FRANKFORT — Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton, shamed by an affair and besieged by charges that he traded favors for sex, is desperately trying to save his career, his marriage and the office he has held for seven years.

        But after two weeks of tawdry allegations, swift denials and tearful confessions, even loyal followers have cause for alarm.

Gov. Patton tearfully admitted his affair on Sept. 20

        From the moment Mr. Patton broke down and wept in front of a nationwide TV audience, admitting a two-year affair with a woman who claims he later retaliated against her, the saga has captivated a state more apt to take its scandals straight up — like smooth Kentucky bourbon.

        “I was wrong,” Mr. Patton said, tears streaming down his face, in the televised scene that Kentuckians will recall for years. “I've already apologized to (wife) Judi and my family ... I apologize to the people of Kentucky for my failure as a person.”

        Now, Mr. Patton's gubernatorial reign teeters on the brink of collapse, interviews with state lawmakers, Frankfort insiders and people closest to the governor show. If allegations prove true that he abused his powers, the 65-year-old lifelong Democrat and first Kentucky governor elected to consecutive terms in a century may have no choice but to resign.

        Meanwhile, Judi Patton has retreated to the couple's hometown of Pikeville, where she's staying with a sister. The FBI and state attorney general have launched public corruption probes. The National Governors Association, which Mr. Patton chairs, is assessing the scandal. Even New York City shock jock Howard Stern has weighed in, mocking the governor's weepy confession and poking fun at his southern accent.

        Northern Kentucky state Rep. Jim Callahan, a Wilder Democrat and one of Mr. Patton's closest allies, fears the governor he has worked with on education reform, tourism development and projects such as the $38 million Northern Kentucky University Natural Science Center may be finished.

        “I thought there was a chance he might step down,” Mr. Callahan says. “And that possibility even exists right now.”

Out of the blue

        Mr. Patton's circle of insiders got its first hint of impending scandal on Sunday evening, Sept. 15. WHAS-TV, a Louisville television station, called for comment on a woman's allegation that she had an affair with the governor. The woman, Tina Conner, said the affair lasted from 1997, when she says she met Mr. Patton at a political fund-raiser, until 1999, when she broke it off.

Conner

        During the affair, Mrs. Conner alleged, her Birchtree Healthcare nursing home in far western Kentucky was given preferential treatment by the state. Both she and her husband also were appointed to state boards — she to the Kentucky Lottery Board and Seth Conner to the Agricultural Development Board.

        But when the affair ended, she said, Mr. Patton turned on her — sending state regulators repeatedly to her nursing home to find 38 violations of major rules and 163 pages of deficiencies that eventually shut her down. The nursing home is now in bankruptcy.

        Mr. Patton's advisers were stunned at the story the station was preparing to broadcast.

        Skipper Martin, the governor's chief of staff; Cabinet Secretary Crit Luallen, a seasoned operative who's considering running for governor or lieutenant governor next year; Rusty Cheuvront, the governor's spokesman; and Dennis Fleming, his lawyer, immediately went to work on damage control.

        None of them would talk to the Enquirer. But sources say Mrs. Luallen — known to be brilliant, tough and nearly impossible to rattle — was the most upset. Her mood would darken as the weeks progressed.

        The advisers agreed that Mr. Patton should address the allegations, which he insisted were untrue.

Family members hug Mr. Patton after he admitted an “inappropriate personal relationship.” (AP file photo) | ZOOM |

        An interview with WHAS was arranged for Monday afternoon, Sept. 16, at the Bowman Field airport on the outskirts of Frankfort. Mr. Patton was preparing to leave for Washington, D.C., where he would preside over events associated with the National Governors Association, the influential group that lobbies Congress on issues important to states.

        During the TV interview, Mr. Patton denied all of Mrs. Conner's allegations.

        “I did not,” he sternly responded, when asked if he had had a sexual relationship with the woman.

Station promos story

        By the next morning, Tuesday, Sept. 17, WHAS began promoting its upcoming story with a cryptic line about one of the state's most powerful men possibly trading favors for sex.

        By late morning, word had reached reporters that the man in question was the governor.

        “About then all hell began breaking loose,” says a source close to Mr. Patton's advisers.

        In the TV story that aired that evening, Mrs. Conner told of five-hour sexual sessions in the duo's morning meetings and about sex involving them and a third person.

        The governor's office issued a faxed denial, saying Mr. Patton had no “inappropriate contact with Ms. Conner or on her behalf.” It called her accusations “acts of desperation from a nursing home operator whose facility has been decertified for numerous health and safety violations and who faces foreclosure and bankruptcy.”

        While Mr. Patton convened the governors association meeting in Washington, Kentucky Democrats defended their governor and dismissed the charges against him.

        “You can't believe this stuff,” said Ruth Bauman, a Campbell County Democratic Party activist, who attended the county's annual Senior Citizen Picnic in Melbourne that Wednesday.

        The same day, Mrs. Conner filed a sexual harassment suit against the governor in Louisville, alleging she received preferential treatment during the affair but suffered retaliation from state regulators after she broke it off.

        The suit contained details of the alleged affair, including reference to 10 interludes in Lexington, Louisville hotels and one in the governor's office. The suit mentioned “lewd” phone calls.

        Some of those closest to Mr. Patton, including Mr. Cheuvront and Mr. Fleming, began telling the governor that he needed to publicly address the charges.

