Block, Upload, Automoderated users, edit, move, protect, rollback
57,799
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Created page with "{{Infobo=Jon Ackerson of KY.jpg |name= Jon Winston Ackerson |image=Jon Ackerson of KY.jpg |office=Kentucky State Representative for<br >District 30 (suburban Jefferson C..."
{{Infobo=Jon Ackerson of KY.jpg
|name= Jon Winston Ackerson
|image=Jon Ackerson of KY.jpg
|office=[[Kentucky]] State Representative for<br >District 30 (suburban Jefferson County)
|term_start=January 1, 1976
|term_end=December 31, 1977
|term_start2=January 1, 1984
|term_end2=December 31, 1997
|office3=Kentucky State Senator for<b />District 34 (Jefferson County)
|term_start3=January 2, 1978
|term_end3=December 31, 1983
|office4=Member of the [[Louisville]] Metro Council, District 18
|term_start4=January 2009
|term_end4=2012
|preceded4=Julie Raque Adams
|succeeded4=Marilyn Parker
|birth_date=July 29, 1943
|birth_place=Louisville, Kentucky
|residence=Punta Gorda, [[Florida]]<ref name=mylife/>
|death_date=
|death_place=
|resting_place=
|spouse=(1) Patricia Ormerod Ackerson (divorced)<br>
(2) Kay B. Meurer Ackerson
|children=From first marriage:<b>
Brent Thomas Ackerson<br
Marc Alan Ackerson<br>
Stepchildren from second marriage:<br>
Mark I. Meurer<br>
Penny A. Meurer<br>
Amy L. Vanover<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Louis E. and Sara Mercedes Romans Ackerson
|party= [[Republican Party|Republican]]
|religion=[[Episcopalian]]
|occupation=[[Attorney]]
|residence=Jeffersontown, Kentucky>br>
Punta Gorda, [[Florida]]
|alma_mater=[[University of Indianapolis]]
[[University of Louisville]] School of Law}}
'''Jon Winston Ackerson''' (born July 29, 1943)<ref name=mylife>Jon W Ackerson, 79 - Punta Gorda, FL (mylife.com), accessed March 18, 2023.</ref>is an [[attorney]] and [[Republican Party|Republican]] former politician]] in his native [[Louisville]]
[[Kentucky]]. Ackerson was the state representative for District 30 from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1984 to 1997. In the interim, he was from 1978 to 1983 the state senator for District 34, also based in Jefferson County.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/acampora-adamowski.html#029.44.84|title=Jon W. Ackerson|publisher=The Political Graveyard|accessdate=February 9, 2016}}</ref>
==Background==
Ackerson is one of three children of Louis E. Ackerson (1906-1984), an attorney and [[CPA]], and the former Sara Mercedes Romans (1907-1989). His brother, Robert Louis "Bob" Ackerson (1934-2008), was also a Louisville lawyer and an [[Episcopalian]]. These Ackersons are interred at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville. His sister, Mary Beth Ackerson (1936-2020), worked in the health services industry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Ackerson&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=19&GScnty=1044&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=31233492&df=all&|title=Robert Louis Ackerson|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=February 8, 2016}}</ref> Ackerson graduated from the [[Methodism|Methodist]]-affiliated University of Indianapolis in [[Indianapolis]], [[Indiana]], and the [[University of Louisvill]] School of Law. He practices law in the firm of Ackerson & Ackerson.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.intelius.com/search/people/Jon-W-Ackerson/Louisville-KY|title=Jon W. Ackerson|publisher=intelius.com|accessdate=February 10, 2016}}</ref>
==Political life==
In 1978, Ackerson persuaded his seven Senate Republican colleagues to hire a young Louisville attorney, [[Bob Heleringer]] as their administrative assistant. Heleringer, the son of a Louisville furniture dealer and the grandson of a horse trainer, subsequently served in the Kentucky House from suburban Louisville from 1980 to 1991.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.equineregulatorylaw}}</ref>Ackerson himself left the Senate after the Democratic majority in 1982 moved his district to rural southeastern Kentucky, including Clinton and McCreary counties near the Tennessee state line. Ackerson objected to the [[redistricting]] on grounds that 96,000 suburban constituents would no longer have local represention.<ref>''Park City Daily News,'' Barren County, Kentrucky, January 13, 1982</ref>
