Edwin Ray Denney (March 8, 1904 - June 22, 1986) was a Republican politician from Kentucky. He was born in Wayne County to Joseph Ryan Denney and Hattie Lovelace. [1] He graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1932 and practiced law in Lexington and Mount Sterling. [1] Denney served as minority floor leader in the Kentucky House of Representatives as a representative from Rockcastle County before serving as a Circuit Judge from 1946 to 1947 and as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky from 1953 to 1955. [1] He resigned as U.S. District Attorney to seek the Republican nomination for Governor of Kentucky in the 1955 election, which he received. [2] Hoping to exploit divisions in the Democratic Party from its hotly contested primary that year, Denney campaigned on a progressive platform and attacked the character of his opponent, former Democratic governor Happy Chandler. [3] Denney lost the election with 322,671 votes (41.7%) to Chandler's 451,647 (58.3%). Chandler's victory margin of 129,000 votes was the largest landslide in a Kentucky gubernatorial election up to that time. [4] Denney died on June 22, 1986, at the age of 82. [5]