        So the governor returned from Washington and with Judi, his wife of 25 years at his side, again issued strong denials at a news conference.

        “I think my conduct has been appropriate,” he said.

        He also denied statements from Mrs. Conner that his lawyers tried to reach a settlement.

        “There's no way I would reward anybody for this kind of a fabrication,” Mr. Patton said.

        Asked to comment on the televised interview with Mrs. Conner, Mrs. Patton responded, “I don't think they have all the facts.”

Confidence wanes

        Behind closed doors, confidence in Mr. Patton's denials was waning.

        Sources say Mrs. Luallen was distraught, a wreck. She called at least one friend, weeping and concerned that the allegations might be true.

        The Pattons returned to the governors' association meeting in Washington. But, by now, the national media were on the story.

        After a governors' news conference on homeland security Thursday, Sept. 19, reporters from across the country cornered Mr. Patton, firing questions about Mrs. Conner's allegations.

        “They weren't expecting that,” a source said of the Patton camp. “The governor was pretty shook up.”

        Mr. Martin, Mrs. Luallen and Mr. Fleming were again urging Mr. Patton to come clean. Admit the affair, they told him, but stand by assertions that nothing was done to aid or punish Mrs. Conner.

        Mr. Patton's Washington political consultants — hired to help in a potential U.S. Senate race — also weighed in, telling him he had to admit the affair.

        By Thursday morning Mr. Patton was battling fatigue, saying later he got little sleep in Washington on Wednesday night because he knew his life was about to forever change.

        Thursday night after returning to Frankfort, Mr. Patton gathered his family in the Governor's Mansion.

        “I spent Thursday evening with Judi and our children and apologized to them and asked their forgiveness,” he would later say.

        “Realizing the impact this would have on Judi and the rest of my family and friends, my first response was to deny my unfaithfulness to Judi. I was wrong. The denial was another mistake,” he said.

        Sources say Mrs. Patton was livid. Either Thursday night or Friday evening, she left Frankfort for the Eastern Kentucky hills and the couple's hometown of Pikeville to stay with a sister. She has granted no interviews since.

        Fresh from his session with his family Thursday night, the governor began calling General Assembly leaders Friday morning, telling them he was going to admit the affair. That morning's Courier-Journal in Louisville had reported that Mr. Patton had made 440 phone calls to five numbers registered to Mrs. Conner or her nursing home from early 1997 through this August.

        Mr. Callahan got one of Mr. Patton's calls that Friday morning. He was especially disturbed because, as a friend, he knew the Pattons would be celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary the next week.

        “It was not a pleasant conversation,” Mr. Callahan recalls, noting the governor was weeping as they spoke.

        About 11 a.m. in Highland Heights, Northern Kentucky University officials and local political, community and business leaders prepared for the groundbreaking of the science center. They already had received word that Mr. Patton would not be attending, but a new buzz started after word circulated that the governor would be issuing a statement. It was clear he was going to admit the affair.

        “A lot of people expected him to be here,” said state Rep. Paul Marcotte, R-Union, standing before the science center, one of Mr. Patton's pet projects.

        “But obviously he's preoccupied.”

In the wings at the admission

        Up until the last few moments before his tearful media appearance, Mr. Patton still appeared reluctant to talk. Usually relaxed and confident with reporters, he had to be cajoled into entering the packed room at the Kentucky History Center in Frankfort.

        Almost immediately, Mr. Patton broke down, eventually crying so hard it reminded many of when televangelist Jimmy Swaggert wept as he admitted a sexual affair.

        His voice wavered as he had to pronounce his wife's name: “Judi.”

        It cracked again when he had to say the words “friends,” referring to those political operatives and supporters who have attached their own futures to his rising star.

        “The governor will, obviously, not be taking questions,” an aide told the media.

        As he left the podium, Mr. Patton was embraced in a group hug by son Chris, daughter Nicki, stepdaughter Bambi Todd and sister Jo Stanfill.

Trying to stop the bleeding

        Mr. Fleming, Mrs. Luallen and Mr. Martin, meanwhile, were becoming increasingly worried. They needed a strategy to get Mr. Patton back in the public eye. More than anything, they wanted to avoid perceptions that the governor was hiding and ducking his responsibilities.

        Last Tuesday, Mr. Patton held yet another news conference, telling reporters that he was carrying on his duties as governor but putting off-limits questions about politics or his personal life.

        Known as a dedicated campaigner for Democrats statewide, Mr. Patton pledged to stay out of politics, saying he did not want to be a “disruption” at political events. He also strongly suggested that he would pass on a planned 2004 challenge to Republican Kentucky U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning of Southgate. The suggestion that a run for the Senate might be out was startling: Mr. Patton had been preparing for it since his first term as governor.

        “I must now focus on rebuilding my private life and discharging my duties as governor,” Mr. Patton said, adding that he had no plans to resign.

        Late last week he began making personal appearances again, part of a strategy to distance himself from his problems with Mrs. Conner.

        Mrs. Conner was making personal appearances, too. She went national on the Today show Friday and told Katie Couric she would be meeting with the FBI on Monday.

        Looking back, Mr. Callahan says that Mr. Patton's initial denial of an affair was a turning point of the entire episode, a grave mistake that should have been avoided.

        “The biggest mistake he made was when he answered that question,” Mr. Callahan laments. “If he would have said yes, and admitted it, then we're talking about a different course of events than we are today. A lot of this might have been avoided, or at least it might not have turned out so bad.”

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