Ralph R. Harding
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Ralph R. Harding (September 9, 1929 - October 26, 2006) was a United States Representative from Idaho.
Born in Malad City, Idaho, Harding served as a Democrat in the House, representing the state's Second Congressional District, from 1961 to 1965. In 1966 Harding won the Democratic nomination for United States Senate, but was defeated by Republican incumbent Len Jordan. Harding died at age 77 in Blackfoot, Idaho. According to a news report in the Idaho Statesman newspaper, a cause of death was not released by the hospital or family at the time of his passing.
Harding graduated from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, after serving in Korea from 1951 to 1953 in the U.S. Army, where he rose to the rank of lieutenant.
Harding served in the Idaho legislature from 1955 to 1956. He ran against 16-year incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Hamer Budge in 1960. He pulled off a 4,000 vote, or 51.1 percent upset victory. He was one of the few incumbent Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives who did not get re-elected when President Lyndon B. Johnson won in 1964. After his defeat in 1964, Harding served as special assistant to the Secretary of the U.S. Air Force. Harding attempted to regain the 2nd Congressional Seat again in 1978, but lost in the Democratic primary. He then worked on a variety of business ventures, including representing the Philippine sugar industry and attempting to launch an Asian version of the National Basketball Association league.
Harding was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. During his tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives in a floor speech in 1963, he blasted then-LDS Church apostle Ezra Taft Benson for his support of the John Birch Society. Two months after that, Harding lost his re-election bid to Republican George V. Hansen.
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| Preceded by Hamer H. Budge |
United States House of Representatives, Idaho Second Congressional District January 3, 1961–January 4, 1965 |
Succeeded by George V. Hansen |
| Preceded by Gracie Pfost |
Democratic Party nominee, U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Idaho 1966 (lost) |
Succeeded by William E. Davis |
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| United States Representatives from Idaho |
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|---|---|
| One At-Large Seat (1890-1913): Sweet • Wilson • Gunn • Wilson • Glenn • French • Hamer • French
Two At-Large Seats (1913-1919): Smith / French • McCracken • French 1st District (1919-present): French • C. White Sr. • Goff • C. White Sr. • Wood • Pfost • C. White Jr. • McClure • Symms • Craig • LaRocco • Chenoweth • Otter • Sali 2nd District (1919-present): Smith • Coffin • Clark • Dworshak • Sanborn • Budge • Harding • G. Hansen • O. Hansen • G. Hansen • Stallings • Crapo • Simpson |
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