Bill Hightower (born 1959) is an American politician from the state of

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. From 2013 through 2018, he was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

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 conta ...

, 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 within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

, where his father worked at the

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

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

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

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 la ...

, he attended

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

, where he earned a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

in 1990.

Career

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

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency contai ...

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

Margie Wilcox Julia Margaret Wilcox is an American businessperson and politician from Alabama. Wilcox 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, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

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 that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

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, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

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 serving as the 54th and incumbent governor of Alabama since 2017. Originally a conservative Southern Democrat, Ivey became a member of the Republican Party in 2002. She was the 38t ...

in the general election. With

Bradley Byrne Bradley Roberts Byrne (born February 16, 1955) is an American business 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 ...

, who represents in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, opting not to run for reelection in the 2020 elections, 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 serving as the U.S. representative for Alabama's 1st congressional district since 2021. The district is based in Mobile, and includes all of the state's share of th ...

Personal life

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

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

during the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

, after which they returned to Alabama.

References

External links

Campaign website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hightower, Bill 1959 births 21st-century American 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 elections