Hugh Quincy Alexander

Who was Hugh Quincy Alexander?

Hugh Quincy Alexander was a Democratic U.S. Representative from North Carolina between 1953 and 1963.

Born on a farm near Glendon, North Carolina in Moore County in 1911, Alexander attended local public schools and then Duke University, graduating in 1932. He then studied law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was admitted to the bar in 1937. Practicing law in Kannapolis, North Carolina for several years, Alexander then served in the United States Navy during World War II from 1942 to 1946, including thirty-four months of duty overseas.

In 1947 and 1949, Alexander served in the North Carolina House of Representatives. He was a solicitor for the Cabarrus County Recorders Court from 1950 to 1952 and a state commander for the American Legion in 1951.

In 1952, Alexander was elected to the 88th U.S. Congress, succeeding former Ways and Means chairman Robert Doughton. He was reelected four times, but never was able to establish a secure foothold in his district due to a somewhat liberal voting record and growing Republican influence in the district.

North Carolina lost a congressional district after the 1960 census, and the state legislature saw a chance to get rid of Charlotte-area congressman Charles R. Jonas, then the only Republican in the North Carolina delegation. In the process, however, they added several Republican-leaning areas to Alexander's district. The plan backfired disastrously in the 1962 elections, in which Jonas won easily in his new district and Alexander lost by less than a percentage point to Republican furniture executive Jim Broyhill.