Dickie Drake
| Edgar Richard "Dickie" Drake | |
Alabama State Representative
for District 63 (Jefferson and Shelby counties) | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office November 30, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Owen Drake |
|---|---|
| Born | 1946 |
| Citizenship | American |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Anita Drake |
| Children | Heath and Jared Drake |
| Residence | Leeds, Alabama |
| Occupation | Businessman Retired United States Air Force master sergeant |
| Religion | Baptist |
Edgar Richard Drake, known as Dickie Drake (born 1946) is a military retiree and a businessman from Leeds, an eastern suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, who since 2011 has represented District 45 in the Alabama House of Representatives. A Republican, his district is located in Jefferson and Shelby counties in the north central portion of the state.
For forty-two years, he served as a chief master sergeant in the United States Air Force and the Air Force National Guard. He was stationed in Southeast Asia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan and received some ten military commendations, including the Colonel Leo Thorsness Veteran Award. Drake is the co-owner of Drake Lawn Maintenance in Leeds. He serves on the Jefferson County Republican Executive Committee and is a former president of the Leeds Historical Society. He is a member of the First Baptist Church of Leeds. He and his wife, Anita, have two sons, Heath and Jared Drake, and four grandchildren.[1][2]
Drake won a special election on November 29, 2011, to fill the House seat vacated by the death of his older brother, Republican Representative Owen Drake (1936-2011), also from Leeds. In the Republican primaries, he defeated Michael Sumners and Tommy Joe Alexander. He then defeated the Democrat Paige Parnell in the special election. Drake ran unopposed for his second term in the state House in both his primary and the general election.[2]
Drake is the vice chairman of the House Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee and hold membership on four other panels: (1) Jefferson County Legislation, (2) Judiciary, (3) Public Safety and Homeland Security, and (4) Shelby County Legislation.[1]
In 2013, Representative Drake voted to establish health care standards for abortion facilities in Alabama. In 2014, he voted to prohibit abortion after the detection of the heartbeat of the unborn child. He voted to permit display of the Ten Commandments on public property, a measure which passed the House, 77-19. He supported drug testing for certain recipients of the public welfare system. In 2015, Drake voted to authorize executions by electrocution, a measure which passed the House, 76-26. He supported the bill to permit the home schooled to participate in public school athletic events, a measure approved by the full House, 52-43. He supported the increase in the cigarette tax, which passed the House, 52-46. In 2016, Drake voted to forbid the sale of fetal tissue or to permit its use in research, and he opposed dilation abortions in Alabama. He voted to increase funding for new prison facilities, a measure which passed the House, 52-33. In 2017, he supported allowing midwives to practice in his state, a measure which won House approval, 84-11. He supported reducing the time for appeals from inmates on death row. He voted to prohibit alteration or removal of historic monuments, which passed the House, 72-29. He opposed the bill to prohibit judicial override of sentencing guidelines, a measure which nevertheless passed the House, 78-19.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Dickie Drake's Biography. Retrieved on October 24, 2017.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dickie Drake. Ballotpedia.org. Retrieved on October 24, 2017.
- ↑ Dickie Drake's Voting Records. Project Vote Smart. Retrieved on October 24, 2017.
