By Joe Biesk
The Associated Press

FRANKFORT - The saying is, like father, like son. In the case of Ben Chandler, however, it is more like the legacy of his famous grandfather, A.B. "Happy" Chandler, if elected Kentucky's next governor.

In fact, the late Happy Chandler - a former governor, senator and baseball commissioner - discussed with friends years ago his political aspirations for his namesake grandson.

A Woodford County Democrat, Ben Chandler is but one win away from achieving the office for which he's spent much of his adult life preparing.

"His grandfather dreamed of Ben being governor," said Fontaine Banks, a longtime political adversary and friend of the late governor. "Gov. Chandler and I did not ever talk about the Senate for Ben. It was always governor."

Ben Chandler, 43, has spent more than a decade in public office, building on his family name and political pedigree. He's served as state auditor, and is finishing his second term as the state's attorney general.

On the campaign trail, Chandler rarely fails to mention his ties to his famous grandfather.

His grandfather's legacy has been part of what has brought people like Banks to rally around him in his bid for governor.

By spending his days working for Chandler's campaign, Banks says he's making good on a promise he made to his grandfather.

Around the time Ben Chandler started his run for auditor, Banks spoke with the late governor for the last time. It's one of his more lasting memories of him, Banks said.

The two were at a gathering in Lexington when "Happy" Chandler called him over.

"He said, 'Will you watch out for and help my grandson?' And I said, 'I'll do it,' " Banks recalls proudly. "He looked at me real straight and said, 'Will you do it?' And I said, 'Governor, I will do it.' "

Ben Chandler's name has also worked against him at times.

When they first met at the University of Kentucky, Chandler's wife, Jennifer, said it was difficult for her to look past her husband's family name.

"I remember looking at him and thinking, 'Oh, Happy Chandler's grandson,' he's probably got an attitude," she said.

Even though she saw his sense of humor when he wore an asparagus costume - "green tights and all" - to a Halloween party, Jennifer says at first she didn't give him a chance.

"I was completely wrong," she said.

Friends and family say Ben Chandler is more than just Happy's grandson. Over the years he's carved his own reputation, they say, as an independent public figure bent on improving Kentucky.

As attorney general, he sought indictments against members of his own party, most recently against members of the sitting governor's staff.

"He's got his own record to run on, and he doesn't have to use his granddaddy's coattails," Ben's father, Ben Chandler II, said.

Still, Chandler's father said he never expected his son to get into politics. He always thought his son, an avid baseball fan with two fantasy teams, would work in professional baseball.

Seeing different well-known faces filter in and out of his grandfather's home may have helped spark young Ben's desire for public service. But it was during his time abroad, working for a member of the British Parliament, where a young Chandler got a firsthand taste of politics, Ben Chandler said.

"It just fascinated me. I saw firsthand, really for the first time in my life as a participant, what you could accomplish," the gubernatorial candidate said.

A history buff - he majored in it in college - Chandler lives with his wife and three children on land that's been in his mother's family nearly as long as Kentucky's been a state.