factional leader Happy Chandler had already begun his campaign for a third term as governor. The anti-Chandler faction became concerned that, if they did not name a candidate, Chandler's early announcement would give him an advantage in the 1963 election. Leaders of the faction were solidly behind state Highway Commissioner Henry Ward, but Governor Combs was leaning toward Breathitt. Breathitt announced his candidacy on May 2, 1962, but many in his party remained skeptical due to his youth and relative inexperience. Combs eventually convinced the anti-Chandler faction to back Breathitt, and Ward never became a candidate. During the primary campaign, Chandler focused his attacks on the Combs administration rather than the inexperienced Breathitt. A seasoned campaigner, he bitterly attacked the three percent sales tax enacted during the Combs administration. Breathitt struck back with accusations that, as a senator, Chandler had voted in favor of declaring war on Japan during World War II, but resigned his army commission shortly thereafter. He further charged that Chandler's son-in-law was collecting campaign donations from individuals who desired favors from state government. The younger Breathitt, thirty-eight years old when the campaign began, adapted well to the relatively new medium of television, while the aging Chandler did not. Breathitt won the primary by more than 60,000 votes and carried all but one of the state's congressional districts. Chandler's running mate, Harry Lee Waterfield, easily won the nomination for lieutenant governor over Breathitt's running mate, John B. Breckinridge, showing that the defeat was not so much a result of factionalism as a personal rebuff of Chandler. This campaign ended Chandler's political career. In the general election, Breathitt challenged Republican Louie B. Nunn. Still stinging from his primary defeat, Happy Chandler endorsed Nunn, which hurt Breathitt with some members of his own party. During the campaign, Nunn attacked an executive order issued by Governor Combs that desegregated public accommodations in Kentucky as "rule by executive decree". Appearing on television with a copy of the executive order, Nunn proclaimed that "my first act will be to abolish this." Nunn's proclamation won him the support of some conservative Democrats, but cost him Republican votes, especially in Louisville. The New Republic charged that Nunn ran "the first outright segregationist campaign in Kentucky." Breathitt won the election by a margin of just over 13,000 votes. Governor of Kentucky The first legislative session of Breathitt's administration was a disappointment to his faction. His