Richard Craig Shelby (born May 6, 1934) is the senior
U.S. SenatorThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
from
AlabamaAlabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its...
. Originally elected to the
SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
as a Democrat, Shelby switched to the Republican Party in 1994 when it gained the majority in
CongressThe United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
.
Background
Shelby was born in
Birmingham, AlabamaBirmingham is the largest city in the state of Alabama in the United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County and includes part of Shelby County. According to a 2007 estimate, the city had a population of 229,800 The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, as of the 2008 census estimates,...
to Alice L. Skinner and Ozie Houston Shelby. He attended the
University of AlabamaThe University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. Founded in 1831, UA is the flagship university of the University of Alabama System. Within Alabama, it is often called "the Capstone"...
, receiving an undergraduate degree in 1957 and a
Juris DoctorJuris Doctor is a first professional degree.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century as a degree similar to the old European doctor of law degree...
in 1963.
After graduating, Shelby practiced law in
TuscaloosaTuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in the west central part of the U.S. state of Alabama. Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama with an estimated population of 90,221 in 2008. Tuscaloosa is named after the Choctaw chieftain Tuskaloosa...
from 1963 to 1978. He is a member of the
American Bar AssociationThe American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
and
Alabama State BarThe Alabama State Bar is the integrated bar association of the U.S. state of Alabama.The Alabama State Bar was established in 1923 and is part of the 1975 Alabama Code, §§ 34-3-1 to 34-3-89....
, as well as the
American Judicature SocietyThe American Judicature Society is an independent, nonpartisan, national organization of judges, lawyers, and interested members of the public whose mission is to improve the American justice system - to "secure and promote an independent and qualified judiciary and fair system of justice." ...
, Alabama Law Institute,
Delta ChiDelta Chi or D-Chi is an international secret letter college social fraternity formed on October 13, 1890, at Cornell University initially as a professional fraternity for law students. Delta Chi is a member of North-American Interfraternity Conference . The Fraternity is headquartered at 314...
Fraternity, and
Phi Alpha DeltaΦAΔ , or PAD, is the largest co-ed professional law fraternity in the United States of America. It was founded in 1902 and today has over 270,000 initiated members. Phi Alpha Delta has members who are university students, law school students, lawyers, judges, senators, and even presidents...
legal fraternity.
Shelby currently lives in Tuscaloosa with his wife, Annette Nevin Shelby. They have two sons — Richard Jr., and Claude Nevin. Claude and his wife Lisa have two children: a daughter, Anna Elizabeth Shelby, and a son, William Nevin Shelby.
Early political career
He entered politics while serving as city prosecutor from 1963 to 1971. From 1966 to 1970, he was a U.S. Magistrate for the Northern District of Alabama; from 1969 to 1971, Shelby was a Special Assistant State Attorney General.
Shelby began his legislative career as a member of the
Alabama SenateThe Alabama State Senate is the upper house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabama. The body is composed of 35 members representing an equal amount of districts across the state, with each district containing at least 127,140 citizens...
in 1970, serving until 1978, when he was elected to the
House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from the Tuscaloosa-based 7th District. He was reelected three times.
Career in the Senate
In 1986, he won the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat held by Republican
Jeremiah DentonJeremiah Andrew Denton Jr. is a retired United States Navy Rear Admiral, Naval Aviator and a former U.S. senator, of the Republican party, for the state of Alabama. He spent almost eight years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and later wrote a book about his experiences. Denton was the first...
, the first Republican elected to the Senate from Alabama since Reconstruction. He won a very close race as the Democrats regained control of the Senate. He was easily re-elected in 1992 even as
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president; only Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were younger when entering office...
lost Alabama's electoral votes.
Shelby spent most of his first 15 years in Washington as one of the more conservative Democrats in Congress. In the House, he was a member of the
boll weevilsBoll weevils was an American political term used in the mid- and late-20th century to describe conservative Southern Democrats.During and after the administration of Franklin D...
