Larry Dean Dixon (August 31, 1942 – December 4, 2020) was an American politician who 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 ...

Political career

Dixon represented the 25th District from 1983 to 2010. He did not seek re-election in 2010 and retired from elective politics. Previously he was a member of 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 ...

from 1978 through 1982. In 1982, as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

in District 81, he defeated later District 73 Representative Perry O. Hooper Jr., of Montgomery. Just a few months after being sworn into the state senate, Dixon switched parties and became a Republican. Regardless of party affiliation, Dixon never had any trouble at the ballot box. His lowest margin was 74 percent in what would be his last bid for reelection, one of only four times that he even faced opposition during his four decades in the capital. From 1981 until 2016, he was the chair of the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners. He also served as a member of the Intergovernmental Advisory council on Education during the Reagan Administration. Dixon ran in the Republican primary for in 1992 after longtime incumbent

Bill Dickinson Bill Dickinson (1917 – 7 April 1994) was a Scottish rugby union player and coach. He was appointed the first official national coach of in 1971.Bath, p133 Richard Bath points out that Dickinson's appointment made an "immediate impact" in ...

retired, and was initially the favorite for the nomination. However, he lost to newspaper publisher

Terry Everett Robert Terry Everett (born February 15, 1937) is an American politician and a Republican former member of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama's 2nd congressional district. He served from 1993 to his retirement in 2009. Everet ...

in what most considered an upset.

Death

Dixon died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in Montgomery, Alabama, on December 4, 2020, at the age of 78, two weeks after an outdoor social gathering with others, at least two of whom had tested positive for the virus amid the

COVID-19 pandemic in Alabama The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the U.S. state of Alabama in March 2020. As of January 10, 2022, the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADHP) reported nearly a million confirmed cases of COVID-19 (or 1 in 5 people) and 16, ...

. His last words were a warning for people to take the virus seriously, saying: "We messed up. We let our guard down. Please tell everybody to be careful. This is real, and if you get diagnosed, get help immediately."

References

External links

Alabama State Legislature – Senator Larry Dixon
- official government website
Project Vote Smart – Senator Larry Dixon (AL)
profile * ''Follow the Money'' – Larry Dixon *
200620021998
campaign contributions * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, Larry Alabama state senators Members of the Alabama House of Representatives 1942 births 2020 deaths Alabama Democrats Alabama Republicans Politicians from Montgomery, Alabama People from Nowata, Oklahoma Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Alabama