 In 1967 , Ford ran for lieutenant governor , this time against the wishes of Breathitt and Combs , whose pick was state attorney general Robert Matthews . Ford defeated Matthews by 631 votes , 0 @.@ 2 % of the total vote count in the primary . He ran an independent campaign and won in the general election even as Combs @-@ Breathitt pick Henry Ward lost the race for governor to Republican Louie B. Nunn . Republicans and Democrats split the state offices , with five going to Republicans and four going to Democrats . 