, a group of moderate to conservative leaning Democrats who often worked with Republican President
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
on defense issues.
Shelby publicly feuded with
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president; only Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were younger when entering office...
during the first half of his first term. At a meeting with Vice President
Al GoreAlbert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. is an American environmental activist and former politician who served as the 45th Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He is an author, businessperson, former U.S. Senator and former journalist...
, he turned to 19 Alabama TV cameras and denounced the Clinton program as "high on taxes, low on spending cuts". However, as Clinton's approval ratings began to decline, Shelby's popularity ratings became some of the highest in the state. He voted with Senate Republicans against the administration on almost every partisan issue. On November 9, 1994, Shelby switched his party affiliation to Republican one day after the Republicans won control of both houses in the midterm elections, giving the Republicans a 53-47 majority in the Senate. He won his first full term as a Republican in 1998 by a large margin, and faced no significant opposition in 2004.
Shelby served on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from 1995 to 2003, stepping down because of a Senate rule limiting committee terms to eight years. Shelby took an adversarial stance towards the intelligence community during both Clinton and Bush administrations. He helped sink
Anthony LakeAnthony Lake, or William Anthony Kirsopp Lake is a retired American diplomat, political figure, and academic. He has been a foreign policy advisor to many Democratic U.S. presidents and presidential candidates, and served as National Security Advisor under U.S. President Bill Clinton from 1993 to...
's nomination as CIA director in 1997 and promised to investigate the use of American-made satellites by the Chinese to gather intelligence. He was also highly critical of CIA Director
George TenetGeorge John Tenet was the Director of Central Intelligence for the United States Central Intelligence Agency and is Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University...
in the aftermath of September 11. When Tenet resigned in July 2004, Shelby commented "This is not a surprise to me at all. What was a surprise was that he held onto the job as long as he did".
From 2003 until 2007, he chaired the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. He is also a member of the Appropriations Committee (where he chaired its subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science) and Special Committee on Aging. He lost his chairmanships in 2007 when the Democrats regained control of the Senate.
In 2004, a federal investigation concluded that Shelby revealed classified information to the media when he was a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Specifically, Shelby revealed classified information on June 19, 2002 to
Carl CameronCarl Cameron is an American television journalist and commentator for Fox News Channel.- Early Life and Education :As a child Cameron spent several years in Iran, where his father worked as an archaeologist....
, the chief political correspondent on Fox News. This information had been given to Shelby only minutes before at a closed intelligence committee meeting. This information consisted of two messages intercepted by the
National Security AgencyThe National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States government, administered as part of the United States Department of Defense. Created on November 4, 1952 by President Harry S...
on September 10, 2001, but translated only after the attacks the next day — "the match is about to begin" and "tomorrow is zero hour."
Both the U.S. attorney's office and the
Federal Bureau of InvestigationThe Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency. The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) investigated the case, and a
grand juryIn the common law, a grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether there is enough evidence for a trial. Grand juries carry out this duty by examining evidence presented to them by a prosecutor and issuing indictments, or by investigating alleged crimes and issuing presentments...
empaneled. In July 2004, the
Department of JusticeThe United States Department of Justice is a Cabinet department in the United States government designed to enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according to the law and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans...
declined to file criminal charges against Shelby and transferred the case to the Senate Ethics Committee.
On August 11, 2004, media sources confirmed that Shelby had hired
WashingtonWashington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
-based attorney
Gregory CraigGregory Bestor "Greg" Craig is a Washington-based lawyer and current White House Counsel to President Barack Obama. He has represented numerous high-profile clients, including John Hinckley, Jr., who was acquitted of the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan by reason of insanity...
to represent him in investigations by the Ethics Committee. In November 2005, the Senate Ethics Committee dismissed its probe into the alleged leak of classified information regarding National Security Agency intercepts the day before the attacks, administering no punishment to Shelby.
