16 Facts About Sonny Callahan

Herbert Leon "Sonny" Callahan was an American businessman and politician from Alabama.

Sonny Callahan was repeatedly elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1985 to 2003.

Sonny Callahan left college before graduation, serving in the United States Navy from 1952 to 1954.

Sonny Callahan ran and was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1970; in 1978 he was elected to the Alabama Senate for the 34th district.

In 1982, Sonny Callahan lost a Democratic bid to become lieutenant governor of the state.

However, conservative Democrats like Sonny Callahan continued to do well at the state level in the Mobile area.

When 10-term Republican congressman Jack Edwards decided not to run for re-election in 1984, Sonny Callahan was heavily wooed by both parties to run for the seat.

Sonny Callahan won by 4,000 votes, mostly on the strength of a 6,000-vote margin in the heavily Republican Baldwin County.

Sonny Callahan was undoubtedly helped by the presence of the popular President Ronald Reagan atop the ticket that year for his second term; Reagan carried the 1st district with more than 60 percent of the vote.

Sonny Callahan was unopposed for reelection in 1986, a year that was far more difficult for Republicans at the national level.

Sonny Callahan easily defeated underfunded Democratic challengers for the House seat in 1988,1992,1994, and 1996.

Sonny Callahan ran unopposed in 1990 and 1998, and faced only a Libertarian challenger in 2000.

The Democrats have never come reasonably close to winning the seat since Sonny Callahan's initial run; indeed, the 1984 contest is the only time since the GOP began its current run in the seat that a Democrat has managed even 40 percent of the vote.

Sonny Callahan had voted against numerous foreign aid bills before taking the chairmanship, and he remained skeptical of foreign aid.

In 2001, Sonny Callahan became the chairman of the Energy and Water Development subcommittee.

Sonny Callahan served as campaign chairman for businessman Tim James' unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination for Governor of Alabama.