 Simeon Slavens Willis ( December 1 , 1879 – April 1 , 1965 ) was the 46th Governor of Kentucky , United States , serving from 1943 to 1947 . He was the only Republican elected governor of Kentucky between 1927 and 1967 . Willis 's family came to Kentucky from Ohio about 1889 . After briefly working in the education and journalism fields , he moved to Lexington , Kentucky , in 1902 and became a banker . In 1927 he was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives , and he served as a state senator from 1932 to 1943 . He was elected governor in 