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

lieutenant governor of Tennessee The lieutenant governor and speaker of the Senate of Tennessee is the presiding officer of the Tennessee Senate and first in line in the succession to the office of governor of Tennessee in the event of the death, resignation, or removal from ...

and speaker of the

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

from 2007 to 2017. 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 ...

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 count ...

, Ramsey succeeded long-term Democratic Lieutenant Governor

John S. Wilder John Shelton Wilder (June 3, 1921 – January 1, 2010) was an American politician who was the 48th List of lieutenant governors of Tennessee, Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee for 36 years from January 1971 to January 2007, possibly the longes ...

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 An order of succession or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility.governor 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 ...

, is granted the title by statute. Ron Ramsey announced that he would not seek re-election in 2016, and would instead retire from politics. State Representative

Jon Lundberg Jon Lundberg (born June 26, 1961 in Royal Oak, Michigan) is an American politician and a Republican member of the Tennessee State Senate for the 4th district. He was first elected to the 105th Tennessee General Assembly (2007–2008). He serves a ...

(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. Although it is part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee, the university is governed by an institutional Board of Tr ...

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, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

TN-VA Association of

Realtor A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents 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 agen ...

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

auctioneer An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

State legislature

Ramsey represented Senate District 4, which encompasses

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

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 pres ...

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 consi ...

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 finance, also known as election finance or political donations, refers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Political parties, charitable organizations, and political act ...

s from both the Jack Daniel's

PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Military * Rapid Deployment Force (Malaysia), an armed forces unit * Patriot Advanced Capability, of the MIM-104 Patriot missile * Civil Defense Patrols (''Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil''), Guatemalan militia and paramil ...

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 Rosalind Kurita is a Tennessee politician who was formerly Speaker ''pro tempore'' of the Tennessee State Senate, who represented State Senate District 22 ( Cheatham, Houston, and Montgomery counties), centered on Clarksville. In 2005 she unsu ...

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) in the absence o ...

'' 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, he served as a United States Senator from Tennessee fr ...

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 a 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–1776 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Writing in clear and persuasive prose, Paine collected various moral and political arg ...

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

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centu ...

from

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

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

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

and his role as a

Founding Father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

of the United States". 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 based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

), 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 (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

itself.

2016

On March 16, 2016, Ramsey posted on his

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

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

2010 gubernatorial election

On February 28, 2009, Ramsey announced that he would run for the

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 (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...

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

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 American politicians 21st-century American politicians People from Blountville, Tennessee