Sanford Bishop

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Sanford Bishop
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Georgia's 2nd district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 1993
Preceded by Charles Hatcher
Member of the Georgia Senate
from the 15th district
In office
January 3, 1991 – January 3, 1993
Succeeded by Ed Harbison
Member of the Georgia House of Representatives
from the 94th district
In office
January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1991
Succeeded by Bill Lee
Personal details
Born February 4, 1947 (1947-02-04) (age 65)
Mobile, Alabama
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Vivian Creighton
Residence Albany, Georgia
Alma mater Morehouse College, Emory University
Occupation attorney
Religion Baptist
Military service
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service 1969-1971

Sanford Dixon Bishop Jr. (born February 4, 1947) is the U.S. Representative for Georgia's 2nd congressional district, serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is located in the southwestern part of the state and includes Albany, Thomasville and most of Columbus.

Contents

[edit] Early life, education, and law career

Bishop was born in Mobile, Alabama to Minnie B. Slade and Sanford Dixon Bishop,[1] who was the first president of Bishop State Community College. He was educated at Morehouse College and Emory University School of Law, and served in the United States Army,[2] entering the Reserve Officer Training Corps[citation needed]. While at Morehouse, he was a classmate of Herman Cain. After receiving his honorable discharge, Bishop operated a law firm in Columbus, Georgia.

He has received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), given to Eagle Scouts for distinguished career achievement.[3][4] He is a member of BSA's Order of the Arrow (OA) and as a youth was on the OA ceremonies team.[3] He is a resident of Albany, Georgia, where he is a member of the Mount Zion Baptist Church. Bishop is a Life Member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity initiated at Morehouse College's Pi chapter.[5] Bishop is a Shriner and 33° Mason.[6]

[edit] Georgia legislature

He was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1977, where he remained until being elected to the Georgia Senate in 1990.

[edit] U.S. House of Representatives

[edit] Elections

1992

After redistricting, he ran for Georgia's 2nd congressional district in 1992, which was held by six-term U.S. Congressman Charles Hatcher, a white moderate Democrat. The 2nd had been reconfigured as a black-majority district during congressional apportionment following the 1990 Census. Bishop finished second behind Hatcher in a crowded six-way primary. Hatcher failed to reach the 50% threshold, and was forced into a runoff election, where Bishop attacked Hatcher for bouncing 819 checks in the House banking scandal. Bishop defeated him 53%-47%.[7] In the general election, he defeated Republican Jim Dudley 64%-36%.[8]

1994

In the Democratic primary, he defeated James Bush 67%-33%.[9] In the general election, he won re-election to a second term with 66%.[10]

1996

In 1995, a 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court ruled that this redistricting violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The newly redrawn 2nd district was 60% white. However, he won re-election to a third term with 54% of the vote.[11]

1998

Bishop won re-election to a fourth term against Republican Joseph F. McCormick with 57% of the vote.[12]

2000

He won re-election to a fifth term against Dylan Glenn, a young black Republican who received strong backing from many national Republican leaders, 53%-47%.[13]

2002

He won re-election to a sixth term unopposed.[14]

2004

He won re-election to a seventh term with 67% of the vote.[15]

2006
See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia, 2006#District 2

He won re-election to an eighth term with 68% of the vote.[16]

2008
See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia, 2008#District 2

He won re-election to a ninth term with 69% of the vote.[17]

2010
See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia, 2010#District 2

Sanford won re-election to a tenth term against Republican State Representative Mike Keown, 51%-49%,[18] the closest margin of his career.

2012
See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia, 2012#District 2

After redistricting, the 2nd district has once again become a black majority district. Bishop is unlikely to get another major challenger in the general election.[19]

[edit] Tenure

He is a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, as well as the Blue Dog Democrats, a group of moderate to conservative Democrats in Congress. Serving a primarily agricultural district, Bishop has fought to preserve the federal price supports for peanuts, southwest Georgia's most important crop. In 2005, he caused considerable controversy within his own party by cosponsoring a bill by U.S. Representative Ernest Istook (R-Oklahoma) to introduce a constitutional amendment to protect religious expression on public property.

