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Graduate education: Southern Methodist University

Undergraduate education: Texas Christian University

Undergraduate education: University of Texas

Ralph Hall was born in Fate, Texas, and lives in Rockwall. He graduated from Rockwall High School in 1941, and studied at Texas Christian University and the University of Texas. He earned a law degree at Southern Methodist University in 1951.

Hall served in the Navy as an aircraft carrier pilot in World War II, then returned to practice law in Rockwall County. Hall served as a Rockwall County judge from 1950 to 1962. He was elected to the Texas Senate in 1963 and served until 1973.

Hall served as president and chief executive officer of Texas Aluminum Corp. and general counsel of Texas Extrusion Co. Inc. He was a founding member and chairman of Lakeside National Bank of Rockwall, and was chairman of the directors of Lakeside News Inc. He was a counsel for the aircraft parts maker Howmet Corporation from 1970 to 1974.

Hall serves as the unpaid chairman, president or director of Crowley Holding Co., Bank of Crowley, Lakeside National Bank, Lakeside Bancshares Inc., North & East Trading Co., and Linrock Inc.

He was elected to the U.S. House in 1980.

Hall and his wife, Mary Ellen, have three children.

Profile

The oldest member of the House, silver-haired Ralph Hall came to Congress just as Republican Ronald Reagan's presidency began. The soft-spoken business executive and former county judge was born in 1923.

Hall was among Democratic conservatives who sided with Reagan on key budget issues, favoring efforts to reduce federal spending. He was among the Texas delegation's most conservative Democrats and retained his seat with relative ease even though the district voted overwhelmingly Republican in the 1988 presidential race.

But after the Texas Legislature redrew his district and made it more Republican, he switched to the Republican Party in 2004.

In exchange, he got heavy White House backing in the three-way GOP primary that year, winning 78 percent of the vote. Republican leadership even tried to persuade at least one challenger to get out of the race, which the challenger captured on tape.

Hall also kept his seniority and took over the chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce committee's Energy and Air Quality subcommittee.

Hall was a staunchly conservative Democrat, so his switch was not surprising. He is a longtime friend of President Bush and has been a reliable vote for much of his agenda, even before the switch.

While still a Democrat, Hall voted for the resolution allowing the use of force in Iraq. In March 2003, he voted for a budget that included Bush's 10-year, $726 billion tax-cut plan. The plan passed the House 215-212.

In January 2003 Hall voted "present" rather than vote for Nancy Pelosi as Minority Leader. The previous year, he pledged to vote for Republican Dennis Hastert as speaker if his vote made a difference in the election.

Hall clashed with President Clinton on the budget, the family leave bill and cuts to the space station program.

Like many Democrats, Hall voted against the North American Free Trade Agreement. In 1999, he was one of six Democrats who supported a GOP tax cut plan. He has been an original co-sponsor of bills to repeal the estate tax and the marriage tax penalty.

In 2001, he introduced the Social Security Preservation Act, which would prevent the federal government from using Social Security surpluses for anything other than the preservation of the fund.

In 2002, Hall was selected as a conferee on House-Senate energy legislation. He cosponsored a proposed constitutional amendment that would require a two-thirds vote of Congress on any tax-increase bills. The House vote fell just short of passing the bill.

In 2005, the Red River Army Depot, in Hall's district, survived the base-closing initiative. But it was a mixed blessing for Hall, who bemoaned the loss of 357 jobs.

Hall sits on the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Science and Technology Committee.

The American Conservative Union gave Hall's 2007 voting record 96 out of 100. The liberal Americans for Democratic Action gave him 10 points.

Campaigns

Ralph Hall was first elected to the U.S. House in 1980, with 52 percent of the vote, defeating Republican John Wright, a business manager, for the seat vacated by retiring Democratic Rep. Ray Roberts.

He has been re-elected every two years since then. In 1988, he defeated Republican Randy J. Sutton with 67 percent of the vote.

He faced no Republican opposition in 1990. He won re-election in 1992 with 60 percent of the vote, defeating Republican David Bridges. He defeated Bridges again in 1994 with 59 percent of the vote.

In 1996, he defeated Republican Jerry Hall with 64 percent of the vote. Hall was re-elected in 1998, defeating Republican Jim Lohmeyer with 58 percent of the vote. He was re-elected in 2000 with 60 percent of the vote. He was re-elected in 2002 with 58 percent of the vote, over John Graves.

He filed as a Democrat initially for the 2004 races, but when a federal court upheld redrawn congressional districts, Hall switched parties and filed under the new lines as a Republican.

He won a three-way GOP primary with 78 percent of the vote against Mike Murphy and Mike Mosher. Hall won the 2004 general election with 68 percent of the vote and took the 2006 race with 64 percent against Glenn Melancon.

He defeated Melancon again in 2008 with 69 percent of the vote.

Hall served in the Texas Senate from 1963 to 1973.