Charles Graham (February 24, 1965 – May 19, 2020) was an American politician in the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

who represented the 19th Senate District in the

Missouri General Assembly The Missouri General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by ...

, which includes the city of Columbia, Missouri, where he lived. Graham was born in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. He graduated from the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Uni ...

in 1987 with a B.S. in journalism. He was first elected to the

Missouri House of Representatives The Missouri House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 163 members, representing districts with an average size of 37,000 residents. House members are elected for two-year terms during general elections ...

in 1996, and served there through 2005. He was first elected to the

Missouri State Senate The Missouri Senate is the upper chamber of the Missouri General Assembly. It has 34 members, representing districts with an average population of 174,000. Its members serve four-year terms, with half the seats being up for election every two yea ...

in 2004, and served as the party's Assistant Minority Floor Leader. He had been mentioned as a possible candidate in the 2006 United States Senate election, but dropped out in support of then-State Auditor

Claire McCaskill Claire Conner McCaskill (; born July 24, 1953) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Missouri from 2007 to 2019 and as State Auditor of Missouri from 1999 to 2007. McCaskill is a native of Rolla, Missouri. She gr ...

. He served on the following committees: *Education *Gubernatorial Appointments *Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence *Pensions, Veterans' Affairs and General Laws In 1998, Graham proposed a bill which would have permitted

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution ( ...

prisoners awaiting execution to donate organs (kidneys or bone marrow) in exchange for a commutation of their death sentence. He was a strong supporter of stem-cell research. On October 20, 2007, Graham was arrested by the Columbia Police Department on suspicion of driving while intoxicated after rear-ending a vehicle near his home in Southwest Columbia. His license was subsequently suspended. Graham was a

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neur ...

after he had an automobile accident at 16. He received national attention during a 2008 televised campaign rally in Columbia. The vice presidential nominee Joe Biden asked him to stand up and was apparently unaware of his paralysis. When Biden realized that Graham could not stand up, he asked for the crowd to stand up for him. On November 4, 2008, Graham lost his seat after being defeated in the general election by Republican Kurt Schaefer. After the 2008 election, he announced that he had no future plans to run for public office. Graham died on May 19, 2020, at 55.Chuck Graham, former state senator, dies at 55
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References

*''Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2005-2006.'' Jefferson City, MO: Secretary of State.

External links

Chuck Graham's Current LegislationChicago Tribune ArticleSen. Chuck Graham arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicatedSchaefer upsets Graham
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Chuck Democratic Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives Democratic Party Missouri state senators Politicians from Columbia, Missouri Politicians from St. Louis 1965 births 2020 deaths University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Media alumni Politicians with paraplegia American politicians with disabilities 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians