Cecil L. Alexander

Last updated

Kathy Alexander
​
(m. 1995)​
Cecil Alexander
69th Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives
Member of the ArkansasHouseofRepresentatives
In office
January 13, 1975 [1]  –January 10, 1977 [2]
Residence(s)Heber Springs, Arkansas, U.S.
Education Hendrix College
Professionbusinessman

Cecil Lewis Alexander (born August 2, 1935) is a former influential Democratic politician and lobbyist in Arkansas. He was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, serving from 1963 to 1979, including a term as Speaker of the House. [7] [8] Alexander later became a lobbyist followed by a tenure as chair of the Arkansas Racing Commission.

Contents

Early life

Alexander was born to Cecil "Slick" Alexander Sr. and Evelyn Alexander in Heber Springs, Arkansas on August 2, 1935. He graduated from Heber Springs High School before attending Hendrix College, where he played football and studied business. After graduation, Alexander moved back to Heber Springs, where he taught and coached football for three years. He later owned a restaurant until 1971 and part of Heber Springs Realty until 1980. [9]

Arkansas House of Representatives

In the House, Alexander focused on the tourism industry of the Greers Ferry Lake region in the Ozarks. He won his first election in 1963 by four votes to represent Cleburne County and was seated in the 64th Arkansas General Assembly. [9] He was reelected in 1964. The districts were modified in the 1966 elections; Alexander now represented the 14th District, which contained Cleburne, Faulkner, and Van Buren counties alongside J.C. "Bud" Dawson and later A.J. "Arch" Troxell. The districts were modified again for the 69th Arkansas General Assembly, shifting Alexander to represent Cleburne and Van Buren counties alone in the 47th District. Alexander served as the Speaker of the Arkansas House of Representatives in the 70th Arkansas General Assembly, followed by one additional term in the House before retiring. [10]

Alexander unsuccessfully sought to represent Arkansas's 2nd congressional district in 1978, and as Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas in 1980.

Lobbying and Racing Commission

Alexander retired and became a lobbyist, quickly becoming one of the state's most powerful and influential. He began representing Entergy in 1980, who hired him for his relationships with legislators despite no energy experience. He was named top lobbyist in a survey of legislators in 1995 and 1999. [9]

Alexander, who had attended horseraces at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas in 1965, owned a racehorse in the 1980s. Appointed to the Arkansas Racing Commission by Jim Guy Tucker in 1993, he was later re-appointed by Mike Huckabee and Mike Beebe. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heber Springs, Arkansas</span> City in Arkansas, United States

Heber Springs is a city in and the county seat of Cleburne County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 7,165 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James P. Clarke</span> American politician (1854–1916)

James Paul Clarke was a lawyer and politician from the Arkansas Delta during the Progressive Era. He served in public office over a period of almost 30 years, rising from the Arkansas General Assembly to Attorney General of Arkansas and later 18th Governor of Arkansas, ending his career in the United States Senate. In a period of Democratic Party hegemony known as the "Solid South", Clarke blended positions of the budding Populist movement, such as free silver and railroad regulation, with nationalism and his gifted skills as an orator to popularity and electoral success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Red River (Arkansas)</span> River in Arkansas

The Little Red River is a 102-mile-long (164 km) river in White, Van Buren, Searcy, Stone and Cleburne counties of north-central Arkansas.

William Carl Garner was an American engineer. He served as resident engineer of Greers Ferry Lake since its construction in 1959, and in that capacity, he organized a citizen cleanup of the area which expanded to the Carl Garner Federal Lands Cleanup Day. The attention the program has received has also made people more aware of the problem of litter and preservation of the environment during the entire year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Arkansas gubernatorial election</span>

The 2006 Arkansas gubernatorial election took place on Tuesday, November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican governor Mike Huckabee was barred from seeking candidacy due to term limits set by the State Constitution in 1998, stating that the governor may only serve two terms in their lifetime. Democratic State Attorney General Mike Beebe, defeated Republican former U.S. representative Asa Hutchinson by a wide margin. This was the first open seat election since 1978. Hutchinson later won the governorship in 2014 when Beebe was term limited.

Donald Joseph Blandford is an American retired politician in the state of Kentucky. A Democrat, he was a longtime Kentucky state legislator and served as Speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives until his indictment and conviction for bribery.

