J. Thomas Heflin
James Thomas Heflin (April 9 1869–April 22 1951) was a United States Senator from Alabama. Born in Louina, Alabama, he was the grandson of the Alabama politician Robert Stell Heflin. He attended the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical College, and was admitted to the bar in 1893, practicing law in Lafayette, Alabama. In 1904, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat to fill the vacancy left by the death of Rep. Charles W. Thompson. He continued to serve in the House until 1920, when he was elected to the Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John Hollis Bankhead. In 1928, Heflin supported Herbert Hoover for President. When he came up for re-election in 1930, he was denied nomination as a Democrat. This forced him to run as an Independent candidate and he lost to John Hollis Bankhead II.
After his defeat, he was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the House and Senate on several occasions, and later would serve as an appointed special representative of the Federal Housing Administration under Franklin Roosevelt. He died in 1951 in Lafayette.
His nephew, Howell Heflin, would also become a Senator from Alabama.
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