By Jack Brammer
NKyTribune reporter
Jeff Hoover, a high-profile leader in Kentucky politics, was a broken man.
He stood solemnly at a podium in a room filled with reporters and cameras in the Capitol Annex. The first Republican to hold the top position of speaker in the Kentucky House of Representatives since 1921 was facing his toughest news conference.
It was Sunday afternoon, Nov. 5, 2017. Hoover’s future was on the line.
The story was public about allegations that the popular, affable Jamestown attorney and three other state GOP lawmakers allegedly had sexually harassed a staffer and had secretly settled a sexual harassment claim.
Jeff Hoover
A tearful Hoover at the news conference announced his intentions to resign from the speaker post he was elected to in January but he would keep his 83rd House District in southern Kentucky that he had represented since 1997.
His family members looked on. A pastor friend stood in the background.
Hoover acknowledged that he had “engaged in inappropriate text messages” with a legislative staffer in his office. He asked the people of Kentucky “to forgive me for my actions.”
Hoover said he never engaged in “unwelcome or unwanted conduct” and “at no time were there ever any sexual relations of any kind.” The former staffer had accused Hoover and the three other lawmakers of sexually harassing her between 2015 and 2017. She also accused Hoover of groping her.
The day before, then-Gov. Matt Bevin, a fellow Republican, in a hastily called news conference in the Capitol Rotunda, had called for the immediate resignation of any elected official or state employee who had settled a harassment claim.
Bevin mentioned no one by name but called the allegations “reprehensible, indefensible and unacceptable.” He said he would tolerate nothing less.
“I was feeling so many emotions at my news conference,” Hoover said in a recent interview. “I had abandoned my family, my law practice, my friends. I was so embarrassed. My name was in newspapers across the state, on TV and the radio. I had done wrong and I was feeling the consequences.”
In the following days, Hoover’s health suffered.
“I couldn’t eat. I lost 40 pounds in 30 days,” he said. “I would break out in sweats. One day I passed out and was taken to Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington. My doctor called it ‘broken heart syndrome.’ I was devastated.”
Jeff Hoover, who had been at the pinnacle of his political career, was a broken man.
‘I’m glad it happened’
Jeff Hoover today says he is “a changed man.”
The changes were not easy.
When he left the legislature, he had no idea he would become a public Christian speaker about his past, even pastoring a small community church in Russell County.
In 2019, Hoover spoke at Manntown Community Church below Wolf Creek Dam to a congregation of about 25 people. He agreed in December of that year to become its part-time pastor. He stayed there until late summer of 2020 when the church found a full-time pastor. “They wanted me to stay and it was hard to leave,” he said.
Jeff Hoover, Speaker of the House (file photo)
Hoover’s first sermon at the church was titled “I’m Glad It Happened.” It was based on James 1:2 in the Bible, which says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.”
He said he was glad that his political scandal happened because he learned from it about God’s redemptive love. He said he had been broken to the core but God had restored him.
His talk was more than a sermon. It was what Christians call a personal testimony, what they say about a religious lesson they believe they learned from God.
Since then, Hoover has shared his testimony with others, even at an early Sunday morning service at Jamestown Marina, a 300-acre vacation hub on the north shores of Lake Cumberland,
He said he wants to share his “story of restoration” with everyone.
“I am receptive to sharing my story because I want people to know that no matter the situation they are facing in life, no matter the storm they are facing, privately or even very public as mine was, God can use that storm to change their life, just as he did mine.
“I now try to focus on what is truly important – God, family, church, helping others – when I was focusing on me.”
Growing up in the church
Jeff Hoover was born Jan. 18, 1960, at the old War Memorial Hospital in Albany, son of Welby and Mae Hoover. His parents, who also had another son, Joey Hoover, and daughter, Jennifer Cross, started in 1966 the first FM radio station in Russell County.
Hoover’s dad, who had been a field representative for U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Somerset, was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1986 but died before he got sworn in.
Hoover’s mother won a special election to replace her husband in the legislature and served one two-year term.
“I’m proud of the distinction that both my parents were elected to the state legislature,” said Hoover, who often went to the Capitol with his mother. His first visit to the Capitol was when then-House Speaker Don Blandford held a memorial service in the House chamber for his father.
Hoover grew up in Jamestown, played basketball for four years at Centre College before graduating in 1982. In 1984, Hoover was an intern for former state Rep. Richard Turner, R-Tompkinsville. He got his law degree from Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Ala., in 1987.
As a youth in Jamestown, Hoover was a regular attendee in the youth program at First United Methodist Church. He said he “got away from church” in college.
When his dad died, Hoover said he helped his mother manage the radio station. With a law degree, he was clerk for the local circuit judge for about 18 months and then went into private practice, focusing on criminal justice and litigation.
In January 1992, Hoover married Karyn Blankenship. He was nine years older than her. They had started dating in the spring of 1991. He was baptized in October 1991.
The Hoover wedding was performed by his good friend, Jeff Eaton, pastor of First Baptist Church in Russell Springs, who now is minister of Hope Community Church in Franklin County.
Eaton would be at the 2017 news conference in which Hoover said he would step down as speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives.
Longest serving GOP leader
Jeff and Karyn Hoover joined Russell Springs Baptist Church. For about 15 years, Hoover has been a Sunday school teacher there for an adult class of about 45 ranging in age from 30s to 80s.
