Bill Armistead (born May 29, 1944) is an American politician from the state of

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. He served as the chairman of the Alabama Republican Party from 2011 to 2015. He served in the

Alabama Senate The Alabama State Senate is the upper house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabama. The body is composed of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, with each district con ...

from 1994 to 2002, representing the 14th district.

Early life and education

Bill Armistead was born on May 29, 1944, in

Campbell, Alabama Campbell is an unincorporated community in Clarke County, Alabama, United States. History Robert Beverley Jr.'s (c.1667—1722) family moved to Campbell from Wadesboro, North Carolina due to harsh winter climate. They were lineal descendants o ...

. He attended

Samford University Samford University is a Private university, private Christian university in Homewood, Alabama, United States. It was founded by Baptist Church, Baptists in 1841 as Howard College and located until 1887 in Marion, Alabama. It is governed by an in ...

, where he graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

in 1966. While at Samford, Armistead founded the Samford chapter of the

College Republicans College Republicans is an umbrella term that describes college and university students who support the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party of the United States. The College Republican National Committee (CRNC) is the oldest campus- ...

Career

Armistead worked for trucking companies for 20 years before becoming a staffer for H. Guy Hunt, the

Governor of Alabama A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

. He worked for Hunt from 1988 through 1993 as his chief economic advisor. He was elected to the

in 1994, and was reelected in 1998. In 2002, Armistead ran for Lieutenant Governor of Alabama. He lost the election to Democrat Lucy Baxley. In 2011, Armistead was elected chairman of the Alabama Republican Party. He stepped down in 2015, when Terry Lathan was elected. Armistead worked on both the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

gubernatorial campaigns of businessman Tim James. In 2010, Armistead was a

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

regional director for James' campaign, but after James lost a spot in the runoff for the primary, Armistead began working for future Governor

Robert J. Bentley Robert Julian Bentley (born February 3, 1943) is an American former politician and physician who served as the 53rd governor of Alabama from 2011 until 2017 upon his resignation following his arrest after a sex scandal involving a political aide ...

's campaign instead. Armistead also served as campaign chairman for James' 2022 gubernatorial run.

Personal life

Armistead resides in

Vestavia Hills, Alabama Vestavia Hills, colloquially known simply as Vestavia, is a city in Jefferson and Shelby counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a suburb of Birmingham and it is made up of Vestavia, Liberty Park, and Cahaba Heights. The population was 3 ...

. He was married to Emily Armistead from April 1968 until her death in a traffic accident in March 2017.

References

External links

Our Campaigns – Bill Armistead (AL)
profile * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Armistead, Bill Living people 1944 births Samford University alumni State political party chairs of Alabama Republican Party Alabama state senators People from Clarke County, Alabama People from Columbiana, Alabama 20th-century members of the Alabama Legislature