He instead returned to the Kentucky House.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article44150823.html#!|title=Kathy Stein isn't the first Kentucky state senator whose district was moved|publisher='The Lexington Herald-Leader''|date=January 20, 2012|author=John Cheves|accessdate=February 7, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article44150823.html#!|title=Kathy Stein isn't the first Kentucky state senator whose district was moved to Clinton and McCreary counties in southwestern Kentucjk|publisher=''The Lexington Herald-Leader''|date=January 20, 2012|author=John Cheves|accessdate=February 7, 2016}}</ref> From 1999 to 2002, Ackerson served on the [[Jeffersontown, Kentucky|Jeffersontown]] City Council in Jefferson County but relinquished the position to run unsuccessfully in the [[nonpartisan]] election for [[mayor]] held on November 5, 2002.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kref.ky.gov/Advertising/2002_003_Request.pdf|title=Jon Ackerson for Mayor of Jeffersontown|publisher=kref.ky.gov|date=April 10, 2002|accessdate=February 7, 2016}}</ref>
In 2008, Ackerson came out of political retirement to win the District 18 seat on the [[Louisville Metro Council]]. He defeated Ellen L. Reitmeyer, a figure in the local Republican Party, for the right to succeed the retiring council member Julie Raque Adams. Reitmeyer had been a legislative aide to Adams. The Democratic candidate for the seat, Mike Perkins, cited a lack of funding and withdrew to leave Ackerson without opposition. From 2009 to 2012, he served alongside his son, attorney Brent Thomas Ackerson, a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], who represented District 26 on the Metro Council. Brent and his brother, Marc Alan Ackerson, are sons by Jon Ackerson's former wife from whom he was divorced, the former Patricia Ormerod (1944-2012). She is interred beside her family at Evergreen Cemetery in Louisville.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/louisville/obituary.aspx?pid=155412317|title=Patricia Ackerson obituary|publisher=''Louisville Courier-Journal]]''|date=January 10, 2012|accessdate=February 7, 2016}}</ref>
Ackerson's second wife is Kay B. Ackerson, formerly Kay Meurer, the former wife of businessman Gerald Meurer. She is a [[real estate ]]broker who earlier served for three terms on the Jeffersontown City Council.<ref name=jconway>{{cite web|url=http://insiderlouisville.com/metro/accountability/moderate-jon-ackerman-ready-for-challenge-from-tea-party-activist-marilyn-parker-in-gop-primary/|title=Moderate Jon Ackerson ready for challenge from Tea Party activist Marilyn Parker in GOP primary|author=Jacob Conway|publisher=insiderlouisville.com|date=December 7, 2011|accessdate=February 10, 2016}}</ref> Early in his term on the Metro Council, Ackerson became the subject of media interest when his office aide, Sherlon R. Worthington, abruptly left the position after having accused Mrs. Ackerson of interfering with her own duties. Worthington wrote that Mrs. Ackerson "came in my office and asked me what my problem was. I told her she was my problem."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thevillevoice.com/2009/04/21/aide-resigns-angry-from-ackersons-office/|title=Aide Resigns Angry from Ackerson's Office|date=April 21, 2009|publisher=''The Ville Voice: A Critical Take on Louisville News''|accessdate=February 7, 2016}}</ref>
From 2004 to 2007, Ackerson was a director of the Kentucky Employers' Mutual Insurance Authority during the administration of Republican [[governor of Kentucky|Governor]] [[Ernie Fletcher]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://migration.kentucky.gov/newsroom/agovernor/20041117Ackerson.htm|title=Governor Ernie Fletcher Appoints Former Legislator to the Kentucky Employers' Mutual Insurance Authority Board of Directors|publisher=migration.kentucky.gov|date=November 17, 2004|accessdate=February 7, 2016}}</ref> Ackerson is considered a [[Rockefeller Republican|Moderate Republican]], but he supported [[Rand Paul]] for the [[United States Senate]] in the [[U.S. Senate elections, 2010|2010 election]]. In 2011, Ackerson endorsed the reelection of Democratic Governor [[Steve Beshear]] for a second term. Beshear unseated Fletcher in the 2007 campaign. Beshear subsequently appointed Ackerson to represent employers on the Unemployment Insurance Commission for a term extending from January 1, 2013, to October 26, 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://migration.kentucky.gov/newsroom/governor/20121221appts.htm|title=Governor Beshear makes appointment to Boards and Commissions|date=December 21, 2012|publisher=migration.kentucky.gov|accessdate=February 7, 2016}}</ref>
In 2012, Ackerson lost his [[primary]] election for the Metro Council seat by 37 votes (1,306 to 1,269) to Marilyn Parker, a favorite of the [[Tea Party movement]], who subsequently carried the [[general election]] as well. Like Ackerson, Parker supported Paul for the Senate in 2010. Ackerson had formerly attended Tea Party meetings and expressed surprise that the group had moved against him in favor of Parker.<ref name=jconway/>
Ackerson and his wife retired to Punta Gorda, near Sarasota in southwest [[Florida]].
