Hinton Mitchem
| Hinton Mitchem | |
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| Member of the Alabama Senate from the 9th district |
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In office June 1987 - January 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Loyd Coleman |
| Succeeded by | Clay Scofield |
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In office January 1979 – January 1987 |
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| Preceded by | Sid McDonald |
| Succeeded by | Loyd Coleman |
| Member of the Alabama House of Representatives from the 25th district |
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In office January 1975 – January 1979 |
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| Preceded by | ? |
| Succeeded by | Euclid Rains |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
May 18, 1938 Oconee County, Georgia |
| Died | January 22, 2013 (aged 74) Vinemont, Alabama |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Jill Tate Mitchem 1965-1994 Judy Corley Mabry Mitchem 1999-2013 |
| Profession | business owner |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
Hinton Mitchem (May 18, 1938 – January 22, 2013) was a Democratic member of the Alabama Senate, representing the 9th District from 1979 to January 1987 and then again from June 1987 to January 2011. He first entered politics as a member of the Albertville, Alabama City Council in 1968. In 1974, he was elected unopposed in the general election as a member of the Alabama House of Representatives, representing the 25th District, serving a single four-year term from 1975 through 1979 before his election to the Senate. He ran without Republican opposition again in both his first race and in 1982 as well as the special 1983 race the entire legislature had to run in. In 1986, Mitchem stepped down from the Senate and ran in the primary for Lieutenant Governor. In a four-person field, he placed third behind fellow State Senator John Teague and eventual winner, Jim Folsom, Jr., placing just ahead of former State Treasurer Melba Till Allen.
When Senate successor Loyd Coleman was forced from office upon a criminal conviction in April 1987, Mitchem jumped into the special election and won handily in the primary, and by a 2-to-1 margin over Republican Nell Burton Skidmore. He won unopposed again in 1990. With the growing strength of the Alabama Republicans, he faced opposition during his last terms in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006, with a declining, but respectable, percentage of the vote. His closest race was his final one in 2006 where he prevailed by 7% over attorney Bill Ingram of Guntersville, Alabama.
Mitchem was elected President Pro Tempore of the Senate on January 9, 2007 by a margin of 18–17 over the efforts of a coalition of Republicans and disaffected Democrats to elect leadership that would be more favorable to then-Gov. Bob Riley. He then resigned from the position on February 5, 2009 per a prior agreement to allow a vote on Rodger Smitherman to succeed him for the remaining two years of the session. As of 2010, Mitchem was serving in his 36th year in the Alabama Legislature, then the longest-serving member (with a 5-month gap of service in early 1987). He chose to retire in 2010 and was succeeded by Republican Clay Scofield.
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