Bob Riley (Alabama)
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{{Infobox_Governor |name= Bob Riley |image= Bob riley of alabama.jpg |caption= |order= 66th |office= Governor of Alabama |term_start= January 2003 |term_end= present |lieutenant= Lucy Baxley |predecessor= Don Siegelman |successor= incumbent |birth_date= October 3, 1944 |birth_place= Ashland, Alabama |death_date= |death_place= |spouse= Patsy Riley |profession= Car salesman, real estate agent |party= Republican |footnotes= }} Robert Renfroe "Bob" Riley (born October 3, 1944) is an American politician in the Republican Party. He is currently the Governor of Alabama.
Riley was born in Ashland, Alabama, a small town in Clay County where his family had ranched and farmed for six generations. Riley attended the University of Alabama, graduating with a degree in business administration. Riley is married to Patsy Adams Riley, also from Ashland. The couple has four children and four grandchildren.
Riley was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996 defeating his Democratic opponent, State Senator T.D. "Ted" Little (Auburn, Ala.) and Libertarian John Sophocleus, and served from 1997 to 2003. He did not run for re-election to his seat in November 2002, instead running for governor and defeating the Democratic incumbent, Don Siegelman, by one of the narrowest margins in Alabama history and again defeating Libertarian candidate John Sophocleus. His election victory was controversial, and caused many to recall the Florida election recount of 2000. Initial returns showed Riley losing to Siegelman, but Republican officials in Baldwin County - one of the few counties fully controlled by Republicans - claim to have recounted that county's votes after midnight, and after Democratic Party observers had gone home for the night. Thousands of votes for Siegelman either disappeared or shifted to Riley in this recount, turning the statewide result in Riley's favor. Siegelman abandoned an election contest after suffering adverse rulings from several judges who, Siegelman pointed out, were either elected as Republicans or appointed by Republican presidents. Riley took office in January 2003. As Governor, he is a member of the National Governors Association, the Southern Governors' Association, and the Republican Governors Association.
In 2003, Alabama state politics gained national attention when the chief justice of the state Supreme Court, Roy Moore, refused to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the rotunda of the court building. Riley reportedly supported Moore, but ultimately did not play a large role in the dispute, and there was nothing he could do to prevent Moore from being removed from office by a judicial ethics panel. Moore has entered the June 2006 Republican primary for governor against Riley. Moore has accused Riley of raising property taxes by switching appraisals from quadrennial to annual. Riley has countered that he is merely following the letter of the law, and the advice of counsel.
Riley also proposed a sweeping reform of the state's tax system, regarded as one of the most regressive in the United States. Riley intended to shift more of the burden to the rich in order to salvage the dismal state of Alabama's state finances. He presented his plan in Christian terms, arguing that the existing system was unfair to the poor. Many conservatives attacked the plan on the basis of various tax increases included to offset income tax breaks for the poor. While Riley's plan enjoyed liberal support, some liberals criticized the plan for giving tax breaks to large corporations, such as Alabama Power Company. The plan was rejected by voters on September 9, 2003, with 68 percent opposed to it. This was largely due to massive negative advertising financed by opponents of the proposal, including the Alabama branch of the Christian Coalition. While studies of the plan by economists and accountants showed that a majority of Alabamians would see lower overall taxes under the plan, polls showed that a majority of Alabamians - apparently influenced by opponents' advertising - thought their personal taxes would be higher under the plan.
As of May 10, 2005, Riley's approval ratings were 36% approving, 52% disapproving. [1]. Riley has been credited with helping to spur economic development in Alabama, including the construction of a major aeronautics plant from EADS, the parent company of Airbus. This can possibly account for some recent upswings in his approval ratings. Riley's critics have countered that this development is a consequence of national economic recovery, and point out that Riley has failed to emulate the success of predecessors, such as Siegelman and Jim Folsom, Jr., in securing automotive manufacturing plants. Critics have also pointed to the loss of thousands of Alabama's historic textile jobs during Riley's administration, although this may well be attributed to global economic trends.
During the course of the summer of 2005, Riley’s approval ratings improved somewhat, reaching 45 percent by the end of July. By September 20, 2005, Riley’s approval ratings had increased substantially to 58 percent with 38 percent having an unfavorable view of Riley. [2] Analysis of this increase seems to indicate that it may be attributable to the public’s perception of Riley’s response to Hurricane Katrina.
In 2005, Governor Riley was criticized by some Mobile County residents after issuing that area of the state a "mandatory" evacuation order in advance of Hurricane Dennis's landfall. Residents felt the issue was better addressed during Hurricane Katrina using a layered approach with sections of the county evacuated instead of the entire county.
On August 28, 2005, Governor Riley declared the state of emergency for the approaching Hurricane Katrina, at the same day, he requested president George W. Bush to declare "expedited major disaster declaration" for six counties of south Alabama, which was approved by the evening of August 29. 350 national guards were called on duty as of August 30.[3][4][5]
On November 9, 2005 Riley called for a citizens' boycott of Aruba, alleging that the local government was engaged in a cover-up of the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.[6]
Also in November 2005, Riley suffered further potential embarrassment when his former Congressional press secretary, Michael Scanlon, pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the Jack Abramoff scandal. It further emerged that, as a Congressman, Riley had signed a letter on behalf of the U.S. Family Network, opposing expansion of casino gambling in Alabama. The U.S. Family Network was revealed to be an Abramoff front, funded by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, which operated competing casinos. Riley has denied knowing the source of this funding.
Electoral history
- 2002 Race for Governor
- Bob Riley (R) - 672,225 - 49.2%
- Don Siegelman (D) (inc.) - 669,105 - 48.9%
- John Sophocleus (Libertarian) - 23,272 - 1.7%
- write in - 2,451 - .2%
(Returns as posted after the Baldwin County changes. Prior to those changes, Siegelman was reported to have 675,439 votes to 672,225 for Riley.)
A statistical analysis of the 2002 Baldwin County recount controversy by Auburn University political scientist James H. Gundlach.
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