James Whitehead (born 1942 in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

) is a former Republican 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 ...

. He was narrowly defeated in a June 2007 runoff election 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 ...

in Georgia's 10th congressional district's special election called to replace the late Representative Charlie Norwood.

Personal life

Whitehead attended

Richmond County Richmond County may refer to places: Australia *Richmond County, New South Wales, a cadastral division Canada *Richmond County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Richmondshire, the original Richmond County in Yorkshire, England United States ...

public schools, and graduated from the

Academy of Richmond County The Academy of Richmond County is a high school located in Augusta, Georgia, United States. Known previously as Richmond County Military Academy, it is commonly known as Richmond Academy or ARC. Chartered in 1783, it is listed as the sixth old ...

in 1960. As a standout athlete, he earned All-American honors as a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

tackle. He also set the Academy

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

team record for the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

. Whitehead continued his athletic career as a Bulldog at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

from 1960 to 1962 in football and track. He played as an offensive and defensive tackle with quarterback Fran Tarkenton and set a UGA shot put record which stood for six years. Whitehead founded Jim Whitehead Tire Company in 1985, which has two locations in the Greater Augusta area. He is also President of Southeast Tire Group, Inc., a buying service for independent tire dealers. In 1964, Whitehead married the former Peggy Ann Bond of

DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johan DeKalb: * DeKalb County, Alabama * DeKalb County, Georgia * DeKalb County, Illinois * DeKalb County, Indiana * DeKalb County, Missouri ...

. The couple lives in Evans. They have two sons and a daughter, all of whom are married.

Political career

In 1994, Whitehead was elected to the Columbia County Commission, where he served until 2002, including a term as chairman. He was first elected to the

Georgia 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 Ho ...

in 2004, and was re-elected in 2006. He currently serves as Chairman of the Georgia Board of Corrections, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, Vice Chairman of the Transportation Committee, a member of the Economic Development and Natural Resources Committees, and Deputy Whip for Senate Republicans. Whitehead is a member of the board of directors of Doctors Hospital in Augusta, and an advisory board member of First Bank of Augusta. He has served as the chairman of the Augusta

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

, board member of the Georgia Tire Dealers Association, member of the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia, member of the Augusta Convention and Visitors Bureau, and a member of the Pastor-Parrish Relations Committee of Wesley United

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

Evans Evans may refer to: People *Evans (surname) *List of people with surname Evans Places United States *Evans Island, an island of Alaska *Evans, Colorado *Evans, Georgia *Evans County, Georgia *Evans, New York *Evans Mills, New York *Evans City, ...

U.S. Congress special election

In February 2007, Republican U.S. Congressman Charlie Norwood, of

Georgia's 10th congressional district Georgia's 10th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Georgia. The district is currently represented by Republican Jody Hice, and includes a large swath of urban and rural territory between Atlanta and Augusta ...

, died of cancer. There was a special election open primary in June 2007, where candidates of all parties participated in the primary. A candidate needed 50% to win outright, and there would be a run-off if no candidate earned it the first time. Ten candidates filed: six Republicans, three Democrats, and a Libertarian. Whitehead was the only elected politician to run, and was the front-runner. He won the endorsements of U.S. Congressman Saxby Chambliss. In the primary, Whitehead finished first with 44% of the vote. Doctor Paul Broun qualified for the run-off, ranking second with 21% of the vote, with only 198 votes more than third-place finisher James Marlow, a Democrat. Broun won a plurality of just four counties: Oconee (47%), Jackson (42%), Oglethorpe (37%), and

Morgan Morgan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Morgan (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Morgan le Fay, a powerful witch in Arthurian legend * Morgan (surname), a surname of Welsh origin * Morgan (singer), ...

(31%). In the runoff campaign, Whitehead angered some voters by failing to appear at a debate held in Athens and then by referring to his alma mater, the University of Georgia, as a "liberal bastion" that should be eliminated, save for the football team. In the July 17, 2007 election, Broun upset Whitehead by a margin of just 0.8%, a difference of just 394 votes. After the votes were certified, Whitehead declined to ask for a recount despite the narrow margin. Broun won the counties in the Northern part of the district, while Whitehead won the counties in the southern part. Broun's best two performing counties were

Clarke Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin . Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name. Irish surname origin Clarke is a popular surname i ...

(90%) and Oconee (88%).

References

External links

Official election websiteJim Whitehead TireAugusta Metropolitan Convention and Visitors BureauThe University of GeorgiaAmerican Red Cross
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Jim 1942 births Republican Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators Living people American businesspeople American male shot putters People from Evans, Georgia Politicians from Augusta, Georgia Academy of Richmond County alumni