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ackerson, Jon}}
[[Category:Kentucky]]
[[Category:Attorneys]]
[[Category:State Representatives]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Florida]]
|name= Jon Winston Ackerson
|image=Jon Ackerson of KY.jpg
|office=[[Kentucky]] State Representative for<br >District 30 (suburban Jefferson County)
|term_start=January 1, 1976
|term_end=December 31, 1977
|term_start2=January 1, 1984
|term_end2=December 31, 1997
|office3=Kentucky State Senator for<b />District 34 (Jefferson County)
|term_start3=January 2, 1978
|term_end3=December 31, 1983
|office4=Member of the [[Louisville]] Metro Council, District 18
|term_start4=January 2009
|term_end4=2012
|preceded4=Julie Raque Adams
|succeeded4=Marilyn Parker
|birth_date=July 29, 1943
|birth_place=Louisville, Kentucky
|residence=Punta Gorda, [[Florida]]<ref name=mylife/>
|death_date=
|death_place=
|resting_place=
|spouse=(1) Patricia Ormerod Ackerson (divorced)<br>
(2) Kay B. Meurer Ackerson
|children=From first marriage:<b>
Brent Thomas Ackerson<br
Marc Alan Ackerson<br>
Stepchildren from second marriage:<br>
Mark I. Meurer<br>
Penny A. Meurer<br>
Amy L. Vanover<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Louis E. and Sara Mercedes Romans Ackerson
|party= [[Republican Party|Republican]]
|religion=[[Episcopalian]]
|occupation=[[Attorney]]
|residence=Jeffersontown, Kentucky>br>
Punta Gorda, [[Florida]]
|alma_mater=[[University of Indianapolis]]
[[University of Louisville]] School of Law}}
'''Jon Winston Ackerson''' (born July 29, 1943)<ref name=mylife>Jon W Ackerson, 79 - Punta Gorda, FL (mylife.com), accessed March 18, 2023.</ref>is an [[attorney]] and [[Republican Party|Republican]] former politician]] in his native [[Louisville]]
[[Kentucky]]. Ackerson was the state representative for District 30 from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1984 to 1997. In the interim, he was from 1978 to 1983 the state senator for District 34, also based in Jefferson County.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/acampora-adamowski.html#029.44.84|title=Jon W. Ackerson|publisher=The Political Graveyard|accessdate=February 9, 2016}}</ref>
==Background==
Ackerson is one of three children of Louis E. Ackerson (1906-1984), an attorney and [[CPA]], and the former Sara Mercedes Romans (1907-1989). His brother, Robert Louis "Bob" Ackerson (1934-2008), was also a Louisville lawyer and an [[Episcopalian]]. These Ackersons are interred at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville. His sister, Mary Beth Ackerson (1936-2020), worked in the health services industry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Ackerson&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=19&GScnty=1044&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=31233492&df=all&|title=Robert Louis Ackerson|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=February 8, 2016}}</ref> Ackerson graduated from the [[Methodism|Methodist]]-affiliated University of Indianapolis in [[Indianapolis]], [[Indiana]], and the [[University of Louisvill]] School of Law. He practices law in the firm of Ackerson & Ackerson.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.intelius.com/search/people/Jon-W-Ackerson/Louisville-KY|title=Jon W. Ackerson|publisher=intelius.com|accessdate=February 10, 2016}}</ref>
==Political life==
In 1978, Ackerson persuaded his seven Senate Republican colleagues to hire a young Louisville attorney, [[Bob Heleringer]] as their administrative assistant. Heleringer, the son of a Louisville furniture dealer and the grandson of a horse trainer, subsequently served in the Kentucky House from suburban Louisville from 1980 to 1991.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.equineregulatorylaw}}</ref>Ackerson himself left the Senate after the Democratic majority in 1982 moved his district to rural southeastern Kentucky, including Clinton and McCreary counties near the Tennessee state line. Ackerson objected to the [[redistricting]] on grounds that 96,000 suburban constituents would no longer have local represention.<ref>''Park City Daily News,'' Barren County, Kentrucky, January 13, 1982</ref>
He instead returned to the Kentucky House.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article44150823.html#!|title=Kathy Stein isn't the first Kentucky state senator whose district was moved|publisher='The Lexington Herald-Leader''|date=January 20, 2012|author=John Cheves|accessdate=February 7, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article44150823.html#!|title=Kathy Stein isn't the first Kentucky state senator whose district was moved to Clinton and McCreary counties in southwestern Kentucjk|publisher=''The Lexington Herald-Leader''|date=January 20, 2012|author=John Cheves|accessdate=February 7, 2016}}</ref> From 1999 to 2002, Ackerson served on the [[Jeffersontown, Kentucky|Jeffersontown]] City Council in Jefferson County but relinquished the position to run unsuccessfully in the [[nonpartisan]] election for [[mayor]] held on November 5, 2002.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kref.ky.gov/Advertising/2002_003_Request.pdf|title=Jon Ackerson for Mayor of Jeffersontown|publisher=kref.ky.gov|date=April 10, 2002|accessdate=February 7, 2016}}</ref>
