Donald Kenneth Balfour II is a Republican politician. He was a member of the

Georgia State Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Legal provisions The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, with the lower house being the Georgia ...

, representing the 9th District.

Legislative career

Balfour, a resident of

Snellville Snellville is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States, east of Atlanta. The population was 18,242 at the 2010 census, and in 2019 the estimated population was 20,077. It is a developed suburb of Atlanta and a part of the Atlanta metr ...

and an executive with Waffle House, Inc., was elected to the State Senate in 1992. He was re-elected multiple times without opposition. In 2002, after Republicans took control of the Georgia Senate for the first time, he was elected chairman of the Republican caucus and in 2003 he became chairman of the senate's Rules Committee, a position he held until January 2013. He served as President of the

National Conference of State Legislatures The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), established in 1975, is a "nonpartisan public officials’ association composed of sitting state legislators" from the states, territories and commonwealths of the United States. Background ...

from 2009 to 2010. He announced a campaign for 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 ...

Georgia's 7th congressional district Georgia's 7th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is currently represented by Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux. The district's boundaries have been redrawn following the 2010 census, which granted an a ...

in March 2010 (see United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia § District 7), but ended his campaign later that month. Balfour was defeated in a primary challenge in 2014. When he left office, he was the longest-serving Republican in the Georgia Senate.

Indictment and acquittal

Balfour was indicted by a Fulton County grand jury for eighteen counts of falsifying expense reports and theft by taking. In November 2013, pending his trial, he was suspended from his office by Governor Nathan Deal, and from his party positions by the Senate Republican Caucus. In December, Balfour was acquitted of all charges and his suspension was reversed.Michelle Wirth
"Senator Don Balfour Returns to Georgia Senate"
WABE, January 13, 2014.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balfour, Donald Living people Republican Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators Bob Jones University alumni Fairleigh Dickinson University alumni People from Snellville, Georgia 21st-century American politicians Year of birth missing (living people)