x
Breaking News
More () »

Richard Shelby Becomes Longest-Serving Alabama Senator

Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) has become the longest serving U.S. Senator to represent the State of Alabama.
Trump Border Security_1551656708806

Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) has become the longest serving U.S. Senator to represent the State of Alabama.

As of today, March 3, Shelby has served as Alabama’s senator for 11,748 days, or 32 years, 59 days.

This surpasses the previous record set by former Alabama Sen. and 1952 Democratic vice presendential cadidate John Sparkman, who served for 11,747 days from Nov. 6, 1946 to Jan. 3, 1979, or 32 years, 58 days. 

Sen. Shelby was elected to the Senate in 1986 as a Democrat, but switched to the Republican Party in Nov. 1994. He also served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat.

Shelby previously worked as the city prosecutor in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, from 1963 to 1971. He went on to serve in the Alabama State Senate from 1970 to 1978. He was then elected to the U.S. House in 1978 and served in that position until his election to the Senate in 1986.

Congressman Robert Aderholt released a statement congratulating Shelby on this milestone: 

I want to congratulate Senator Shelby on this impressive Alabama history milestone.  Almost 12 thousand days in the United States Senate is remarkable in and of itself, but the impact Senator Shelby has had on Alabama during this time makes it even more so. There is not a corner of our state that has not benefited from Senator Shelby’s service in the United States Senate.  I wish him many more days of service to our state and to our nation ahead!” – Congressman Robert Aderholt

Before You Leave, Check This Out