Preston Conrad Bynum was a lobbyist in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, who served as a Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from January 1969 to December 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2000 United States presidential election in Arkansas</span>

The 2000 United States presidential election in Arkansas took place on November 7, 2000, and was part of the 2000 United States presidential election. State voters chose six representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arkansas Highway 110</span> State highway in Arkansas, United States

Highway 110 is a designation for three east–west state highways in north central Arkansas. One segment of 16.71 miles (26.89 km) runs east from US Highway 65 (US 65) at Botkinburg to Highway 9/Highway 16 near Shirley. A second route of 3.15 miles (5.07 km) begins at Highway 16/Highway 92 in Greers Ferry and runs east to the lake shore of Greers Ferry Lake. A third segment of 20.43 miles (32.88 km) begins at the Sugar Maple Dr/Old Tr intersection outside Heber Springs and runs east to Highway 16 in Pangburn.

Bob Johnson is a Democratic former member of the Arkansas Senate and of the Arkansas House of Representatives. He was President Pro Tempore of the Senate for the 87th General Assembly session from 2009 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Frauenthal</span>

Max Frauenthal was a leading merchant in post-bellum Arkansas, and was a founding father of Conway, Arkansas; Heber Springs, Arkansas; and Cleburne County, Arkansas. He is known for the courage he showed during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arkansas Highway 337</span> State highway in Arkansas, United States

Highway 337 is a designation for two state highways in the Ozarks. One segment connects Sugar Loaf Mountain Use Area to Highway 92, and the second connects Highway 5/Highway 25 and Highway 16 southeast of Heber Springs. Both routes are maintained by the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1992 United States presidential election in Arkansas</span>

The 1992 United States presidential election in Arkansas took place on November 3, 1992, as part of the 1992 United States presidential election. State voters chose six representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

John McKinnis Bransford was an American politician. He was a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, serving from 1931 to 1935, and 1937 to 1941. He was a member of the Democratic Party.

Hardin Kimbrough "Kemp" Toney was a Democratic politician from Jefferson County, Arkansas. He represented the county in the Arkansas Senate from 1905 to 1913, and the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1931 to 1949.

Richard A. Dawson was a lawyer and state legislator in Arkansas. He was born in Virginia and his father was a minister. Dawson studied at Oberlin College, and received his law degree from the Old University of Chicago. Dawson practiced law in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and represented the area in the Arkansas General Assembly from 1873 to 1874 and from 1879 to 1881.

Robert W. Glover was a teacher, postmaster, tax assessor, judge, state legislator, and Missionary Baptist pastor in Arkansas. He served in both houses of the Arkansas General Assembly.

Vada Sheid was a politician from Mountain Home, Arkansas, who served in the Arkansas General Assembly for 20 years; in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1967 to 1977, the Arkansas Senate from 1977 to 1985, and returning to the House during the 79th Arkansas General Assembly. She is the first woman to serve in both houses of the General Assembly, and the first non-widow's succession woman to serve in the Arkansas Senate. Known by constituents as "Miss Vada", she worked on behalf of Ozark Mountain residents with a focus on education and infrastructure projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zachariah Bradford Jennings</span>

Zachariah Bradford Jennings was a state legislator in Arkansas. He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives and the Arkansas Senate. He proposed the bill to establish Cleburne County, Arkansas in the Arkansas Senate.

References

  1. ↑ "SOS" (1998), pp. 323–324.
  2. ↑ "SOS" (1998), p. 326-327.
  3. ↑ "SOS" (1998), p. 312.
  4. ↑ "SOS" (1998), pp. 327–330.
  5. ↑ "SOS" (1998), pp. 311–313.
  6. ↑ "SOS" (1998), pp. 328–330.
  7. ↑ "Arkansas Almanac: The Encyclopedia of Arkansas". Arkansas Almanac, Incorporated. September 22, 1966. Retrieved September 22, 2019– via Google Books.
  8. ↑ Sharp, James Roger; Sharp, Nancy Weatherly (January 1, 1999). American Legislative Leaders in the South, 1911-1994. Greenwood Press. ISBN   9780313302138 . Retrieved September 22, 2019– via Google Books.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Friedman, Samantha (March 16, 2008). "Cecil Lewis Alexander". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette . Little Rock: WEHCO Media. ISSN   1060-4332 . Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  10. ↑ "SOS" (1998) , pp. 311–330.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.