Shelby, in his role as chairman of the
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, & Urban AffairsThe United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs has jurisdiction over matters related to: banks and banking, price controls, deposit insurance, export promotion and controls, federal monetary policy, financial aid to commerce and industry, issuance of redemption of notes,...
, opposed proposed legislation that would have permitted additional competition in the title insurance industry.
Shelby and his wife own between $1 million and $5 million of stock in Tuscaloosa Title Co. His staff stated that his opposition to the bills is unrelated to his relationship with Tuscaloosa Title.
Shelby is currently co-chair of the Congressional Privacy Caucus and Zero Capital Gains Tax Caucus. He is also the Senate co-chair of the National Security Caucus. In addition, he is a member of the
National Republican Senatorial CommitteeThe National Republican Senatorial Committee is the Republican Hill committee for the United States Senate, working to elect Republicans to that body. The NRSC was founded in 1916 as the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee...
and the
Senate Centrist CoalitionThe name of the Senate Centrist Coalition is "Third Way," subtitled, "A Senate-Focused Progressive Advocacy Group." As of November 2004 it was chaired and co-chaired by Blanche Lincoln , Evan Bayh , Tom Carper , Mary Landrieu , and Mark Pryor .-Coalition Members :* Evan Bayh * Tom Carper * Susan...
.
In the
MetroplexA metroplex is large metropolitan area containing several cities and their suburbs. It is also sometimes used as an alternative to metropolis or megalopolis, which is a chain of continuous metropolitan areas. The term was coined for, and is still commonly used to describe, the Dallas/Fort Worth...
of Dallas–Fort Worth, Shelby is known for the Shelby Amendment, a law he sponsored that eased some of the restrictions placed on Dallas' secondary airport by the contentious
Wright AmendmentThe Wright Amendment of 1979 is a federal law governing traffic at Dallas's Love Field Airport. It originally limited most nonstop flights to destinations within Texas and neighboring states. The limits were expanded in 1997 and 2005, and a law repealing the amendment was enacted in October 2006...
.
Shelby remains relatively popular in
AlabamaAlabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its...
. As a September 2009 poll shows, he has a 58% approval rating, with 35% disapproving. Shelby opposed the economic bailout of the
Big Three- Business and education :* Big Three , describing major manufacturers in different countries** In North America: General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler** In Japan: Toyota, Nissan Motors, and Honda...
Auto Industry.
At a meeting on February 21, 2009, Shelby called into question whether
Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first president born in Hawaii...
had been born in the United States, and therefore able to be President of the United States. When asked if there was any truth in the
rumor that there was an issue regarding Obama's citizenshipConspiracy theories rejecting the legitimacy of President of the United States Barack Obama's citizenship and his eligibility to be President have circulated before and after his victory in the 2008 presidential election. Some of these conspiracy theories allege that Obama was born in Kenya, not...
, Shelby responded "Well his father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii, but I haven’t seen any birth certificate. You have to be born in America to be president.” A Shelby spokesman later clarified that Shelby meant only that, "while he hasn't personally seen the President's birth certificate, he is confident that the matter has been thoroughly examined."
Political views
Senator Shelby took a leading role in the resistance to bailing out the banks and other corporations (such as
AIGAmerican International Group, Inc. is an American insurance corporation. Its corporate headquarters are located in the American International Building in New York City. The British headquarters office is on Fenchurch Street in London; continental Europe operations are based in La Défense, Paris,...
), both under the
Bush AdministrationThe term "Bush administration" is most commonly associated with one of two Presidents of the United States with the name Bush:* George H. W. Bush administration, the Executive Branch under the 41st President of the United States, 1989–1993...
and the Obama Administration.
Shelby opposes gun control and
abortionAn abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo. An abortion can occur spontaneously due to complications during pregnancy or can be induced, in humans and other species...
, and supports the
Federal Marriage AmendmentThe Federal Marriage Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution which would have limited marriage in the United States to unions of one man and one woman...
