Bill Hefner, a Concord Democrat who served 12 terms in Congress and became the dean of the state's delegation, died Wednesday after suffering a brain aneurism. He was 79.
Hefner decided to run for office after one day in 1974, Jim Morrill of The Charlotte Observer reports. He was sitting behind the mike of his gospel music radio station in Kannapolis and interviewed incumbent 8th District congressman, Republican Earl Ruth.
That night, according to friend Elvin Jackson, he went home and talked to his wife. "Shoot," he said, "if that's what it takes, I can do that."
And Hefner did. The Concord Democrat beat Ruth that year and went on to serve 24 years before stepping down in 1999. He retired to his native Alabama, where he died.
Hefner became one of North Carolina's most powerful lawmakers. For more than a decade he chaired the Appropriations Military Construction Subcommittee, one of a handful of subcommittee chairmen known as "Cardinals" for their power over the federal purse.
Hefner promised to "help restore Christian morality in the federal government," a message that resonated with his district's mostly blue-collar voters in the first election after Watergate.
"He grew up and lived with mill town folks," recalled former Gov. Jim Hunt. "He shared their values, he cared about their problems, he was one of them…It was amazing to watch him at a political rally talk to his constituents and then sing to them."
Hefner's folksy style and Washington muscle helped him get elected 12 times and buck at least two Republican tides.
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