In 2008, Ackerson came out of political retirement to win the District 18 seat on the [[Louisville Metro Council]]. He defeated Ellen L. Reitmeyer, a figure in the local Republican Party, for the right to succeed the retiring council member Julie Raque Adams. Reitmeyer had been a legislative aide to Adams. The Democratic candidate for the seat, Mike Perkins, cited a lack of funding and withdrew to leave Ackerson without opposition. From 2009 to 2012, he served alongside his son, attorney Brent Thomas Ackerson, a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], who represented District 26 on the Metro Council. Brent and his brother, Marc Alan Ackerson, are sons by Jon Ackerson's former wife from whom he was divorced, the former Patricia Ormerod (1944-2012). She is interred beside her family at Evergreen Cemetery in Louisville.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/louisville/obituary.aspx?pid=155412317|title=Patricia Ackerson obituary|publisher=''Louisville Courier-Journal]]''|date=January 10, 2012|accessdate=February 7, 2016}}</ref>
Ackerson's second wife is Kay B. Ackerson, formerly Kay Meurer, the former wife of businessman Gerald Meurer. She is a [[real estate ]]broker who earlier served for three terms on the Jeffersontown City Council.<ref name=jconway>{{cite web|url=http://insiderlouisville.com/metro/accountability/moderate-jon-ackerman-ready-for-challenge-from-tea-party-activist-marilyn-parker-in-gop-primary/|title=Moderate Jon Ackerson ready for challenge from Tea Party activist Marilyn Parker in GOP primary|author=Jacob Conway|publisher=insiderlouisville.com|date=December 7, 2011|accessdate=February 10, 2016}}</ref> Early in his term on the Metro Council, Ackerson became the subject of media interest when his office aide, Sherlon R. Worthington, abruptly left the position after having accused Mrs. Ackerson of interfering with her own duties. Worthington wrote that Mrs. Ackerson "came in my office and asked me what my problem was. I told her she was my problem."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thevillevoice.com/2009/04/21/aide-resigns-angry-from-ackersons-office/|title=Aide Resigns Angry from Ackerson's Office|date=April 21, 2009|publisher=''The Ville Voice: A Critical Take on Louisville News''|accessdate=February 7, 2016}}</ref>
From 2004 to 2007, Ackerson was a director of the Kentucky Employers' Mutual Insurance Authority during the administration of Republican [[governor of Kentucky|Governor]] [[Ernie Fletcher]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://migration.kentucky.gov/newsroom/agovernor/20041117Ackerson.htm|title=Governor Ernie Fletcher Appoints Former Legislator to the Kentucky Employers' Mutual Insurance Authority Board of Directors|publisher=migration.kentucky.gov|date=November 17, 2004|accessdate=February 7, 2016}}</ref> Ackerson is considered a [[Rockefeller Republican|Moderate Republican]], but he supported [[Rand Paul]] for the [[United States Senate]] in the [[U.S. Senate elections, 2010|2010 election]]. In 2011, Ackerson endorsed the reelection of Democratic Governor [[Steve Beshear]] for a second term. Beshear unseated Fletcher in the 2007 campaign. Beshear subsequently appointed Ackerson to represent employers on the Unemployment Insurance Commission for a term extending from January 1, 2013, to October 26, 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://migration.kentucky.gov/newsroom/governor/20121221appts.htm|title=Governor Beshear makes appointment to Boards and Commissions|date=December 21, 2012|publisher=migration.kentucky.gov|accessdate=February 7, 2016}}</ref>
In 2012, Ackerson lost his [[primary]] election for the Metro Council seat by 37 votes (1,306 to 1,269) to Marilyn Parker, a favorite of the [[Tea Party movement]], who subsequently carried the [[general election]] as well. Like Ackerson, Parker supported Paul for the Senate in 2010. Ackerson had formerly attended Tea Party meetings and expressed surprise that the group had moved against him in favor of Parker.<ref name=jconway/>
Ackerson and his wife retired to Punta Gorda, near Sarasota in southwest [[Florida]].
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ackerson, Jon}}
[[Category:Kentucky]]
[[Category:Attorneys]]
[[Category:State Representatives]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Florida]]