Jim Folsom, Jr.

James Elisha Folsom, Jr. (born May 14, 1949) is an American Democratic politician who was the 50th Governor of Alabama from April 22, 1993 to January 16, 1995.

Early life and career

Born in Montgomery, Alabama, he is the son of legendary two-term Alabama Governor James E. "Big Jim" Folsom, Sr. Despite being well over six feet tall, he is popularly known as "Little Jim" as a result. In 1974, he graduated from Jacksonville State University, where he presently serves as a trustee.

During his first run for a political office, he lost to incumbent Congressman Tom Bevill in a Democratic primary by an overwhelming margin. However he was elected to the Alabama Public Service Commission in 1978 and re-elected in 1982.

In 1980, he ran for the U.S. Senate and defeated incumbent Donald W. Stewart in the Democratic primary. During a campaign Folsom attacked Stewart as being too liberal for Alabama and called him "puppet of the great Washington power structure." Although Stewart outspent Folsom with 500,000 to 75,000 USD, he very narrowly missed winning majority in the primary and lost in the runoff.^[1]

Folsom narrowly lost the general election to Republican Jeremiah Denton, who was aided by the Ronald Reagan landslide, which helped Republican candidates across the country.

Folsom was elected Alabama Lieutenant Governor and served from January 19, 1987 to April 22, 1993 (being re-elected in 1990), where Folsom served as President and Presiding Officer of the Alabama State Senate and also served on the National Association of Lieutenant Governors. He served under Governor H. Guy Hunt, the first Republican Alabama Governor since Reconstruction. Hunt and Folsom also happen to be from the same (Cullman) county.

Governorship

Folsom assumed the governorship when Hunt was removed from office, convicted of state ethics law violations regarding the funding of Hunt's second inaugural ceremonies.

Only weeks after Folsom assumed the office, state officials were approached by Mercedes-Benz about the possibility of locating its first manufacturing plant outside Germany in Alabama. Over the following months, Folsom led Alabama's efforts to recruit the facility, culminating in an October 1993 announcement that Alabama had beaten 30 other states for the coveted facility. The prestige of the Mercedes plant opened the door for future automotive plants to locate in the state.^[2]

Within six days after taking office Governor Folsom ordered the removal of the Confederate flag from the state capitol to a memorial.^[3] His "Chief of Staff" was longtime friend and confidant, Charlie Waldrep, of Waldrep, Stewart & Kendrick, LLC. Governor Folsom also appointed a number of African Americans and women to his staff.^[4]

In 1994, he ran for a full four-year term in his own right. He was very narrowly defeated by former Democratic Governor Fob James, who was running as a Republican. Although some regarded Folsom as a popular Governor, he won only 54% of the vote in the Democratic primary and a Republican landslide across the country during midterm elections aided James enough to unseat Folsom by a slim margin, where Republicans gained ten governorships.

Post-governorship and return to politics

In 2006, Folsom reentered state politics, running again as the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor. He won the Democratic nomination unopposed, and in the general election, he narrowly defeated Republican lawyer Luther Strange for a third, nonconsecutive four-year term in all with the previous six years he served as Lieutenant Governor, Folsom is the longest-serving Lieutenant Governor in Alabama history with ten years of service with his third term ending on January 17, 2011.

Folsom endorsed former Governor of Vermont Howard Dean in 2004 Democratic presidential primaries.^[5] In the 1988 primaries, he supported Al Gore.

Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom Jr. announced on April 1, 2009 he would seek re-election as Lieutenant Governor in 2010 and will not run for the Democratic nomination for Governor.^[6] On November 2, 2010, Folsom was defeated in a re-election bid for an unprecedented fourth term by the Republican candidate, State Treasurer Kay Ivey.

Folsom is married to the former Marsha Guthrie. They have two children. He is an Episcopalian.

Office of Lieutenant Governor Staff

Current Staff for the Office of Lieutenant Governor:

• Mike Martin – Chief of Staff
• Linda Adams – Deputy Chief of Staff
• Chip Hill – Director of External Affairs
• Steven Reed – Senior Aide
• Marilyn Taylor – Executive Assistant
• Gerry Sasnette – Policy Director
• Danny Holmes – Business Development Director
• Roy Hightower – Director Constituent Services

Electoral history

Democratic primary for the U.S. House of Representatives – AL 4th district, 1976

• Tom Bevill (Inc.) – 90,168 (80.87%)
• Jim Folsom, Jr. – 21,335 (19.13%)

Democratic primary for the United States Senate, 1980

• Donald W. Stewart (Inc.) – 222,540 (48.63%)
• Jim Folsom, Jr. – 163,196 (35.67%)
• Finis St. John – 51,260 (11.20%)
• Margaret E. Stewart – 20,582 (4.50%)

Democratic runoff for the United States Senate, 1980

• Jim Folsom, Jr. – 204,186 (50.60%)
• Donald W. Stewart – 199,365 (49.40%)

Alabama United States Senate election, 1980

• Jeremiah Denton (R) – 650,363 (50.15%)
• Jim Folsom, Jr. (D) – 610,175 (47.05%)

Democratic primary for Lt. Governor, 1986

• Jim Folsom, Jr. – 331,527 (37.72%)
• John Teague – 277,899 (31.62%)
• Hinton Mitchem – 203,112 (23.11%)
• Melba Till Allen – 66,439 (7.56%)

Democratic runoff for Lt. Governor, 1986

• Jim Folsom, Jr. – 517,724 (57.49%)
• John Teague – 382,836 (42.51

Election for Lieutenant Governor, 1986

• Jim Folsom, Jr. (D) – 726,111 (61.85%)
• Don McGriff (R) – 447,978 (38.16%)

Democratic primary for Lt. Governor, 1990

• Jim Folsom, Jr. (Inc.) – 510,814 (80.87%)
• William McKinley Branch – 120,861 (19.13%)

Election for Lieutenant Governor, 1990

• Jim Folsom, Jr. (D) (Inc.) – 768,988 (67.33%)
• Bob McKee (R) – 373,072 (32.67%)

Democratic primary for Governor, 1994

• Jim Folsom, Jr. (Inc.) – 380,227 (54.04%)
• Paul R. Hubbert – 285,554 (40.59%)
• Margaret E. Stewart – 24,254 (3.45%)
• Tom Hayden – 13,532 (1.92%)

Alabama gubernatorial election, 1994

• Fob James (R) – 604,926 (50.33%)
• Jim Folsom, Jr. (D) (Inc.) – 594,169 (49.43%)

Democratic primary for Lt. Governor, 2006

• Jim Folsom, Jr. – unopposed

Election for Lieutenant Governor, 2006

• Jim Folsom, Jr. (D) – 629,268 (50.61%)
• Luther Strange (R) – 610,982 (49.14%)
• Write-in candidates – 3,029 (0.24%)

Source:^[7]

Notes

External links

• Office of the Lt. Governor official government site
• Jim Folsom for Lt. Governor official campaign site
• Biography at the National Governors Association
• Biography, interest group ratings, public statements, vetoes and campaign finances at Project Vote Smart
• Campaign contributions at FollowTheMoney.org
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Alabama Governor James Elisha Folsom, Jr. government profile
• Profile at the Encyclopedia of Alabama
• Biography at the Alabama Senate
• Profile at NNDB
• Alabama Democratic Party