He was elected state representative from Jefferson County in a 1973 special election.
He was elected state senator from Jefferson County in 1974.
He was elected lieutenant governor of Alabama in 1978.
He was almost elected governor in 1982 in a close runoff with former Gov. George Wallace.
George McMillan of Birmingham died Friday afternoon following complications during an attempted back surgery. The Greenville native was 81 and married to the former Ann Dial.
McMillan had been a young, up-and-coming political leader in Alabama. He had been President of the Student Government Association at Auburn in 1966 before finishing University of Virginia Law School. A fellow classmate and officer of the Auburn SGA was named Kay Ellen Ivey from Camden.
He practiced law in Birmingham before running for the state legislature. He boldly ran at a young age for lieutenant governor in 1978. He led a multi-candidate field and defeated State Sen. Bert Bank of Tuscaloosa in the Democratic runoff. He served four years as lieutenant governor.
In 1982, Gov. Fob James decided not to run for re-election at that time. Lieutenant Gov. McMillan, again at a young age, ran for the open seat of governor. His opponent was a powerful veteran — former Gov. George Wallace, attempting to return to the governor’s office after having sat out four years due to being term-limited. McMillan and Wallace won the two seats in the runoff, which Wallace won — barely. Wallace was then re-elected in the general election, defeating Montgomery Mayor Emory Folmar.
McMillan made a second attempt for the governorship in 1986, but it did not gain traction like his initial run. He was beaten out for the two runoff seats by Lt. Governor Bill Baxley and Attorney General Charlie Graddick. After Graddick won a hotly contested runoff, his candidacy was challenged for allegedly recruiting Republican voters to switch to the Democratic Party in the runoff. A Democrat party “Committee of Five” awarded the nomination to the runner-up, Baxley. He then lost to Republican nominee Guy Hunt in November—the first GOP governor since Reconstruction.
In 1989, McMillan founded City Stages, a large musical festival in downtown Birmingham. He ran City Stages for several years.
Over the last few years, McMillan has leveraged his legal and political experience to become a mediator in civil disputes.
When young George McMillan was running against Wallace, political commentators inside Alabama and nationally said that McMillan had the potential to become a “new South governor” — similar to Gov. Terry Sanford in North Carolina, Gov. Carl Sanders of Georgia, Gov. Reubin Askew of Florida and Gov. Dale Bumpers of Arkansas. New South governors were considered moderate or progressive on racial issues. By the narrowest of margins, it was not to be.
Arrangements will be announced following the Easter weekend.
UPDATE 4 p.m.
Governor Kay Ivey said she was "deeply saddened" to learn of McMillan's passing.
Jim ‘Zig’ Zeigler writes about Alabama’s people, places, events, groups and prominent deaths. He is a former Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. You can reach him for comments at [email protected].
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