| George Wallace, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| 36th Alabama State Treasurer | |
| In office 1987–1995 |
|
| Preceded by | Annie Laurie Gunter (D) |
| Succeeded by | Lucy Baxley (D) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 17, 1951 Eufaula, Alabama |
| Political party | Republican (formerly Democratic) |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Grimes Wallace |
| Children | 2 |
George Corley Wallace, III (generally known as George Wallace, Jr.) (born October 17, 1951) is an American politician from Alabama.
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Wallace was born in Eufaula, Alabama, the only son of George Corley Wallace, Jr., and Lurleen Burns Wallace, each of whom were Democratic governors of Alabama. His sisters are Bobbi Jo Parsons, Peggy Sue Kennedy, and Janie Lee Dye. His father was a noted segregationist who ran for President four different times. His mother succeeded her husband's first term as Governor and served as a surrogate for him until her death from cancer in 1968.
Wallace lived in the Alabama Governor's Mansion in Montgomery during his parents' terms as Governor from 1963 to 1968, after which he lived with relatives. In the seventh grade, he was clipped playing football and sustained an injury for which he was hospitalized. He graduated from Sidney Lanier High School in 1970, completed a bachelor's degree in history at Huntingdon College in Montgomery in 1976, and graduate work in political science and public administration at Auburn University in Auburn.
Wallace had two sons from his first marriage: George Corley Wallace, IV and Robert Kelly Wallace. George Corley Wallace, IV died May 12, 2009, at age 25, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He married the former Elizabeth Grimes Maynor in 2000 and has two stepdaughters from this marriage.
Wallace worked at Troy State University from 1978 to 1987, serving as director of financial aid and alumni affairs from 1978 to 1982 and as vice president of development and alumni affairs from 1983 to 1987.
In 1986, Wallace was elected Alabama State Treasurer, narrowly winning the Democratic Party primary and runoff over Jim Zeigler and facing no opposition in the general election. He was easily reelected in 1990. In 1992, mid-way through his second term, Wallace ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in Alabama's 2nd congressional district, his family's home district, to succeed retiring Republican Bill Dickinson. He narrowly missed avoiding a runoff in the primary, but prevailed over state welfare commissioner Faye Baggiano, who nearly toppled Dickinson in the 1990 election. Considered an early favorite in the general election, especially after his expected Republican opponent, State Senator Larry Dixon, lost his primary to newspaper publisher Terry Everett, Wallace lost the election in an upset to Everett by just 3,571 votes, less than 1%. It was largely believed that Wallace's loss was due partly to the shift of many African-American voters, particularly in Montgomery, to the newly drawn majority-minority 7th district which had been organized after the 1990 census in accordance with the Voting Rights Act. In 1994, while wrapping up his second term as Treasurer, Wallace ran for Lieutenant Governor, but came in third to Don Siegelman and Ryan DeGraffenried, Jr. (DeGraffenried's father, Ryan DeGraffenried, Sr., was defeated in the 1962 Democratic runoff for Governor by Wallace's father).
After leaving office, Wallace worked at the Center for Government and Public Affairs at Auburn University Montgomery. He switched affiliations to the Republican Party and was elected to the Alabama Public Service Commission (Position 2) in 1998, defeating incumbent Democrat Charles B. Martin. He was reelected commissioner in 2002 and in 2006, he ran for Lieutenant Governor, coming in second in the Republican primary, qualifying for the runoff. However, he lost the nomination to Birmingham attorney Luther Strange by ten points despite appearances from Arizona Senator John McCain on his behalf. Strange, in turn, lost the general election to Democratic nominee Jim Folsom, Jr., too the son of a former governor, Jim Folsom. In 2010, Wallace ran in the Republican primary to reclaim his old office of Alabama State Treasurer, but lost the nomination to banker Young Boozer by nearly thirty points.
In June 2005 he opened up the first day of the annual national convention of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC), a conservative group that some critics describe as "white supremacist". This was not Wallace's first interaction with the CofCC; he gave speeches to the CofCC once in 1998 and twice in 1999. He has also appeared as a guest on The Political Cesspool, a white nationalist radio talk show that is affiliated with the Tennessee chapter of the CofCC.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Annie Laurie Gunter |
Alabama State Treasurer 1987–1995 |
Succeeded by Lucy Baxley |
| Preceded by Charles B. Martin |
Alabama Public Service Commission (Seat 2) 1999–2007 |
Succeeded by Susan Parker |