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Blanton, Leonard Ray
1930 - Born on the 10th of April in Adamsville, Tennessee, and was from a farming family with road-building interests.
- He had a background as a schoolteacher and he had worked his way through the University of Tennessee.
1970-1972 - Tennessee lost a congressional district after the census, and the legislature decided to eliminate Blanton's district in time for the elections.
1974 - His willingness to take on a popular Republican opponent against long odds greatly increased his name recognition in the state, setting him up as the principal Democratic candidate for governor.
1979 - In January, with his term expiring, the State's Pardon Board began to make a series of pardons that seemed to be either the product of sheer politics or open bribery. This generated outrage from both the political parties.
1988 - Blanton appeared on a ballot for the first time in 14 years when he ran for the retiring Ed Jones' Congressional seat.
- He finished far behind the eventual winner, state representative John Tanner, only winning seven percent of the vote.
1996 - He then became privately employed until he died of liver failure on the 22nd of November.
- He had a background as a schoolteacher and he had worked his way through the University of Tennessee.
1970-1972 - Tennessee lost a congressional district after the census, and the legislature decided to eliminate Blanton's district in time for the elections.
1974 - His willingness to take on a popular Republican opponent against long odds greatly increased his name recognition in the state, setting him up as the principal Democratic candidate for governor.
1979 - In January, with his term expiring, the State's Pardon Board began to make a series of pardons that seemed to be either the product of sheer politics or open bribery. This generated outrage from both the political parties.
1988 - Blanton appeared on a ballot for the first time in 14 years when he ran for the retiring Ed Jones' Congressional seat.
- He finished far behind the eventual winner, state representative John Tanner, only winning seven percent of the vote.
1996 - He then became privately employed until he died of liver failure on the 22nd of November.
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