Ronald Bryan 'Bo' Ginn (May 31, 1934 – January 6, 2005) represented Georgia's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives.
Ginn was born in Morgan, Georgia and attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, Georgia from 1951 through 1953 and Georgia Southern College in Statesboro where he earned a degree in 1956.
Ginn served as administrative assistant to U.S. Senator Herman Talmadge and U.S. Congressman George Elliott Hagan. He successfully ran against Hagan as a Democrat to win the 1st District congressional seat in 1972 to the 93rd United States Congress. He served five consecutive terms in that seat before stepping down to run for Governor of Georgia in 1982.
During his time in the House, Ginn was considered one of South Georgia's most influential legislators, and credited with helping to bring several United States Navy bases to the area, as well as to protect Fort Stewart when its future seemed shaky. In the 1982 Georgia gubernatorial election, Ginn lost in the primary to Joe Frank Harris. His political career over, he founded the Ginn & Eddington lobbying firm in Washington, D.C. and later moved to Augusta, Georgia to be closer to his children.
In 1993, Ginn filed for bankruptcy and soon after was investigated for financial discrepancies. After pleading guilty to bank fraud and receiving a federal prison sentence, in 1995 extra time was added to his sentence due to the United States Court of Appeals believing the first ruling was too lenient. Ironically, in his '82 bid for governor he had run ads showing himself in a jail cell, touting his "tough on crime" reputation. He would eventually serve a total of 21 months in prison.
Ginn's wife Gloria died in 1998; Ginn was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2003 and succumbed to the disease on January 2, 2005. He left behind 3 children - Julie Moretz, Ronald Bryan Ginn Jr. and Kacy Jones, and seven grandchildren. (Andrew, Lee, Matt, Morgan, Bo III, Daniel, and Carson)
| United States House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by George Elliott Hagan |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia's 1st congressional district January 3, 1973 - January 3, 1983 |
Succeeded by Robert Lindsay Thomas |