Alabama Democratic Senator To Retire A Strong Supporter Of Civil Rights, Heflin Also Served On Ethics Committee

Alabama Democrat Howell Heflin - one of the most distinctive voices in the U.S. Senate - announced Wednesday that he will not run for re-election in 1996.

“Simply put, the time to pass the torch to another generation is near,” Heflin said in a speech on the Senate floor.

The timing of Heflin’s announcement was unexpected, but his retirement was not. Over the past two years, Heflin, 73, has been treated repeatedly for heart problems and now wears a pacemaker.

Heflin downplayed his medical problems, saying he feels fine but wants to return to his hometown of Tuscumbia in the Alabama foothills to be with his wife, son and grandchildren.

Heflin is the fourth Senate Democrat to announce his retirement this year, and at least three others are contemplating quitting.

None of the retirements, however, epitomizes the South’s changing politics like the loss of the 6-foot-4 Alabamian with his unmistakable drawl.

As the Republican Party has grown in the South, Heflin has been among the dwindling number of moderate-to-conservative Democrats who tied the region to its once-proud legacy of “the Solid South.”

Heflin acknowledged that the days when he could count on re-election by 60 percent or more probably are gone but said he thinks he could have been re-elected - a view that few political watchers would dispute automatically.

After more than 16 years in the Senate, plus seven years as chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Heflin is one of those politicians who rises above party labels or issues.

“I’ve met people who would kill for Howell Heflin who had no idea what he stood for,” said Natalie Davis, a well-known political scientist at Birmingham Southern College.

Davis noted that Heflin prospered more by looking after the state than by developing a national following.

If anything, Helfin’s Southernisms have served to camouflage his politics - in and outside of the state - and enabled him to span the widening political and racial chasms in the South.

He established a solid record of support for civil rights. And when his party needed him on a key vote, such as to oppose the Supreme Court nominations of Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas, Heflin complied.

For 13 years, he served on the often-thankless Senate Ethics Committee, and as a former jurist, he has pushed to upgrade the federal court system.

Heflin won the Silver Star for bravery during World War II and became a locally famous and flamboyant attorney before turning to politics.