On November 2, 2004, Jim Bunning was elected to serve a second term as U.S. Senator for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Bunning was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1998.
As a youngster in Northern Kentucky, Bunning fell in love with baseball and even then he displayed a competitive spirit and a willingness to work hard. That combination carried him on to a highly successful 17-year career as a Major League Baseball player after his graduation from Xavier University with an Economics degree.
Pitching primarily for the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies, Bunning accumulated a record of achievement that eventually won him a seat in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996. He was the second pitcher in history (Cy Young was the first) to record 1,000 strikeouts and 100 wins in both the American and National leagues. When he retired in 1971, Bunning was second on the all time strikeout list - second only to Walter Johnson.
In 1977, Bunning ran for and won a City Council seat in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. In 1979, he was elected to the Kentucky State Senate and became its Republican Leader. In 1986, Bunning was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for the 4th District of Kentucky where he served for 12 years.
