Ronald Lynn Ramsey (; born November 20, 1955) is an American auctioneer, politician, and lobbyist, who served as the 49th lieutenant governor of Tennessee and speaker of the

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

from 2007 to 2017. A Republican from Blountville in

East Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 coun ...

, Ramsey succeeded long-term Democratic Lieutenant Governor John S. Wilder in 2007, who had held the office of lieutenant governor since 1971. Tennesseans do not elect their lieutenant governor; rather, the speaker of the Senate, who is first in the line of succession to the

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 ...

, is granted the title by statute. Ramsey is the first Republican Lieutenant Governor in Tennessee history, annd unsuccessfully ran for

Governor of Tennessee The governor of Tennessee is the head of government of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state, state's Tennessee Military Department, military forces. The governor is the only official in the Government of Tenne ...

in the 2010 election, ultimately coming third in the Republican primary. Ron Ramsey announced that he would not seek re-election in 2016, and would instead retire from politics. State Representative Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol) won the primary election on August 4, 2016, to take Ramsey's seat.

Early years

Ramsey graduated from Sullivan Central High School in 1973, and later obtained his bachelor of science degree in 1978, majoring in building construction technology at

East Tennessee State University East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. It was historically part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee under the Tennessee Board of Regents, but since 2016, ...

in Johnson City. He is a member of the advisory board of the Farm Credit Association, a former president of the Blountville Business Association, and a former president and current member of the

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

TN-VA Association of

Realtor Real estate agents and real estate brokers are people who represent sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agent ...

s. He currently works as a real estate broker and an auctioneer.

State legislature

Ramsey represented Senate District 4, which encompasses

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

and Sullivan Counties in East Tennessee. He was elected to the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

as a member of the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

in 1992, and served two terms. During his time as a state representative, Ramsey represented the 1st district, composed of Sullivan County. He was elected to the state Senate in 1996 and was re-elected in 2000, 2004, and 2008.

2004

During the 2004 election cycle, Ramsey was one of a few prominent Tennessee General Assembly leadership members who accepted

campaign contribution Campaign financealso called election finance, political donations, or political financerefers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Donors and recipients include individuals, corpor ...

s from both the Jack Daniel's

PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Aviation * IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama * Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft: ** PAC 750XL ** PAC Cresco ** PAC CT/4 ** PA ...

and the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Tennessee PAC.

2007

In 2007, Ramsey garnered the support all of the GOP senators and one Democratic senator, Rosalind Kurita of Clarksville, in the vote for speakership of the Senate. He won with 18 votes to 15 for Wilder. He is the first Republican to serve as speaker of the Senate in 140 years. Ramsey appointed Kurita as speaker ''

pro tempore ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to 'for the time being' in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a '' locum tenens'' ('placeholder'). The phrase is ...

'' in return for her support. Ramsey was re-elected as speaker of the Senate of the 106th General Assembly in 2009 by a vote of 19–14, making him the longest-serving Republican lieutenant governor in Tennessee state history, and the only one since the speaker was granted the additional title of lieutenant governor by state statute.

2008

In 2008, Ramsey endorsed

Fred Thompson Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as a Unite ...

for President of the United States.

2009

SJR0014 Thomas Paine Day in Tennessee

Ramsey filed Senate Joint Resolution 14 on January 14, 2009, that if enacted, would have designated January 29 as "Thomas Paine Day" in Tennessee. Among many other notable praises of Paine by Ramsey within his SJR0014, Ramsey cited Paine as the author of the essay ''

Common Sense Common sense () is "knowledge, judgement, and taste which is more or less universal and which is held more or less without reflection or argument". As such, it is often considered to represent the basic level of sound practical judgement or know ...

'' (1775-17760, a widely circulated pamphlet in the British American colonies advocating independence of people inhabiting the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America. The Thirteen C ...

from

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. Ramsey concluded his SRJ0014 resolution by noting, "Thomas Paine's influence on the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

and his role as a

Founding Father of the United States The Founding Fathers of the United States, often simply referred to as the Founding Fathers or the Founders, were a group of late-18th-century American Revolution, American revolutionary leaders who United Colonies, united the Thirteen Colon ...

". Ramsey later dropped his own legislative support of his SJR0014 Thomas Paine Day" resolution by May 6, 2009, after being informed that Paine was also the author of the best-selling book, '' The Age of Reason; Being an Investigation of True and Fabulous Theology'' (three editions: 1794, 1795, and 1807) that sparked a deistic revival in the early history of the United States by challenging the concept of institutionalized religion (in particular,

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

), what Paine saw as evidence of corruption within the Christian Church as evidenced by the efforts of many of its Christian religious leaders to acquire temporal political power, and even the legitimacy of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

itself.

2016

On March 16, 2016, Ramsey posted on his

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page he would not seek re-election and leave politics altogether, dispelling rumors he was planning to run for governor in 2018.

2010 gubernatorial election

On February 28, 2009, Ramsey announced that he would run for the Republican nomination for governor of Tennessee. In July 2010, 20 Tea Party organizations, about half of the roughly 40 Tea Party groups in Tennessee, endorsed Ramsey for governor because of his stances on state sovereignty, health care, immigration, and fiscal issues. On July 14, 2010, Ramsey said that states would have to deal with attempts to bring

Sharia law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, inta ...

to the U.S.: "But you cross the line when they start trying to bring Sharia law into the United States. Now, you could even argue whether being a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

is actually a religion, or is it a nationality, way of life, cult, whatever you want to call it. Now certainly we do protect our religions, but at the same time this is something we are going to have to face." On August 5, 2010, Ramsey finished third, receiving 22% votes of the total for the GOP nomination in the state of Tennessee.

Electoral history

References

Sources

"Lieutenant governor's contest may be a mystery worth decoding"
Larry Daughtrey. The Tennessean. May 28, 2006.
"3) Pharmacists For Life Joins International Boycott"
Life Communications. November, 1994.
"Campaign Finance Reform Bill Fails"
Andy Spears. May 3, 2005.
"John Gregory uses checkbook to promote conservative causes"
Hank Haynes. September 3, 2006.

Forbes. Zina Moukheiber. October 28, 2002.
"Campaign gift spat touches the governor"
Tennessean. Bonna de la Cruz. October 2, 2004.

External links

Gubernatorial Campaign SiteSearch the Tennessee Online Campaign Finance Database for records filed by RamseyTennessee Legislative Bills Sponsored and Co-sponsored by Senator Ron Ramsey
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsey, Ronald Lynn 1955 births East Tennessee State University alumni Lieutenant governors of Tennessee Living people Republican Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Republican Party Tennessee state senators People from Johnson City, Tennessee 20th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly 21st-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly People from Blountville, Tennessee