Richard Shelby
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 | James A. Branyon II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Ryan deGraffenried | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 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, Shelby switched to the Republican Party in 1994. Shelby is the longest-serving U.S. senator from Alabama in history, serving exactly 36 years.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Shelby is a 1957 graduate of the University of Alabama. He was admitted to the Alabama bar in 1961 and earned an LL.B. from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1963. Shelby served as a Tuscaloosa city prosecutor from 1963 to 1971. He also worked as a U.S. magistrate for the Northern District of Alabama and as a special assistant Attorney General of Alabama. Shelby served in the Alabama State Senate from 1970 to 1978, when he was elected from the 7th district to the United States House of Representatives. He served in the House until 1987; during his House tenure, he was among a group of conservative Democrats known as the boll weevils.
In 1986, Shelby was elected to the U.S. Senate in a tight race. 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. Shelby chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee from 2018 to 2021, and he also chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee, the Senate Banking Committee, and the Senate Rules Committee.
In February 2021, Shelby announced that he would not seek reelection in 2022. Katie Britt, his former chief of staff, was elected to succeed him.