. He has also been a staunch advocate of a
flat taxA flat tax is a tax system with a constant tax rate. Usually the term flat tax would refer to household income being taxed at one marginal rate, in contrast with progressive taxes that may vary according to such parameters as income or usage levels...
and of the Bush Administration's
tax cutsThe Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 , was passed by the United States Congress on May 23, 2003 and signed by President Bush on May 28, 2003....
. He cites disagreements with the Democrats on tax policy as one of the main reasons he became a Republican; he feels the Democrats are too willing to enact tax increases. Among the bills sponsored by Shelby over the years have been bills to make
English the sole languageEnglish-only movement, also known as Official English movement, refers to a political movement for the use only of the English language in official government operations through the establishing of English as the only official language in the United States...
of the federal government, to limit federal government spending by statute, and to provide a moratorium on certain forms of immigration.
However, he is considered to be much more independent-minded than his Senate colleague,
Jeff SessionsJefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions III is the junior United States Senator from Alabama. First elected in 1996, Sessions is a member of the Republican Party...
. For instance, shortly after becoming a Republican he voted against two major
tort reformTort reform refers to proposed changes in the civil justice system that would reduce tort litigation or damages. Tort is a system for compensating wrongs and harm done by one party to another's person, property or other protected interests . Tort reform advocates focus on personal injury in...
bills, the
Private Securities Litigation Reform ActThe United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Pub. L. 104-67, 109 Stat. 737 implemented several substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation, and...
and the Common Sense Product Liability and Legal Reform Act. Both bills were vetoed by President Clinton, though the first bill was successfully passed over his veto. In 1999 he was the only Senate Republican to vote against the
Gramm-Leach-Bliley ActThe Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act , also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, is an act of the 106th United States Congress which repealed part of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, opening up the market among banking companies, securities companies and insurance companies...
. Shelby also voted against the
North American Free Trade Agreement
and opposes most free trade agreements, most recently the Central America Free Trade Agreement. He also opposed the confirmation of
Robert BorkRobert Heron Bork is an American legal scholar who has advocated the judicial philosophy of originalism. Bork formerly served as Solicitor General, acting Attorney General, and judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit...
to the United States Supreme Court in 1987 (when Shelby was still a Democrat). He supported the confirmation of
Samuel AlitoSamuel Anthony Alito, Jr. is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was appointed by President George W. Bush and has served on the court since January 31, 2006....
almost two decades later.
He was one of ten Republican senators to vote for the acquittal of President
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president; only Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were younger when entering office...
on the charge of perjury when Clinton was
tried in the Senate in 1999Bill Clinton, President of the United States, was impeached by the House of Representatives on December 19, 1998, and acquitted by the Senate on February 12, 1999. The charges, perjury, obstruction of justice, and abuse of power arose from the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the Paula Jones lawsuit...
, although he voted for Clinton's conviction on the charge of obstruction of justice. He opposes the initial bailout proposal to extend billions of dollars in loan money to the Big Three US Auto Manufacturers. He is often seen as a front man for the GOP senate opposition and is given some credit for efforts to modify the emergency funding to ensure responsible reform by the manufacturers in order to benefit the companies, the government and the consumer. In late 2008, he opposed a Federal government bridge loan for
US-owned auto companiesThe automotive industry crisis of 2008–2009 was a part of a global financial downturn. The crises affected European and Asian automobile manufacturers, but it was primarily felt in the American automobile manufacturing industry...
, saying: "We don't need government - governmental subsidies for manufacturing in this country. It's the French model, it's the wrong road. We will pay for it. The average American taxpayer is going to pay dearly for this, if I'm not wrong." However, foreign-owned auto manufacturers Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Toyota, and Hyundai received approximately $788 million in government subsidies in the cities of Vance, Lincoln, Huntsville, and Montgomery in Shelby's home state of Alabama, according to analysis by Good Jobs First. Good Jobs First executive Director Greg LeRoy pointed out that "while proposed federal aid to the Big 3 would take the form of a loan, the vast majority of subsidies to foreign auto plants were taxpayer gifts such as property and sales tax exemptions, income tax credits, infrastructure aid, land discounts, and training grants."
http://www.goodjobsfirst.org All of these things have also been offered to the unionized American auto manufacturers.
