Gregory Brian Standridge (May 6, 1967 – November 16, 2017) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the

Arkansas State Senate The Arkansas State Senate is the upper branch of the Arkansas General Assembly. The Senate consists of 35 members, each representing a district with about 83,000 people. Service in the state legislature is part-time, and many state senators have ...

for District 16, which includes

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: People * Newton (surname), including a list of people with the surname * ...

and

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

and parts of Boone, Carroll and Van Buren counties in the northern portion of his state.

Early life and education

Standridge graduated from Russellville High School and earned a

Bachelor of Business Administration A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is an undergraduate degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of four years and typically 120 credits of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of busine ...

degree in 1987 from

Arkansas Tech University Arkansas Tech University (ATU) is a public university in Russellville, Arkansas, United States. The university offers programs at both baccalaureate and graduate levels in a range of fields. The Arkansas Tech University–Ozark Campus, a two-yea ...

in Russellville.

Career

Standridge won a low-turnout

special Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer * Special police forces ...

runoff election The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...

held on February 10, 2015, to succeed fellow Republican Michael Lamoureux, who resigned in November 2014 to become chief of staff in the new state administration of Governor

Asa Hutchinson William Asa Hutchinson II (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, AY-sə''; born December 3, 1950) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 46th governor of Arkansas from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Republican Part ...

. Standridge defeated fellow Republican Stan J. Berry, 2,675 votes (53.6 percent) to 2,313 (46.4 percent). Though he was elected in mid-February, Standridge was not allowed to fill the vacant Senate seat until April 2015.

Personal life

He and his wife, Karen Sue Flegel Standridge (born c. 1966), had four children. Standridge died of cancer at the age of 50.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Standridge, Greg 1957 births 2017 deaths Arkansas Tech University alumni People from Russellville, Arkansas Businesspeople from Arkansas Insurance agents County officials in Arkansas American firefighters Republican Party Arkansas state senators Baptists from Arkansas Deaths from cancer in Arkansas 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century Baptists 21st-century members of the Arkansas General Assembly