Staff report
Robert E. Gable, former Kentucky Republican gubernatorial nominee and chairman of the Kentucky Republican Party for seven years, has died at the age of 90 at Baptist Health in Lexington.
A resident of Frankfort, Gable was a great-grandson of Justus S. Stearns, founder and owner of Stearns Coal and Lumber Company. He led the company. Born in New York City, Gable grew up in Port Orford, Oregon, and later Tucson, Arizona, after his father’s death. He spent his summers with family in Michigan and Minnesota.
He attended Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts before graduating from Stanford University in 1956 with a degree in Industrial Engineering. After college, he served as an officer in the U.S. Navy.
He married Emily Brinton Thompson in Bar Harbor, Maine, and they settled in Stearns and raised three children while Gable played a pivotal role in the company’s transformation.
His commitment to public service extended to his involvement in political campaigns, including support for his friend, Howard H. Baker, Jr. in the 1964 and 1966 U.S. Senate elections.
He and his family moved in 1968 to Frankfort where he served as Commissioner of Kentucky State Parks in the administration of Gov. Louie Nunn.
He ran for the U.S. Senate in 1972 and for Governor in 1975 and again for Governor in 1995. In 1986, he became Republican State Chairman and served on the Republican National Committee.
Under his leadership, The Stearns Company diversified into real estate development, including projects like the Hyatt Regency in Lexington. Economic challenges of the 1980s led to the company’s eventual restructuring. His business life included directorships of Hillard-Lyons Government Fund, Kuhn’s Big-K Stores Corp., Kentucky & Tennessee Railway, Bank of McCreary County, Kentucky and Lexington Chambers of Commerce, Blue Grass Automobile Club, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kentucky, Kentucky Coal Association and many other organizations.
He also advocated for the arts and education. He chaired the Kentucky Arts Council and Kentucky Opera and served on the board of the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts and as a trustee of George Peabody College for Teachers, overseeing its merger with Vanderbilt University where he served on the board of trustees.
A member of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Frankfort, he served on the Missions Board of the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky.
Proceeded in death by his wife, Emily, he is survived by his children, James (wife, Lisa Guillermin), Elizabeth Gable Hicks, and John (wife, Virginia Harris), as well as grandchildren Helen-Anne and Robert ‘Bo’ Gable.
U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell issued the following statement:
“Elaine and I are deeply saddened by the loss of our dear friend Bob Gable, a titanic figure in the Kentucky Republican Party. I trace my earliest memories in Kentucky politics right back to Bob, as do many others in my home state. Bob first got involved in politics as an appointee of Governor Louie Nunn – Kentucky’s only Republican governor for over half a century. Though the Commonwealth was a deep blue state at the time, Bob ran for governor in 1975, bringing new energy and dynamism to our state party. When he was named Chair of the Republican Party of Kentucky in 1986, our party held only one statewide seat and reportedly only had a net worth of $300. Needless to say, much in our party and the Commonwealth has changed since then – largely thanks to Bob’s unflappable focus and the groundwork he laid during his decades of service. Elaine and I share our condolences with the entire Gable family along with our gratitude for Bob’s lifelong work to bring conservative principles to Kentucky.”
Republican Party of Kentucky Chairman Robert Benvenuti issued the following statement regarding his death:
“I am heartbroken to learn of the passing of Bob Gable and want to extend my deepest condolences to the entire Gable family. Words cannot fully convey the debt of gratitude Kentucky Republicans owe to Bob nor the profound impact he had on our Commonwealth.
“When Bob first took the helm of our state party in 1986, the electoral challenges Republicans faced in Kentucky were daunting. At that time, Republicans held only one statewide office and were in the extreme minority in the General Assembly. Yet Bob’s unwavering commitment to our party guided us as we began laying the groundwork to reshape Kentucky’s political landscape.
“Today, thanks to Bob’s efforts, Republicans hold supermajorities in the General Assembly, and it’s now the Democrats who hold only one statewide office. None of this would have been possible without Bob Gable’s leadership, dedication, and love for Kentucky. He will be deeply missed, but his legacy will continue to inspire us as we build on the foundation he helped to create.”
Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said, “Bob Gable was the original Republican Party chairman and a leader when there were few Kentucky Republicans. In fact, Bob gave me my first contribution when I decided to get into politics.
“My heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with his family as they mourn the loss of this great man, this great Kentuckian.”
The Kentucky Chamber’s “Bottom Line” honored Bob Gable as an “unsung hero” of the party’s success over years in a feature and video interview published in November, 2019, when he was 85. In that “Kentucky Narratives” story, Jacqueline Pitts wrote:
“If Mitch McConnell is the architect of the modern-day Kentucky GOP, he built that house on a foundation laid by Bob Gable,” former Republican Party of Kentucky Chair Ellen Williams said at an event honoring Gable’s work in 2017.
Gable served as Chair of the Republican Party of Kentucky from 1986-1993. According to those close to him, the party had a net worth of around $300 at the time he took over and only had one statewide official, Kentucky U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell.
Since that time, the Republican Party in the state has gone on to hold most seats at the federal level and now controls both the state House and state Senate.
Gable first entered Kentucky politics in 1968 when he was appointed Commissioner of State Parks by Governor Louie Nunn. He went on to run for governor himself in 1975 but was defeated by incumbent Democratic Governor Julian Carroll. Gable states he knew he had no chance of winning but wanted to run because he thought that was the only way the Republican platform could get that kind of attention. His campaign for governor in that year is remembered by Gable’s use of a “truth bell” he used in debates.
He ran for governor again in 1995 but lost in the Republican primary to Larry Forgy who went on to be defeated in the general election by then-Governor Paul Patton.