Environmental Record
In 2005, Richard Shelby received a 0 percent on the Republicans for Environmental Protection's ("REP") environmental scorecard. He voted in a manner inconsistent with what the REP considers pro-environment on all 15 issues considered environmentally critical by the REP. Issues in which Senator Shelby voted anti-environment were: all amendments to the Energy Policy Act proposed in 2005, the issue of authorizing drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, and reducing fuel economy standards for vehicles.
Senator Shelby received a 5 percent from the
League of Conservation VotersThe League of Conservation Voters is a political advocacy organization founded in 1969 by American environmentalist David Brower in the early years of the environmental movement...
("LCV") scorecard for his pro-environment vote on the issue of the Central America Free Trade Agreement. CAFTA is criticized by the LCV for its low environmental standards involving trade with Central American countries. This pro-environment vote, however, was outweighed by his supposed "anti-environment" votes on the energy conference report, renewable energy, farm conservation programs,
global warmingGlobal warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation. Global surface temperature increased 0.74 ± 0.18 °C during the last century...
, natural gas facilities, fuel economy requirements, and various other issues.
In 2006, Senator Shelby received a 0 percent from the REP and a 0 percent from the LCV. According to these organizations, he voted "anti-environment" on the issue of energy and weatherization assistance, on drilling, environmental funding, peer review, renewable resources, and The Gulf of Mexico Security Act.
Committee assignments
- Senate Committee on Appropriations
The U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over all discretionary spending legislation in the Senate....
- Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science (Ranking Member)
- Subcommittee on Defense
The U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense is one of twelve subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. Military defense spending is the largest individual component of federal discretionary spending, making the Defense Subcommittee one of the more powerful...
- Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
The U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development is one of twelve subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations.-Jurisdiction:...
- Subcommittee on Homeland Security
U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security is one of twelve subcommittees of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations. It was formally established in 2003 in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 to oversee national security programs and the newly created...
- Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education & Related Agencies
- Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
- Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs (Ranking Member)
- Subcommittee on Economic Policy
The Senate Banking Subcommittee on Economic Policy is one of five subcommittees within the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.-Jurisdiction:...
- Subcommittee on Housing & Transportation
The Senate Banking Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development is one of five subcommittees within the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.-Jurisdiction:...
- Senate Committee on Aging
The United States Senate Special Committee on Aging was initially established in 1961 as a temporary committee; it became a permanent committee in 1977...
Shelby Hall Research Center at University of Alabama
Named for Senator Shelby and his wife (a professor emerita at the University of Alabama), the square foot new center opened at University of Alabama in 2004 and combines engineering, science (chemistry and materials research) and transportation research in one building.
Shelby Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building at the University of Alabama at Birmingham
The $90 million, 12-story Richard C. and Annette N. Shelby Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building at the
University of Alabama at BirminghamThe University of Alabama at Birmingham is a doctoral, public research university covering 83 blocks in the heart of Alabama's largest city Birmingham, Alabama, USA...
opened in April 2006. The square foot building is located at University Blvd and 19th Street South on the UAB campus. Senator Shelby was instrumental in securing federal funds for the building, which increases UAB's available research space by 25%.
Shelby at Auburn University
On April 18, 2008, the
Auburn UniversityAuburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, U.S. With more than 24,100 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 1, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts school...
Ginn College of Engineering dedicated the new Sen. Richard C. and Dr. Annette N. Shelby Center for Engineering Technology. Shelby helped secure $30 million of the $54 million cost of Phase I of the project.
