Austin Murphy Allran (born December 13, 1951) is a former Republican member of the North Carolina General Assembly representing the state's forty-second Senate district, including constituents in Iredell and Catawba counties. He currently serves in a local capacity as a Catawba County Commissioner (December 2020 – present).[1] An attorney from Hickory, North Carolina, Allran served for twelve terms in the state Senate. He was Vice-Chairman of the Agriculture/Environment/Natural Resources Committee and the Judiciary II (Criminal) Committee. He was also a member of four other committees - Education/Higher Education, Finance, Health Care, and Ways and Means.
Senator Austin Allran | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Catawba County Commission | |
| Assumed office December 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Dan A. Hunsucker |
| Member of the North Carolina Senate | |
| In office January 1, 1987 – January 1, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Cass Ballenger |
| Succeeded by | Andy Wells |
| Constituency | 26th district (1987–2003) 44th district (2003–2005) 42nd district (2005–2015) |
| Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives | |
| In office January 1, 1981 – January 1, 1987 | |
| Preceded by | Carl William Rullman |
| Succeeded by | Walter Stine Isenhower |
| Constituency | 37th district (1981–1983) 45th district (1983–1987) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Austin Murphy Allran December 13, 1951 Hickory, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Residence(s) | Archdale, North Carolina |
| Alma mater | Duke University (BA) Southern Methodist University (JD) North Carolina State University (MA) |
| Occupation | lawyer |
Allran was born in Hickory, North Carolina. He graduated from Hickory High School in 1970 and then earned degrees in English and history from Duke University. Allran attended law school at Southern Methodist University, earning his degree in 1978.[2] He married Judy Mosbach on September 27, 1980.[3] They have two children, Elizabeth and Catherine.[4] In 1981, Allran was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives and in 1986 to the North Carolina Senate. He served as Republican minority whip during the 1995–1996 session. In March 2005, Allran called for the game of Solitaire to be erased from the Microsoft Windows computers of state employees in his North Carolina constituency, claiming that such a move would save millions of dollars and improve productivity due to the working time lost while state employees play the game.[5]
References
edit- ^ Annable, Virginia. "Republicans Beatty, Allran win seats on board of commissioners; "I want to see us get back to normal," Allran said". HDR | Hickory Daily Record.
- ^ "North Carolina manual [serial]". [Raleigh] : North Carolina Historical Commission – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "North Carolina manual [serial]". [Raleigh] : North Carolina Historical Commission – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "The Voter's Self Defense System".
- ^ "USATODAY.com - Is that a spreadsheet on your screen or solitaire?". usatoday30.usatoday.com.