Bill Baxley
William J. Baxley is an Alabama politician and attorney.
He was born July 27, 1941 in Dothan, Alabama and attended law school at the University of Alabama graduating in 1964.
He served as Attorney General of Alabama two terms 1971-1979, and one term as Lieutenant Governor of Alabama 1983-1987.
The 1986 Democratic primary for the gubernatorial race saw then-Alabama attorney general Charles Graddick in a runoff with Baxley. Graddick won by a few thousand votes, but the state Supreme Court ruled he had violated primary regulations by encouraging Republicans to cross over and vote as Democrats. The court told the Democratic Party to hold another election or pick Baxley. The party picked Baxley.
Alabamians, used to a one-party state where anybody and everybody could vote in a primary, were outraged and took out their frustrations by voting against Baxley and for H. Guy Hunt, the GOP nominee. Alabama got its first Republican governor since Reconstruction.
Hunt's election surprised many Alabamians since no living person had seen a Republican win the election for Alabama governor. The press paid little attention to the Republican gubenatorial primaries, fully expecting that the nominee would be the next loser in the general election.
Baxley is presently an attorney in Birmingham with the firm of Baxley, Dillard, Dauphin & McKnight.
His former wife Lucy Baxley is the current Lieutenant Governor of Alabama.
External links
Categories: People from Alabama | 1941 births | People stubs