Ryan DeGraffenried

Infobox_Lt_Governor
name= Ryan DeGraffenried, Jr.


caption=
office2= Alabama State Senator from 16th and 21st districts
term_start2= January 3 1979
term_end2= January 3 1994
predecessor2= Richard Shelby (D)
successor2= William J. Cabaniss, Jr. (R)
birth_date= April 2, 1950
birth_place=
death_date= December 6 2006 (age 56)
death_place= Hoover, Alabama
party= Democrat
spouse= Sandra Sims-deGraffenried
footnotes=

William Ryan deGraffenried, Jr. (born 1950 – died December 7 2006) was an American politician who served as President Pro Tempore of the Alabama State Senate from 1987 to 1995.

DeGraffenried was a graduate of the University of Alabama and the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University. He represented Tuscaloosa in the Alabama State Senate from 1978 until 1994 and served as the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, from 1987 until 1994. He was elected to the Senate in a special election when then- State Sen. Richard Shelby was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives to fill the vacancy of Walter Flowers.

After Governor H. Guy Hunt was removed from office due to criminal conviction, the Lieutenant Governor, Jim Folsom, Jr. became the new governor. DeGraffenried, as the President Pro Tempore of the state Senate, became next in line for the governorship for the remainder of the quadrennium.

DeGraffenried ran unsuccessfully for Lieutenant Governor in 1994, losing the Democratic primary to future Governor Don Siegelman. He then returned to practicing law in Tuscaloosa and later became a contract lobbyist.

His father, Ryan DeGraffenried, Sr., was also a notable Alabama politician.

He died in 2006 at Hoover, Alabama, aged 56. [ [http://www.wsfa.com/Global/story.asp?S=5788344 "Former Alabama Sen. Ryan deGraffenried Jr. Dies," WSFA 12 News Montgomery, December 13, 2006] ]

References

Electoral history

Alabama Senate (16th district), 1982
* Ryan DeGraffenried (D) (inc.) - 20,149 (100.00%)

Alabama Senate (21st district), 1983
* Ryan DeGraffenried (D) (inc.) - 7,164 (100.00%)

Alabama Senate (21st district), 1986
* Ryan DeGraffenried (D) (inc.) - 23,101 (100.00%)

Alabama Senate (21st district), 1990
* Ryan DeGraffenried (D) (inc.) - 24,445 (100.00%)

Lieutenant Governor of Alabama (Democratic primary), 1994
* Don Siegelman - 273,621 (38.62%)
* Ryan DeGraffenried - 260,571 (36.78%)
* George Wallace, Jr. - 174,302 (24.60%)

Lieutenant Governor of Alabama (Democratic primary runoff), 1994
* Don Siegelman - 297,937 (57.32%)
* Ryan DeGraffenried - 221,877 (42.68%)

Source: [http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=42379 OurCampaigns.com DeGraffenried page]

Persondata
NAME= DeGraffenried, Ryan, Jr.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Alabama State Senator from 16th and 21st districts
DATE OF BIRTH= April 2, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH= December 6 2006
PLACE OF DEATH= Hoover, Alabama