Phase I of the massive building project is a complex that opened in 2008. Including modern classrooms, quality lab space, numerous administrative offices, and various student programs, the Shelby center has already begun to benefit Auburn University in recruiting students and increasing the quality of life for the students already there.
The second phase of the Shelby Center will include an Advanced Research Laboratory Building and also a new
Mechanical EngineeringMechanical Engineering is an engineering discipline that was developed from the application of principles from physics and materials science. Mechanical engineering involves the analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of various systems...
Building.
Group Ratings (108th Congress)
- National Journal
National Journal is an American weekly magazine that reports on the current political environment and emerging political and policy trends. National Journal was first published in 1969 and is now part of National Journal Group, a division of Atlantic Media Company. It was purchased by David G....
- Economic: 42% Liberal, 57% Conservative
- Social: 16% Liberal, 81% Conservative
- Foreign: 0% Liberal, 67% Conservative
- Americans for Democratic Action
Americans for Democratic Action is an American political organization advocating liberal policies. ADA works for social and economic justice through lobbying, grassroots organizing, research and supporting progressive candidates.- History :...
: 20
- American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union consists of two separate non-profit organizations: the ACLU Foundation, a 501 organization which focuses on litigation and communication efforts, and the American Civil Liberties Union, a 501 organization which focuses on legislative lobbying...
: 11
- Chamber of Commerce of the United States: 88
- Christian Coalition: 100
- League of Conservation Voters
The League of Conservation Voters is a political advocacy organization founded in 1969 by American environmentalist David Brower in the early years of the environmental movement...
: 0
- American Conservative Union
The American Conservative Union is an American political organization advocating conservative policies, and is the oldest such conservative lobbying organization in the country.- Activities :...
: 84
- National Taxpayers Union
National Taxpayers Union is a taxpayers advocacy organization in the United States, founded in 1969 by James Dale Davidson. NTU advertises that it is the largest and oldest grassroots taxpayer organization in the nation, with 362,000 members nationwide. It is closely affiliated with a non-profit...
: 65
Electoral History
United States Senate election in Alabama, 2004The 2004 United States Senate election in Alabama was held on November 2, 2004 to elect one of Alabama's members to the United States Senate. Senator Richard Shelby was re-elected to his 4th term. He faced no primary challenger and faced little-known Democrat Wayne Sowell in November. Sowell was...
| Richard Shelby (R) (inc.) 68% |
| Wayne Sowell Wayne Sowell was the Democratic candidate for Alabama in the United States Senate election of 2004.-2004 elections:Sowell was the first African American candidate from a major party in Alabama to be nominated for one of its United States Senate seats. He received the Democratic nomination when the...
32% (D) |
1998 Alabama United States Senatorial Election
| Richard Shelby (R) (inc.) 63.2% |
| Clayton Suddith 36.7% (D) |
1992 Alabama United States Senatorial Election
| Richard Shelby (D) (inc.) 64.8% |
| Richard Sellers (R) 33.1% |
| Jerome Shockley (Lib.) 2% |
1986 Alabama United States Senatorial Election
| Richard Shelby (D) 50.2% |
Jeremiah DentonJeremiah Andrew Denton Jr. is a retired United States Navy Rear Admiral, Naval Aviator and a former U.S. senator, of the Republican party, for the state of Alabama. He spent almost eight years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and later wrote a book about his experiences. Denton was the first...
(R) (inc.) 49.8% |
1984 Alabama 7th District United States Congressional Election
| Richard Shelby (D) (inc.) 97% |
| Chuck Ewing (Lib.) 3% |
External links
- Profile at the SourceWatch
SourceWatch is an internet site that is a collaborative project of the Center for Media and Democracy . It was created by the CMD's research director, Sheldon Rampton...
CongresspediaCongresspedia was a wiki that ran from April 2006 to March 2009, designed to hold information on the workings of the U.S. Congress. It was fully contained within SourceWatch, a larger wiki meant to document the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda. The Congresspedia portion of...
- Collected news and commentary from The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record...