1997, one of Patton's signature legislative accomplishments. On August 3, 1999, Patton appointed Conway deputy secretary of his executive cabinet, serving under secretary Crit Luallen. Conway was responsible for drafting Patton's 2000 legislative package to the General Assembly. He also co-chaired task forces charged with investigating changes to the state's regulation of electrical utilities and the exposure of workers at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant to radioactive plutonium. Campaign for U.S. House of Representatives Conway announced his resignation from Patton's cabinet in May 2001 amid speculation that he would seek the 3rd district congressional seat of incumbent Anne Northup. He believed Northup's vote to impeach President Bill Clinton in 1998 made her vulnerable in the Democratic-leaning district. Washington, D.C.-based Roll Call listed Northup among the ten most vulnerable incumbents entering the 2002 elections. After leaving state government, Conway joined the law firm of Conliffe Sandman Sullivan. On June 18, 2001, he officially announced his candidacy for Northup's seat. Later that week, Patton named Conway chair of the newly formed Kentucky State Energy Policy Advisory Board. The move angered state Republicans; state party chair Ellen Williams said that Conway's appointment "injected hard-core partisan politics" into the issue of the state's energy future. In May 2002, Conway resigned from the board, citing his election campaign. The race also affected the General Assembly's ability to pass a reapportionment bill in 2002. The state Senate's Republican majority proposed adding Republican-leaning Oldham County to the 3rd district, while the Democrat-controlled state House resisted the plan, resulting in an impasse for much of the legislative session. Ultimately, the Assembly passed a plan that kept the 3rd district entirely within Jefferson County, adding several politically conservative suburbs of Louisville instead of Oldham County. Even with the addition of these areas, however, Democrats held a voter registration advantage of nearly two-to-one in the district. Both Conway and Northup expressed support for the approved district boundaries. Despite an extended filing deadline, neither candidate faced a challenge in their respective party primaries. Conway portrayed Northup as an ineffective legislator who would not protect Social Security and healthcare benefits. Northup countered that, at 33 years old, Conway lacked experience, and said not being married had deprived him of "a responsibility to somebody else". She attacked Conway for his ties to Governor Patton, who had become embroiled in a sex-for-favors scandal. Northup's campaign raised and spent almost twice as much money as