Steve Windom

Infobox_Lt_Governor


imagesize = 175px
name= Steve Windom
order= 28^th
state=
office= Lieutenant Governor of Alabama
term=January 1999 – January 2003
governor= Don Siegelman (D)
predecessor= Don Siegelman (D)
successor= Lucy Baxley (D)
birth_date=birth date and age|1949|11|06
birth_place= flagicon|South Carolina Florence, South Carolina
death_date=
death_place=
party= Republican
office2 = Alabama State Senator
term_start2 = 1989
term_end2 = 1999
predecessor2 =
successor2= George Callahan (R)
constituency2 = 35th District
spouse = Mary Windom
civil partner =
children = 2
footnotes=

Stephen Ralph Windom (born November 6 1949) is an American politician who served as a Senator in the Alabama State Senate from 1989 to 1998 and as Lieutenant Governor of Alabama from 1999 to 2003.

Windom's political career began in the Alabama State Senate when he served for two terms and a initial partial term decided by a special election. During this time he switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican.

Windom was the first Republican Lieutenant Governor to serve in Alabama since Reconstruction. He served under Governor Don Siegelman, (D-AL). Alabama's Governor and Lieutenant Governor are elected separately. [ [http://www.archives.state.al.us/conoff/lieulist.html Alabama Department of Archives and History: Lieutenant Governors] ]

Biography

Windom was born in Florence, South Carolina. [http://www.archives.state.al.us/conoff/lg_windom.html Alabama Department of Archives and History: Steve Windom] ] He graduated from Sidney Lanier High School. [http://www.troy.edu/news/archives/2001/april/steve.htm Lt. Gov. Steve Windom to speak at TSU spring commencement] ] He then received his B.S. and J.D. degrees from the University of Alabama. In 1974, he moved near Mobile, Alabama and began to practice law. He married Mary Becker and had with her two sons: Robert and Thomas.

Political career

He was first elected as a Democrat to the Alabama State Senate in 1989. During his time in the Senate, he was selected to be the Banking and Insurance Committee chairman for 8 years. Although his first two terms were as a Democrat, he switched to the Republican Party in 1997 for his last term as a legislator. ["Mobile's Sen. Windom Ready to Leave Democrats, Join GOP," "The Birmingham News", June 25, 1997, p. 1B]

He was a delegate for Bill Clinton at the 1992 Democratic National Convention. ["Windom Campaigning as Little-d Democrat," "The Birmingham News", October 4, 1998, p. 27A] He was a delegate for George Bush at the 2000 Republican National Convention, and served as co-chair of the Alabama Bush-Cheney campaign. [http://www.stevewindom.com Steve Windom LLC: Home ] ]

While in office, Windom was selected Conservation Legislator of the Year by the Alabama Wildlife Federation in 1995, Legislator of the Year by the National Federation of Independent Business in 1996, and Legislator of the Year in 1997 by the Independent Insurance Agents. After his career in the Senate, he joined the Sirote Permutt lawfirm. [ [http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/jarchibald.ssf?/specialreport/mobileregister/index.ssf?contract/tobacco1.html Siegelman tight-lipped over money] The Birmingham News] He also ran for the position of Lieutenant Governor.

Windom's 1998 campaign for Lieutenant Governor was marked by scandal when false allegations involving a prostitute were made against him by supporters of his opponent. Garve Ivey, an Alabama plaintiffs' attorney, was eventually convicted of witness tampering and criminal defamation for conspiring with private investigator Wes Chappell to defame Windom. A former call girl, who had been paid to make false allegations, testified at the trial. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DE2DC1630F930A15755C0A9669C8B63 "Lawyer Convicted in Plot to Defame Candidate," "The New York Times", June 23, 2000] ] [ [http://overlawyered.com/early-years/august-2000-archives-part-3/ Overlawyered: Alabama campaign-tactics case] ] Despite the efforts to publicly malign him, Windom was elected. [ [http://www.sos.state.al.us/downloads/dl3.aspx?trgturl=election/1998/98g-prec.exe&trgtfile=98g-prec.exe Alabama Secretary of State: 1998 General Election Results - County Level] ]

Windom gained notoriety in 1999 for discreetly urinating into a jug behind his desk while presiding over the Senate, purportedly to avoid being stripped of most of his powers as presiding officer by the Democratic majority while going to the bathroom. cite web |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/09/america/NA-GEN-US-Lawmaker-Scuffle.php |title=Senate floor fight viewed as giving US state Alabama's image a black eye |accessdate=2008-03-19 |author=Associated Press |date=2007-06-09 ]

Toward the end of his term as Alabama's Lieutenant Governor, Windom ran for governor of the state, but was defeated in the 2002 primary by then-Congressman Bob Riley [ [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/122938341.html?dids=122938341:122938341&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jun+5%2C+2002&author=Robert+Tanner&pub=The+Washington+Post&edition=&startpage=A.16&desc=GOP%27s+Janklow+Wins+S.D.+House+Primary%3B+Ala.+Democrats+Renominate+Gov.+Siegelman "Alabama Democrats Renominate Gov. Siegelman," "The Washington Post", June 5, 2002, p. A16] ]

Later years

After leaving public office, Windom opened a legal and lobbying practice, Steve Windom, LLC. [ [http://www.stevewindom.com/ Steve Windom LLC: Home ] ] In the Republican primary on June 3, 2008, Windom's wife, Mary Windom, won the Republican nomination for a seat on the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. ["Place 1 GOP Race Going to Runoff," "The Birmingham News", June 4, 2008, p. 1B]

Electoral history

2002 Republican Primary: Governor [ [http://www.sos.state.al.us/Elections/2002/ElectionInfo2002.aspx Alabama Secretary of State 2002 Election Results] July 03, 2008]

References