Sonny Callahan
| Sonny Callahan | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama's 1st district |
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In office January 3, 1985 – January 3, 2003 |
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| Preceded by | Jack Edwards |
| Succeeded by | Jo Bonner |
| Member of the Alabama Senate | |
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In office 1979-1985 |
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| Member of the Alabama House of Representatives | |
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In office 1971-1979 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 11, 1932 Mobile, Alabama |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Karen Reed |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Herbert Leon "Sonny" Callahan (born September 11, 1932) is a businessman and politician from Alabama. After being elected as a Democrat from Mobile to the state house and senate, he shifted to the Republican Party in 1984 at the request of Jack Edwards, the retiring Congressman from his district. Callahan was repeatedly elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1985 to 2003. Afterward he established his own lobbying firm and continued to be active in the Republican Party.
Callahan was born in Mobile, Alabama in 1932 to a large Irish Catholic family. He had eight brothers and sisters. After attending public schools, he attended classes at the University of Alabama, Mobile campus. He left college before graduation, serving in the United States Navy from 1952 to 1954.
Afterward Callahan returned to Mobile, where he started work in the trucking and warehousing businesses. He joined the Democratic Party and became active. He ran and was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1970; in 1978 he was elected to the Alabama Senate.
When he left the state House and the state Senate, he was succeeded each time by Ann Bedsole, a Mobile businesswoman, philanthropist, and a moderate Republican. In 1982, Callahan lost a Democrat bid to become lieutenant governor of the state.
During this period since the social changes of the 1960s, which resulted in African Americans regaining their ability to exercise their franchise in southern states, many white former Democrats in the South were shifting to the Republican Party. However, conservative Democrats continued to do well at the state level in the Mobile area. Nonetheless, retiring 10-term Republican congressman Jack Edwards was well aware that conservative Democrats in Mobile were more than willing to vote for Republicans at the national level. He asked Callahan to run for his seat in Alabama's 1st congressional district, based in Mobile, as a Republican.
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