Richard Shelby | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Official portrait, 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
United States Senator from Alabama | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office January 3, 1987 – January 3, 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Jeremiah Denton | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Katie Britt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama's 7th district | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1987 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | Walter Flowers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | Claude Harris Jr. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Member of the Alabama Senate | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In office November 4, 1970 – November 8, 1978 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Preceded by | E. W. Skidmore | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Succeeded by | J. T. Waggoner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Constituency |
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Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Richard Craig Shelby May 6, 1934 Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Political party | Republican (after 1994) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other political affiliations | Democratic (until 1994) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse |
Annette Nevin (m. 1960) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Children | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Education | University of Alabama (BA, LLB) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Richard Craig Shelby (born May 6, 1934) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Alabama from 1987 to 2023. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 as a Democrat who later switched to the Republican Party in 1994, he chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee from 2018 to 2021. He previously chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee, the Senate Banking Committee, and the Senate Rules Committee. He was the longest-serving U.S. senator from Alabama, surpassing John Sparkman's record in March 2019.[1]
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Shelby earned a law degree from the Birmingham School of Law in 1961. He went on to serve as city prosecutor from 1963 to 1971. During this period he earned an LL.B. from the University of Alabama School of Law (1963), worked as a U.S. magistrate for the Northern District of Alabama (1966–1970) and Special Assistant Attorney General of Alabama (1969–1971). He won a seat in the Alabama Senate in 1970. In 1978, he was elected from the 7th district to the United States House of Representatives, where he was among a group of conservative Democrats known as the boll weevils.
In 1986, Shelby won a tight race as a Democrat for the U.S. Senate. In 1994, the day after the Republican Revolution in which the GOP gained the majority in Congress midway through President Bill Clinton's first term, Shelby switched parties and became a Republican. He was reelected by a large margin in 1998, facing no significant electoral opposition thereafter. Apart from his narrow win as a Democrat in 1986, Shelby always won his Senate seat with more than 60% of the vote.
In February 2021, Shelby announced that he would not seek reelection in 2022.[2] Katie Britt, his former chief of staff, won the election to succeed him.[3] At the time of his retirement, he was the dean of Alabama's congressional delegation. Due to his party switch, Shelby is the last Democrat to have held or won election to Alabama's Class 3 Senate seat.
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