Perry Oliver Hooper Jr. (born October 5, 1954), is an American politician. A Republican, Hooper served in 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 ...

for District 73 from 1984 until 2003.

Early life

Hooper is the son of Perry Hooper Sr. He graduated from

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

Career

In 1982, Hooper ran for the

for the 81st district. He lost in the general election to the Democratic Party nominee, Ham Wilson Jr. Running for the 73rd district in 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 ...

in 1983, Hooper defeated Wilson. Hooper served until 2003, after he lost renomination in 2002 to David Grimes. In 1987, the Junior Chamber International awarded Hooper "Outstanding Young Man of Alabama". American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a group of conservative lawmakers and businesses, presented him with the Thomas Jefferson Free Enterprise Award. He was a member of the Montgomery County Republican Committee. Hooper was the co-chair of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

2016 presidential campaign This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kiri ...

in Alabama. After

Jeff Sessions Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III (born December 24, 1946) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 84th United States attorney general from 2017 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as United Stat ...

resigned from the

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

to become

attorney general of the United States The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government. The attorney general acts as the principal legal advisor to the president of the ...

, Hooper sought the appointment to succeed Sessions in the Senate. Hooper was one of six finalists considered by

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

Robert Bentley. When

Luther Strange Luther Johnson Strange III (born March 1, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Alabama from 2017 to 2018. He was appointed to fill that position after it was vacated by Jeff Sessions upon Sessions' ...

was appointed to the Senate, Hooper endorsed him and declined to run against him in the 2017 special election to fill the remainder of the term.

Personal life

Hooper and his wife, Judy, have three children, two who were

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

s for the

Auburn Tigers football The Auburn Tigers football program represents Auburn University in the sport of American college football. Auburn competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Confe ...

team, and another, a

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

for the

South Carolina Gamecocks football The South Carolina Gamecocks football program represents the University of South Carolina. The South Carolina Gamecocks, Gamecocks compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern ...

team. Hooper was youth athletics coach and the by the YMCA of Montgomery awarded him "Man of the Year". He is affiliated with Kiwanis International and the Southern Development Council. Hooper was arrested on August 23, 2022, on charges of first-degree sex abuse for an incident that occurred on August 16. Hooper was accused of groping and kissing a woman at a local restaurant while she was working. Perry was indicted in November 2022, but the charge against him was dismissed in December. In 2023, Hooper attempted to file a lawsuit against the city of Montgomery and its police department, alleging he had been "set up" as part of a political ploy, but he dropped the suit in October 2023.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Perry 1954 births 21st-century members of the Alabama Legislature American United Methodists Auburn University at Montgomery alumni Insurance agents Living people Republican Party members of the Alabama House of Representatives Politicians from Montgomery, Alabama Thomas Goode Jones School of Law alumni 2016 United States presidential electors 20th-century members of the Alabama Legislature