participate in Kentucky primary elections. At the time, Democrats outnumbered Republicans in Kentucky by a 2-to-1 margin. Governor John Y. Brown, Jr. named him to the board of directors for the University of Kentucky and the Chandler Medical Center. In the mid-1980s, Jones created the Kentucky Health Care Access Foundation to provide free health care to individuals who fell below the poverty line but did not qualify for Medicaid. Governor Martha Layne Collins chose Jones to chair her Medicaid Program Review Team and serve on her Council on Education Reform. Lieutenant governor In late 1985, Jones announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor in the 1987 election, conceding that he sought the office because he would like to serve as governor in the future. He convincingly won in the Democratic primary against Paul E. Patton, who later became governor, and David L. Armstrong, the sitting Attorney General and later Mayor of Louisville. Wallace G. Wilkinson, winner of the Democratic gubernatorial primary, praised Jones and said that, if elected, he would make Jones the head of a blue-ribbon economic development council. Wilkinson and Jones went on to win the general election; Jones defeated Republican nominee Lawrence R. Webster by a convincing vote of 517,811 to 186,321. Soon after the election results were announced, Jones was quoted in a newspaper as saying that he had talked with Wilkinson about opening channels with the media, whom Wilkinson often refused to speak with. Jones also said that he did not agree with all of Wilkinson's political positions and would not be his "yes man". These comments angered Wilkinson, who backtracked on his promise to give Jones an active role in the administration. Relations between Jones and Wilkinson further deteriorated as both men tried to recoup the money spent during their campaigns. During the 1988 legislative session, Governor Wilkinson proposed an amendment to the Kentucky Constitution that would allow state officials, including the sitting incumbents, to succeed themselves in office once. As presiding officer in the Senate, Jones insisted that any such measure also include a runoff provision if a candidate did not receive a majority of votes in the party primary. Wilkinson opposed this provision, and the measure died in the state senate. Wilkinson's proposed education program also failed in the session, and Jones suggested that the governor should build a consensus among legislators before including the program on the agenda of a special legislative