“A great pine tree has fallen in the Georgia House of Representatives,” said Democrat Calvin Smyre of Columbus, the longest-serving member of the House and a friend of Ralston.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp ordered flags flown at half-staff until Ralston is buried and said his body will lie in repose at the Georgia Capitol.A lawyer from the north Georgia mountains, Ralston had said he hoped to continue as a member of the House even after stepping down as speaker after 13 years.
Ralston is survived by his wife, Sheree, and two adult children. Funeral arrangements will be announced later. The longest-serving state house speaker in the United States at the time of his death, Ralston was cut from the mold of Tom Murphy, the west Georgia Democrat who commanded the House from 1973 to 2003. Ralston took office after a chaotic period when the first Republican speaker in more than 130 years, Glenn Richardson, resigned following a suicide attempt and revelations of an extramarital affair with a lobbyist. Ralston had lost a speaker’s bid against Richardson in 2008.
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