Bill Hightower (born 1959) 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 ...

. From 2013 through 2018, he was a Republican member of 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 ...

, representing the 35th district.

Early life and education

Hightower was raised in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

, where his father worked at the

University of South Alabama The University of South Alabama (USA) is a public research university in Mobile, Alabama, United States. It was created by the Alabama Legislature in May 1963 and replaced existing extension programs operated in Mobile by the University of Alaba ...

's medical center. Hightower graduated from the University of South Alabama with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in business and finance in 1984. After working in a textile factory in

Saraland, Alabama Saraland is a city in Mobile County, Alabama, United States, and a suburb of Mobile. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 16,171, up from 13,405 at the 2010 census. Saraland, part of the Mobile metropolitan area, is the third ...

, he attended

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

, where he earned a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

in 1990.

Career

Hightower owns a corporate consulting firm. Hightower's wife, Susan, ran for the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...

seat for the 103rd district in 2013, but lost to

Margie Wilcox Julia Margaret Wilcox is an American businessperson and politician from Alabama. She is a Republican member of Alabama House of Representatives for district 104. Early life Wilcox was born and raised in Theodore, Alabama. In 1980, Wilcox gr ...

. Hightower won a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

to the

on March 12, 2013, to succeed Ben Brooks. In 2014, the

Sunlight Foundation The Sunlight Foundation was an American 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocated for open government. The organization was founded in April 2006 with the goal of increasing transparency and accountability in the United States ...

ranked Hightower as the fourth-most

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

member of the state senate. Hightower was re-elected in November 2014. Hightower ran for

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 ...

in the 2018 election. He finished in fourth place in the Republican primary, receiving 4% of the vote, and endorsed

Kay Ivey Kay Ellen Ivey ( ; born October 15, 1944) is an American politician who is the 54th governor of Alabama, serving since 2017. A Republican since 2002, Ivey was the 38th Alabama state treasurer from 2003 to 2011 and the 30th lieutenant governor o ...

in the general election. With

Bradley Byrne Bradley Roberts Byrne (born February 16, 1955) is an American attorney and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Alabama's 1st congressional district from 2014 to 2021. Elected as a member of the state Board of Education as a Dem ...

, who represents in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, opting not to run for reelection in the

2020 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...

, Hightower announced his candidacy to succeed Byrne in April 2019. He advanced to the runoff election, where he lost to

Jerry Carl Jerry Lee Carl Jr. (born June 17, 1958) is an American politician and businessman who served as the U.S. representative for Alabama's 1st congressional district from 2021 to 2025. The district is based in Mobile, and includes all of the state's ...

Personal life

Hightower and his wife, Susan, have three children. They lived in the suburbs around

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

during the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, after which they returned to Alabama.

References

External links

Campaign website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hightower, Bill 1959 births 21st-century Alabama politicians Republican Party Alabama state senators Date of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people) University of South Alabama alumni Vanderbilt University alumni Politicians from Mobile, Alabama Candidates in the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections 21st-century members of the Alabama Legislature