic primary last week offered stiff competition. There was Dr. Harvey Sloane, the articulate and capable former mayor of Louisville. Outgoing Governor Julian Carroll, whose administration has been tainted by scandal, was backing his former commerce commissioner, Terry McBrayer. Spunky Lieutenant Governor Thelma Stovall had strengthened her own candidacy by calling a special legislative session to consider tax cuts. As the pack turned into the home stretch, the mud started to fly. Governor Carroll took to the stump to attack Brown, once a close friend, whom he accused of refusing to release his income tax returns in order to conceal his gambling debts. Even Colonel Sanders let it be known that he regarded Brown as a "skunk."

Brown countered the attacks by escorting his diamond-studded Miss America wife into the hill country and substituting television blitzes and phone banks for local organizations. He spent more than $1 million of his own money on the campaign. Glamour and greenbacks proved a winning combination, giving Brown 29% of the vote; Runner-Up Sloan received 24%. But former Governor Louie Nunn, the Republican nominee, is a street-fighter who will give Brown a tough race. His first salvo was to call his opponent "a snake-oil salesman."

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