Luther Strange Bio
Luther Johnson Strange III (born March 1, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Alabama from February 2017 to January 2018. A Republican, he was appointed by Governor Robert J. Bentley to fill the Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions after Sessions was confirmed as U.S. Attorney General. Strange previously served as the 47th Attorney General of Alabama from 2011 to 2017, making him one of the most prominent state-level legal figures of his generation.
After his Senate appointment, Strange ran to keep the seat in a special election but finished second in the Republican primary and lost the runoff to former state judge Roy Moore. Following that defeat, Strange left the Senate when Democrat Doug Jones won the December 2017 general election. He is a graduate of Tulane University and Tulane University Law School, and he resides in Homewood, Alabama.
Early Life and Background
Luther Johnson Strange III was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and grew up across the Birmingham metropolitan area. He lived in Sylacauga until the age of six, when his family relocated to Homewood, the community where he was raised and where he continues to live. He graduated from Shades Valley High School in 1971.
Strange went on to earn his undergraduate degree from Tulane University in New Orleans before returning to the law and attending Tulane University Law School, where he received his Juris Doctor. He was admitted to the Alabama State Bar in 1981, beginning a legal career that would eventually carry him into the highest offices of state government.
Standing at 6 feet 9 inches tall, Strange is the tallest person ever to have served in the United States Senate and remains among the tallest members ever to have served in Congress. He is a member of the Episcopal Church.
Path to US Politics
Strange’s first job after law school was at Sonat Offshore, a subsidiary of Sonat Inc., a Birmingham-based natural gas utility, where he joined in 1980 as a lawyer. By 1985, he had risen to head the company’s Washington, D.C. office, a position he held until 1994. During the 1980s and 1990s, Strange also worked as a registered lobbyist in Washington for Sonat and for Transocean Offshore Drilling Co., gaining extensive experience in regulatory and federal policy matters.
Before entering electoral politics, Strange practiced law as a partner with the firm Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP. He later founded his own Birmingham-based firm, Strange LLC, building a practice that would serve as a launch pad for his statewide campaigns. His first run for office came in 2006, when he captured the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Alabama by defeating George Wallace Jr., only to lose the general election to Democrat Jim Folsom Jr.
Luther Strange Career
Early Career (1980–2010)
Strange spent the first phase of his professional life in the private sector, working his way up inside a major energy company before moving into a leading role at a major Alabama law firm. His lobbying work in Washington for natural gas and offshore drilling interests connected him to federal policymaking early in his career and helped establish his conservative regulatory profile.
In 2010, he returned to public-spirited legal work by challenging incumbent Alabama Attorney General Troy King in the Republican primary, defeating King before going on to win the general election against Democrat James Anderson. The victory launched Strange into the state’s top legal office.
Attorney General of Alabama (2011–2017)
Strange served as the 47th Attorney General of Alabama from 2011 to 2017, a tenure defined by frequent clashes with the federal government. He sued the Obama administration over a United States Department of Justice and Department of Education directive on the treatment of transgender students and over changes in the United States Department of the Interior’s calculation of Gulf of Mexico offshore drilling royalties. He also joined multistate litigation challenging the Clean Power Plan and sided with ExxonMobil when attorneys general from other states sought information about the company’s climate-change disclosures.
As Alabama’s chief legal officer, Strange was the coordinating counsel for the Gulf Coast states in the litigation arising from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. He also served as chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association in 2016 and 2017, helping shape the legal strategies of GOP state law officers nationwide. In April 2014, he made his first argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in Lane v. Franks, a whistleblower case tied to corruption within an Alabama community college system.
U.S. Senate Appointment (February 2017)
When Senator Jeff Sessions was nominated as U.S. Attorney General in November 2016, Strange quickly declared his interest in the appointment, filing paperwork for a potential special election and publicly announcing his candidacy on December 6, 2016. Governor Bentley named Strange among six finalists for the seat on February 2, 2017, and following Sessions’s confirmation, Bentley announced Strange’s appointment on February 9, 2017. Strange was sworn in by Senate President pro tempore Orrin Hatch on the same day.
Strange’s tenure aligned him closely with President Donald Trump. He supported Trump’s policy agenda and received the President’s endorsement during his campaign. According to vote analyses, Strange voted in line with Trump’s stated position 91.1% of the time. He was one of 22 senators to sign a letter urging Trump to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement, and he received an A+ grade from the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund for his opposition to gun control measures.
Special Election Defeat (2017)
Strange sought to win election to the remainder of Sessions’s term in a 2017 special election but finished second in the Republican primary behind former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore. In the runoff on September 26, 2017, Moore defeated Strange by a margin of 54.89% to 45.11%. Moore went on to lose the December 12, 2017, general election to Democratic nominee Doug Jones, who succeeded Strange in the Senate.
Luther Strange Career Wins
Although Strange did not win a full term in the U.S. Senate, his career includes decisive statewide victories in Alabama’s Republican primaries and a general-election win for Attorney General. He also earned national recognition for his legal work and party leadership.
Electoral Highlights
Strange won the 2006 Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Alabama, defeating George Wallace Jr., though he lost the general election to Democrat Jim Folsom Jr. He returned to the ballot in 2010 and won the Republican primary for Attorney General by defeating incumbent Troy King, then secured the general election against Democrat James Anderson.
Other Wins and Achievements
In 2011, Strange was honored by the Boy Scouts of America as a Distinguished Eagle Scout, recognizing his continued service and personal accomplishments. He also served as chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association in 2016 and 2017, a leadership post that reflected his standing among conservative state law officers.
Luther Strange Family
Family Background
Strange was raised in Homewood, Alabama, after his family moved there from Sylacauga when he was six years old. He attended Shades Valley High School and later Tulane University and Tulane University Law School, the academic foundation behind his career in law and politics.
Personal Life
Strange is married to Melissa Strange, with whom he appeared at his Senate appointment announcement in February 2017. The couple resides in Homewood, Alabama. Standing 6 feet 9 inches tall, Strange remains the tallest U.S. Senator in American history.