Researching Janet Stumbo

Stumbo graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1980 and spent nearly a decade practicing law before making her first bid for public office in a special election for a seat on the Kentucky Court of Appeals. During the race, she was criticized for not taking the surname of her husband, but running instead under her maiden name of Stumbo, which is well-recognized in Eastern Kentucky, due to the political careers of former Kentucky House Speaker Greg Stumbo and former gubernatorial candidate Grady Stumbo, both distant relatives. Stumbo won election to the court, but the issue of her last name would continue to be raised in most of her future campaigns. Typically seen as a consumer- and defendant-friendly judge, she was re-elected to the court without opposition in 1991. In 1993, she was elected to the Kentucky Supreme Court, defeating two opponents, including Sara W. Combs, who had become the court's first female justice via an interim appointment by Governor Brereton Jones months earlier.

On the Supreme Court, Stumbo helped establish a family court system in Kentucky. She continued to be sympathetic to defendants' rights, and acquired a reputation as the court's most liberal member. She was re-elected without opposition in 1996, but was narrowly defeated in 2004 by Will T. Scott in a campaign that saw the weakening of restrictions on candidates' statements regarding their views on issues that they might later adjudicate. In 2006, Stumbo defeated incumbent David A. Barber to return to the Court of Appeals. In a rematch of their 2004 race, Stumbo challenged Scott for his seat on the Kentucky Supreme Court in 2012, but lost by over 20,000 votes. In 2014, Stumbo turned back a challenge from Kent Varney to earn another eight-year term on the court.