On October 10, 2002, Sanford Bishop was one of only four of 36 Congressional Black Caucus members who voted for the joint resolution authorizing the Iraq War. The other three Congressional Black Caucus members who voted for the resolution authorizing the Iraq War are no longer members of Congress: Bill Jefferson (D-LA), Albert Wynn (D-MD), and Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN), now chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council.[20][21][22]

On September 10, 2007, Sanford Bishop endorsed Barack Obama for President and was co-chair of Georgia for Obama campaign; Bishop's wife, Vivian Creighton Bishop, a municipal court clerk in Columbus, was co-chair of the Georgia Women for Hillary committee.[23]

In September, 2010, the Associated Press reported that Bishop had, in 2003, directed scholarships funded by the Congressional Black Caucus to ineligible persons, including his stepdaughter, Aayesha Owens Reese and his niece Emmaundia J Whitaker. Tim Turner, the congressman's spokesman said the congressman would repay the scholarship fund for any awards he made in violation of the rules.[24]

[edit] Committee assignments

[edit] Caucus memberships

[edit] References

  1. ^ 1
  2. ^ "Veterans in the US House of Representatives 109th Congress" (PDF). Navy League. Archived from the original on 2007-06-26. http://web.archive.org/web/20070626235918/http://www.navyleague.org/legislative_affairs/HouseVets.pdf. Retrieved 2007-10-08. 
  3. ^ a b Townley, Alvin. Legacy of Honor: The Values and Influence of America's Eagle Scouts. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 165–72. ISBN 0-312-36653-1. http://www.thomasdunnebooks.com/TD_TitleDetail.aspx?ISBN=0312366531. Retrieved 2006-12-29. 
  4. ^ "Distinguished Eagle Scouts". Scouting.org. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/02-529.pdf. Retrieved 2010-11-04. 
  5. ^ Congressman Bishop participates in Kappas on Kapitol Hill
  6. ^ Official Congressional Biography
  7. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=207815
  8. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=27825
  9. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=542481
  10. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=28770
  11. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=29458
  12. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=30413
  13. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=339
  14. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=998
  15. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=4097
  16. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=206827
  17. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=387943
  18. ^ http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=488507
  19. ^ http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/house-races/179503-the-10-house-members-most-helped-by-redistricting
  20. ^ "Final vote results for roll call 455". Clerk of the United States House of Representatives. October 10, 2002. http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2002/roll455.xml. 
  21. ^ "H.J.RES.114 To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq". THOMAS. October 16, 2002. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:HJ00114:. 
  22. ^ Eversley, Melanie (October 10, 2002). "Georgians in House divided on Iraq". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: p. A1. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?s_hidethis=no&p_product=AT&p_theme=at&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_field_label-0=Author&p_field_label-1=title&p_bool_label-1=AND&p_text_label-1=Georgians%20in%20House%20divided%20on%20Iraq&s_dispstring=headline(Georgians%20in%20House%20divided%20on%20Iraq)%20AND%20date(all)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no. "Democrat Sanford Bishop unabashedly announced his support of the current Republican president." 
  23. ^ Dewan, Shaila (January 18, 2008). "Southern Blacks Are Split on Clinton vs. Obama". The New York Times: p. A1. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/18/us/politics/18south.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin. 
  24. ^ New York Times, Representative Sanford D Bishop Jr Awarded Scholarships to Family, by the Associated Press, New York TImes 11 September 2010

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sanford Bishop
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Charles Hatcher		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Georgia's 2nd congressional district
January 3, 1993 – present		 Incumbent
United States order of precedence
Preceded by
Xavier Becerra
D-California		 United States Representatives by seniority
69th		 Succeeded by
Corrine Brown
D-Florida
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