Jim Broyhill

James Thomas "Jim" Broyhill (August 19, 1927 – February 18, 2023) was an American businessman and politician from North Carolina. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1963 to 1986 and briefly served in the United States Senate in 1986. He represented much of the Foothills region of the state in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1963 to 1986, and served in the U.S. Senate for nearly four months in 1986. He had a career in the furniture industry before entering politics.

Biography Broyhill was born in Lenoir, North Carolina, the second youngest of four children born to furniture magnate James Edgar Broyhill and the former Satie Hunt. The senior Broyhill was a member of the Republican National Committee for 28 years. However, for most of that time the party was sparsely supported within the Southern United States, including North Carolina. After attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Jim Broyhill joined his father's company in 1945 and served in various capacities there until 1962. He was also active in several state industry associations, as well as a civic leader in Lenoir.

U.S. House of Representatives

Broyhill believed there needed to be a more competitive election landscape in North Carolina, and that he could play a role in strengthening the Republican party by running for office himself.

Broyhill made his first run for elected office in 1962 for North Carolina's 9th congressional district. Broyhill was the unexpected beneficiary of redistricting after the 1960 census, which cost North Carolina a congressional district. The Democratic-controlled North Carolina General Assembly saw a chance to get rid of the then lone Republican in the congressional delegation, Charles R. Jonas of the Charlotte, North Carolina area, by re-drawing his district from under him. In the process, they shifted some strongly Republican areas into the 9th, a district where growing Republican influence had kept five-term Democratic Party member Hugh Quincy Alexander from establishing a foothold. At the same time, they shifted some strongly Democratic areas of the 9th into the new 8th district designed to defeat Jonas. However, the plan backfired disastrously when Jonas handily defeated 8th district incumbent A. Paul Kitchin and Broyhill defeated Alexander by just under one percentage point in an upset.

Broyhill never faced another contest nearly that close again. Due to his very conservative stances on nearly all issues and an emphasis on taking good care of his constituents (most of whom had never been represented by a Republican before), he became very popular in his district. He won reelection by 11 points in the midst of the gigantic Democratic landslide victory of 1964, in which Lyndon B. Johnson carried 87 of North Carolina's 100 counties. Broyhill won reelection 10 times thereafter, never receiving less than 54 percent of the vote and only winning by less than 10 points twice in what became the most Republican district in North Carolina. His district was renumbered the 10th in 1969.

A highlight of his long service in the House was his leadership role in creating the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.