Luther Strange

Luther Johnson Strange III (born March 1, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Alabama from 2017 to 2018.

He was appointed to fill that position after it was vacated by Sen. Jeff Sessions upon Sessions's confirmation as U.S. Attorney General.

Strange graduated from Shades Valley High School in 1971.

He received his undergraduate degree from Tulane University.

He then graduated from Tulane University Law School.

Strange's first job after graduating law school was at Sonat Offshore, a subsidiary of Sonat Inc., a natural gas utility based in Birmingham, Alabama; he joined the company in 1980 as a lawyer.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Strange was a registered lobbyist in Washington for Sonat and Transocean Offshore Drilling Co.

Prior to being elected Attorney General, Strange was the founder of the law firm Strange LLC, a Birmingham, Alabama-based law firm.

Before establishing his own law firm, Strange was a partner with Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP.

As Alabama Attorney General, Strange sued the federal government several times, over such issues as a United States Department of Justice and United States Department of Education directive on the treatment of transgender students and changes in the U.S. Department of the Interior's calculation of Gulf of Mexico offshore drilling royalties.

Strange also joined a suit brought by some states against the federal government that challenged the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan.

Along with other Republican state attorneys general, Strange "came to the defense of ExxonMobil when it fell under investigation by attorneys general from states seeking information about whether the oil giant failed to disclose material information about climate change" (see ExxonMobil climate change controversy).

Strange is an opponent of same-sex marriage.

He expressed disagreement with the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges which found a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.

Strange was admitted to the Alabama State Bar in 1981.

In 1985, Strange became head of Sonat's Washington, D.C. office.

He left the company in 1994.

Strange was a candidate for public office in 2006, 2010 and 2014.

In 2006, Strange ran for Lieutenant Governor of Alabama and defeated George Wallace Jr.. in the Republican primary.

Strange then lost the general election to Democrat Jim Folsom Jr. In 2010, Strange defeated incumbent Attorney General Troy King in the Republican primary, before going on to win the general election against Democrat James Anderson.

He previously served as the 47th Attorney General of the U.S. state of Alabama from 2011 until 2017.

In April 2014, Strange argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in Lane v. Franks.

The case involved a whistleblower who reported corruption within the Alabama community college system.

This was Strange's first argument before the Court.

In March 2014, Strange brought Alabama into a lawsuit filed by Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster against California's egg production standards as embodied in its Proposition 2 in 2008.

In October 2014, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, rejecting the states' challenge to Proposition 2, California's prohibition on the sale of eggs laid by caged hens kept in conditions more restrictive than those approved by California voters in a 2008 ballot initiative.

Judge Kimberly Mueller ruled that Alabama and the other states lacked legal standing to sue on behalf of their residents and that the plaintiffs were representing solely the interests of egg farmers, not "a substantial statement of their populations."

His tenure in office included the conviction and removal from office of the Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard in June 2016.

However, Strange recused himself from that case, appointing Van Davis as Acting Attorney General to oversee it.

As attorney general, Strange was the coordinating counsel for the Gulf Coast states in the litigation on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Strange served as chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association in 2016 and 2017.

The appointment of Senator Jeff Sessions as United States Attorney General in November 2016 created an opening for a U.S. Senate seat that Governor Bentley would fill by appointment upon Sessions' confirmation.

Many aspirants publicly declared their interest in the appointive Senate seat, and in running for it even if not selected by Bentley.

Strange revealed his intention to seek the Senate seat to Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard on November 22, 2016, regardless of whether he was appointed by Bentley, calling a run "the right thing for me to do."

Strange filed paperwork for the potential special election one week later and made a public announcement of his candidacy on December 6.

"The voters will make the ultimate decision about who will represent them, and I look forward to making my case to the people of Alabama in the months to come as to why they can trust me to keep protecting and fighting for our conservative values."

After President Donald Trump appointed U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions from Alabama to the office of United States Attorney General in February 2017, Governor Robert J. Bentley appointed Strange to fill the vacancy.

He ran to finish the term in the subsequent special election and advanced to the Republican primary runoff, in which he lost to former state judge Roy Moore.

On December 12, Democratic nominee and former U.S. attorney Doug Jones was elected as his successor, defeating Moore in the special election.

Luther Strange was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and lived in Sylacauga until the age of six, when his family moved to Homewood.