Biography:

Richard Shelby was born in Birmingham, Ala., and resides in Tuscaloosa, Ala. He received a bachelor's degree in 1957 and a law degree in 1963 from the University of Alabama.

Shelby was a law clerk for the Alabama Supreme Court. He was Tuscaloosa city prosecutor from 1963 to 1971 and served as U.S. Commissioner of the Northern District of Alabama from 1966 to 1970. He was a special assistant attorney general of Alabama from 1968 to 1970 and served in the Alabama Senate from 1970 to 1978.

Shelby was elected to the U.S. House in 1978 and was re-elected in 1980, 1982 and 1984. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 and was re-elected in 1992 and 1998.

Shelby and his wife, Annette, have two children.

Past Campaigns:

Richard Shelby was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 as a Democrat with 50 percent of the vote, ousting incumbent Republican Sen. Jeremiah A. Denton Jr. He was re-elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992, winning 61 percent of the vote to defeat three candidates in the Democratic primary and 65 percent of the vote to defeat Republican Richard Sellers and Libertarian Jerome Shockley in the general election.

After the 1994 election, Shelby switched to the Republican Party. He won re-election in 1998, defeating Democratic challenger Clayton Suddith, 63-37 percent.

Before moving to the Senate, Shelby was elected to the U.S. House in 1978, with 94 percent of the vote, defeating Alabama Conservative candidate Fulton Gray and Republican Jim Scruggs. Shelby was re-elected to the U.S. House in 1980, with 73 percent of the vote, and in 1982 and 1984, winning 97 percent of the vote each time over Libertarian candidates. He had no Republican opposition either year.

Before he was elected to Congress, Shelby served in the Alabama Senate.

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