It's official. Governor elect Beshear  named Representative J. R. Gray of Benton, (Marshall County)  to a cabinet position in his government. Labor will again be a cabinet level office.

 J. R. Gray, 69 years old, served first in the House from 1976-1989, then was relected in 1995. He is a retired former Business Agent of the International Association of Machinists and the proud recipient of the W. C. Young Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Western Kentucky Area Council, AFL-CIO.

In recent years, he has faced challenges in his re-election bids. In 2006, he defeated Marvin Wilson handily, garnering 62.5% of the vote. Gray was helped in 2006 by Governor Fletcher's move toward right to work status and an attempt to end prevailing wage in the Commonwealth. Wilson had previously challenged Gray in 2004 in a much closer contest. Gray won that one by 1100 votes, receiving 53.7% of the vote to Wilson's 46.3%. Labor issues had slipped out of the governor's cabinet during the Fletcher years. One of Steve Beshear's oft repeated promises to organized labor was to restore the position to Cabinet status.