Donnie Gedling

In 1990, Gedling received his first challenge for his seat when Republican James Holbrook ran against him. He defeated Holbrook with 73 percent of the vote.^[9][10] In 1992, he again ran unopposed. By this time, parts of Hardin County had been added to the district.^[11][12]

In the late 1980s and early 1990s Gedling became known as a fierce defender of tobacco and smokers’ rights. In 1990 he was able to get a Smokers’ Bill of Rights bill passed by the Kentucky House of Representatives.^[13] During this time he was still the Chairman of the General Assembly's Tobacco Task Force. He was highly critical of the University of Louisville when it became the first state university in Kentucky to have smoking restrictions. He thought it was very hypocritical to take state funds (much of which came from the tobacco industry) and then try to ban the product from areas of campus.^[14][15][16]

In Gedling's later terms he was a member of the Joint Committee on Agricultural and Natural Resources; the Joint Committee on Counties, Special Districts, and Local Government; the Joint Committee on State Government; the Tobacco Task Force; and a sub-committee for rural fire protection. .^[17][18]

In 1994, Gedling retired and his son, Joey, lost the election to Republican Dwight Butler, 55 percent to 45 percent.^[19][20]

Before politics, he had been a social worker for the state of Kentucky and a veteran of the U.S. Army.^[21]

Gedling set up a scholarship in his name for any students from Breckinridge or Hancock counties in Kentucky who attend Brescia University in Owensboro, Kentucky after his retirement from politics.^[22]

He was a member of St. Rose Catholic Church in Cloverport, Kentucky and the Knights of Columbus.^[21]

Gedling died in Owensboro on December 4, 2024, at the age of 84.^[21]