FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – In a letter to state workers during his 2003 campaign, Republican Ernie Fletcher pledged to end the “good old boy politics” that prevailed during 32 years of Democratic governors.

Easier said than done, critics claim. Fletcher now finds his administration at the center of an investigation into exactly the kind of political tinkering with state employment that he criticized.

The investigation blew up just as Fletcher should have been enjoying some of the best publicity of his 17-month term, after Toyota announced plans to produce gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles in Kentucky.

Instead, Fletcher, who was on a trade mission to Asia, had to conduct a late-night conference call from Japan and explain to a room full of shouting reporters that his administration’s hiring practices, while perhaps enthusiastic toward Republicans, were not illegal.

“They probably have been cut out for the last 30 years,” Fletcher said of his fellow Republicans. “They should feel like that they have an opportunity, and that we have attempted to make a level playing field based within the law.”

Fletcher conceded that “… we’ve certainly made mistakes, and we will continue to because we’re human.”

But Fletcher was a bit testier Friday when he returned from his trip.

“My assessment as we look at this and what is it all about, I think it’s pretty clear this is the beginning of the 2007 governor’s race is what this is about,” he said.

The probe was triggered by a veteran Transportation Cabinet employee who presented prosecutors with documents – including notes and e-mails – that indicated hirings were based on politics and not individual qualifications. The employee, Doug Doerting, has since retired.

A special grand jury will be investigating the allegations. No one has been charged.

Fletcher said he hadn’t “seen anything that was inappropriate” in how his subordinates handled state hires, and noted an internal review of his administration’s hiring practices by the Personnel Cabinet did not turn up any irregularities.

But he said his administration would institute a plan to revise how it filters recommendations for state job candidates.

Stumbo insisted the investigation had “nothing to do with politics.”

“People can say it, you know, and some of the people that are saying it probably still believe Nixon was innocent,” Stumbo said Friday. “That doesn’t concern me. What concerns me is that I have a job to do.”

There’s been a fair amount of partisan grumbling about Stumbo’s role, as well.

“It is clear that this is a political maneuver by Stumbo in preparation for the next gubernatorial race. This investigation is hardball politics, pure and simple,” said Kentucky GOP executive committee member Spencer Noe.

When Doerting came forward with documentation detailing the partisan tint to personnel decisions, Stumbo dispatched investigators from his office to retrieve transportation department documents because he feared they were being destroyed.

Transportation officials balked, however, and attorney general investigators and executive branch security personnel spent a weekend outside a locked file room keeping an eye on each other and the door.

Administration officials pledged cooperation with the investigation, but have gone to court at least three times, seeking to quash subpoenas or limit the information investigators can obtain through search warrants.

As many as 500 transportation jobs might have been affected by improper political influence, Stumbo said. And he said the investigation may extend to other agencies. He also asked for appointment of a special grand jury.

“It does appear serious, and it does appear widespread,” Stumbo said.

While a governor has unfettered power to appoint whomever he wants to top administrative jobs throughout state government, a 1960 law that created the state civil-service program called the Merit System requires the majority of state jobs to be filled based on qualifications.

There are 38,000 state employees and all but about 4,000 of them are Merit System, or otherwise not political appointments, such as court employees.

Charges under the personnel laws are largely misdemeanors and carry a one-year statute of limitations. Stumbo has said delays may already have prohibited some prosecutions.

Charles Wells, director of the Kentucky Association of State Employees, a public worker union, said the documents reflect “the most blatant abuse of the Merit System that I’ve seen in 20 years.”

Wells said Fletcher drew the votes of many state workers because of his promises to take politics out of state employment.

“All they’re seeing is not only more of the same, but worse than the same,” Wells said.