Walter Dee Huddleston

Walter Darlington "Dee" Huddleston (April 15, 1926 – October 16, 2018) was an American commercial broadcaster and politician from Kentucky. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the United States Senate from 1973 to 1985. He was defeated for re-election in 1984 by Mitch McConnell by 5,269 votes. Huddleston had a career in commercial broadcasting prior to entering politics in 1964.

Early life
Huddleston was born in Burkesville, Kentucky. His father Walter Franklin Huddleston was a Methodist preacher. He was one of the nine children of Walter and his wife, the former Lottie Belle Russell. After he graduated from high school, he enlisted in the United States Army and served as a tank gunner in Europe during and after World War II from 1944 to 1946. He then attended the University of Kentucky with support from the G.I. Bill, and he graduated in 1949. In 1947, Huddleston married the former Martha Jean Pearce, and they had two sons, Stephen Huddleston and Philip Huddleston (died April 10, 2022). Martha Jean Huddleston died on August 18, 2003.

After graduating from college, Huddleston worked as the sports and program director for WKCT in Bowling Green, Kentucky. In 1952, he became the general manager of WIEL in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. He later became president of the Kentucky Broadcasters Association.

Career
Huddleston entered politics in 1964 when he was elected to the Kentucky State Senate. He was elected as a state senator in 1965, serving until 1972; for a time, he was the body's majority leader.

In 1972, Huddleston ran for the United States Senate seat which was being vacated by retiring Republican John Sherman Cooper. He narrowly defeated Republican Louie Nunn, a recent former governor, receiving a 51% to 48% margin. Huddleston ran the camapaign by repeatedly faulting Nunn for raising the sales tax when was governor. Huddleston was reelected in 1978 with 61 percent of the vote over the former Republican state Representative Louie R. Guenthner Jr., of Louisville, Kentucky.

During his Senate Career, Huddleston supported the Equal Rights Amendment to prohibit sex discrimination, but was critical of abortion rights. He endorsed voluntary school prayers and Kentucky products like tobacco, bourbon and coal. He supported price control through shifting some of the price to the farmers. He also voiced opposition to excessive drinking labels. He supported the 1977 treaty which ceded the canal to Panama and wished to limit covert intelligence operations.

In 1984, Huddleston's Republican opponent was Jefferson County (Louisville) Judge-Executive Mitch McConnell. McConnell gained political traction with a series of television campaign ads mocking Huddleston's attendance record in the Senate. McConnell accused him of putting "his private speaking engagements ahead of his Senate responsibilities." Despite these ads, the race was very close, with McConnell only defeating Huddleston when the last returns came in (49.9% to 49.5%).

Post-Senate career
Huddleston was known as a member of the moderate wing of the Democratic Party, as was typical of party members from Kentucky.

After his retirement, Huddleston returned to Elizabethtown, Kentucky and began working as a lobbyist for railroad, tobacco and agricultural clients. He also lobbied in behalf of Louisville-based health insurance company Humana and Capitol Holding, a parent of Commonwealth Life Insurance.

In the late 1980s, Huddleston served on the National Board of Advisors of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, an anti-immigration group advocating for a lower rate of legal immigration.

In 2012, Huddleston announced he was stepping down as chairman of First Financial Service Corporation.

Death
Huddleston died in his sleep on October 16, 2018, at the home of his son, Stephen Huddleston in Warsaw, Kentucky, age 92. Mitch McConnell issued a statement on Huddleston's death soon after, in which he honored Huddleston's "tenacity," and stated that both he and his wife, Elaine Chao, were "saddened" when they heard of his passing.