The couple had three daughters: Blair Conner is director of social media at the University of Kentucky; Ryan Queenan teaches special education at Henry Clay High School in Lexington; and Evan is finishing her first year at the University of Kentucky.
All three children grew up in the church, said Hoover.
In 1996, Hoover decided to follow his parents and run for the state legislature. He defeated Republican Tommy Todd of Nancy. His mother, who died in 2008, had encouraged him to run for political office.
Hoover flourished in the legislature and was well-liked by members of both political parties. He was minority caucus chair for two years and was Republican floor leader from 2001 to 2017. He ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2007 as the running mate of former U.S. Rep. Anne Northup of Louisville.
In 2015, Hoover became the longest-serving Republican leader in the history of the Kentucky House of Representatives. After the 2016 elections when Republicans gained a majority in the state House, Hoover was selected as House speaker, replacing Democrat Greg Stumbo, becoming the first Republican speaker in 95 years.
“I had devoted my life to increasing the number of Republicans in the state House. I traveled all over the state,” he said.
After being sworn in as speaker on Jan. 3, 2017, Hoover said, “The people of Kentucky have expressed their desire for change. The people of Kentucky have a desire for a new direction. The people of Kentucky are depending on this body to provide a climate in this state where they can seek better opportunities for themselves and their families.”
Jeff Hoover in a favorite role — grandfather (Facebook photo)
He would stay speaker for 10 months, eventually resigning in disgrace from the position but not yet giving up his legislative seat.
‘God, take this from us’
“I just withdrew from everything when the news of my conduct broke,” Hoover said. “My wife would find me lying on the floor in a fetal position.”
“My family’s faith in me never wavered but it was tough, very tough, especially on my wife and marriage,” he said. “We started counseling. I was praying, ‘God, take this from us.’ All I could do was pray and pray.”
One morning in early spring of 2018, Hoover said his wife was getting ready to go to school as a teacher. “We had prayed the night before and found that morning a peace, that from that day forward we would pray that God would show us what to do, that I would surrender my all to God.”
Hoover said he was driving home from Frankfort in February 2019 when he was “absorbed in praying how I could do better, that I could do something with the life I had.”
While going through Harrodsburg, he saw the extension campus of Campbellsville University, a private, Christian institution.
“It was like telling me I’ve got to do this,” he said. “I knew I had to study scripture.”
Hoover called Mike Carter, the university president, and told him he would like to take a class on theology.
“The term was to start Monday, but he told me I needed to apply for a Master’s degree in theology. I started that Monday,” he said. “I’ve taken one class and am still working on my Master’s.”
The coronavirus pandemic slowed down Hoover’s studies. “I’m not much for online studies so I am waiting to see about that.”
In late September 2019, Hoover and his wife decided he would not run again for another term in the state legislature. He prepared a press release about his decision.
At a Friday night dinner, the Hoovers told their youngest daughter that he was not going to be a candidate in 2020 for the state House.
“She said, ‘Dad, what are you going to do with your time?’ We found out about 45 minutes later going into a high school football game.”
‘Every sinner has a past’
Wanda VonFumetti, a nurse who went to school with Hoover and is a “good friend,” saw Hoover walking into the football game.
“She told me her church needed a speaker for homecoming services. She asked me if I would do it,” he said. “I accepted and shared my story of how God can bring you through any storm.”
Later that week, Hoover got a call to become the church’s part-time pastor.
“I stayed on until COVID hit and they found a full-time pastor. It was a great experience for me. It made me a better husband, a better father and I think a better lawyer who now feels more empathy for my clients.”
VonFumetti said Hoover “makes one fine minister. He knows his Bible and now is trying to live it. Every sinner has a past, and he’s so open now. That’s why I love him.”
Pastor Eaton, who performed the wedding for the Hoovers and received a call from him about becoming part-time pastor of Manntown Church, said he has heard “Jeff’s testimony.”
“I applaud everyone’s restoration,” said Eaton.
A few months ago, Hoover spoke to a group of about 75 men in Bowling Green at the request of businessman Tim Brown, who founded REUP Men’s Movement, a Christian ministry for men.
“He told us his story of his lowest moment in life to redemption,” said Brown. “He was real and direct. This kind of change is available to anyone and everyone.”
Things more important than politics
Hoover knows that some people may be skeptical of his salvation and restoration and will never believe him.
“I must say I am truly sorry but it’s not up to me to change their mind,” he said. “I have asked for everyone’s forgiveness. I have asked for God’s. I believe God has forgiven me.”
Hoover acknowledges that it is difficult “trying to forget people who turned on me. To be honest, I still have strong feelings against them. I am working on that.”
Now, Hoover said, he is working on taking care of his family and friends, his law practice, health, and faith.
“You find out there are things more important than politics,” he said.
But Hoover stays informed with politics.
He recently posted on Twitter his disappointment that this year’s Republican-led legislature gave state workers an 8 percent pay raise next year and another 12 percent hike in the following year while not raising salaries of public school teachers.
“Giving teachers a ZERO pay raise is the biggest smack down and slap to public education in history,” Hoover said.
Asked last week if he has any plans of returning to politics, he immediately said, “Absolutely not.”
What he is planning is a good Easter this weekend with his family. He had a grandson born last June and his second arrived last Sunday morning.
Hoover plans to attend a sunrise service Easter morning at Jamestown’s public square, then attend services at church and spend the day with family.
“Easter to me means there is hope beyond this life. My sins have been paid in full by my Savior,” he said.
Jeff Hoover no longer is a broken man.
