(1949-09-07) September 7, 1949 (age 74) Philadelphia, Mississippi, U.S.
Political party
Democratic
Spouse
Sally Galbraith Nash
Alma mater
University of Mississippi (BBA)
Signature
Richard Henderson Molpus Jr. (born September 7, 1949) is an American businessman and Democratic Party politician who served as Secretary of State of Mississippi from 1984 until 1996. He unsuccessfully ran for governor in 1995 against Republican incumbent Kirk Fordice. He later established a timberland management company. Throughout his public life he has pushed for reforms to support public education and promote racial reconciliation.
Born in Philadelphia, Mississippi, and educated at the University of Mississippi, Molpus worked at his family's lumber company before its sale in the 1980s. A staffer for William F. Winter's gubernatorial campaigns in 1967, 1975, and 1979, the governor appointed him executive director of the Governor's Office of Federal-State Programs. He also lobbied on the governor's behalf for education reform in the state legislature.
Molpus successfully ran for secretary of state in 1983, campaigning on his managerial experience and promises to reform the office. Reelected in 1987 and 1991, he reorganized the office through the creation of four departments and shifted its purpose away from clerical duties and towards more active policy engagement. He oversaw the digitization of the office's records, the renegotiation of thousands of leases on public lands to raise money for public education, reformed the state's election laws, and sought reforms in corporate law and lobbying rules. Molpus unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate in 1988, losing the Democratic nomination to Wayne Dowdy and accruing the third highest campaign debt for any senatorial candidate nationwide. In his unsuccessful campaign for governor in 1995, his apology for the Mississippi Burning murders, the first by a statewide office holder, was used against him. He started a timberland investment management organization in 1996 and was appointed to the United States Endowment for Forestry and Communities in 2006.
Lewis and Rep. Bennie Thompson. Former Mississippi Secretary of State DickMolpus made a speech imploring those with information about the crimes to come...
funds. Molpus argued that such a scheme would undermine public schools. Both candidates proposed tax cuts, though through different means. Molpus suggested...
legislation, denounced Mabus and the other young Winter aides—including DickMolpus, David Crews, Bill Gartin, Andy P. Mullins, and John Henegan—as the "Boys...
Jersey (2018–present) Gavin Newsom, Governor of California (2019–present) DickMolpus, former Secretary of State of Mississippi (1984–1996) and Democratic...
Bill Luckett, Mayor of Clarksdale and candidate for governor in 2011 DickMolpus, former Secretary of State of Mississippi and nominee for governor in...
Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi 1995 Succeeded by Amy Tuck Preceded by DickMolpus Democratic nominee for Governor of Mississippi 1999, 2003 Succeeded by...
He also served as a speechwriter to Mississippi Secretary of State DickMolpus. He then spent three years as a Southern Baptist youth minister at International...
re-elected in 1995 against Democratic Mississippi Secretary of State DickMolpus. His second inauguration was on January 16, 1996. An outspoken conservative...
DickMolpus, Secretary of State of Mississippi Gilbert Fountain, Biloxi pipefitter Dean Pittman managed Dowdy's campaign. During the campaign Molpus criticized...
former Pennsylvania Secretary of Environmental Protection (2003–08) DickMolpus, former secretary of state of Mississippi Irene Natividad, former Virginia...
Natalie Meyer, Colorado (1993–1994) Gail Shafer, New York (1992–1993) DickMolpus, Mississippi (1991–1992) Ralph Munro, Washington (1990–1991) Julia Tashjian...
Democrats. State Senator David Blount and former Secretary of State DickMolpus were potential Democratic candidates, but neither chose to run. Hosemann...
Ex-Agriculture Secretary". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 9, 2018. "C. Manly Molpus Awarded AMI's Richard E. Lyng Award". NAMI. December 4, 2006. Retrieved...
of land purchased in 2009 from Molpus Woodlands Group Phase IV, 905 acres (366 ha) of land purchased in 2009 from Molpus Woodlands Group As of 2010 there...
Sun Herald". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2023-05-10. "Obituary for James Ernest Molpus". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2023-05-10. "Noel Monaghan in Social Security...
the murder there of three young civil rights workers. Her mother, Lois Molpus Turner, died when Iris was only four, and she was reared by her father,...
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