Bill Burlison

Bill D. Burlison, (born March 15, 1931), is an American politician who has held office in Missouri and Maryland.

Burlison attended Southeast Missouri State University and earned his law degree from the University of Missouri.

Burlison is a lawyer and former law instructor originally from Wardell, Missouri who has also lived in Crofton, Maryland and Odenton, Maryland. He is a Democrat. He represented Missouri as a member of the U. S. Congress starting with the Ninety-first United States Congress in 1969 until he was defeated in a bid for a seventh-term by Bill Emerson in 1980.

Burlison then moved to Maryland shortly after his congressional defeat. Burlison was an unsuccessful candidate for the Maryland House of Delegates in 1986 and 1990. He was elected to the County Council of Anne Arundel County, Maryland County Council in 1998 and re-elected to a second and final term in 2002.

Four months after entering the race for Congress in the 3rd District in the 2006 election, Burlison withdrew his candidacy on November 3, 2005.

After Burlison moved to Advance, Missouri, he ran for election to the 159th Missouri legislative district in 2008 and 2010. He lost overwhelmingly both times to Billy Pat Wright. Campaign literature states that he was Southeast Missouri State University student body president in 1952, is a former marine, and is the only person in the country with 7 academic degrees. [1] Burlison moved to his birthplace of Wardell, Missouri, to run for the 149th district in 2014 as state representative Steve Hodges is facing a term limit. He lost to Republican Don Rone, 2,770 (42.15%) to 3,802 (57.85%). On February 23, 2016, he filed to run for the Missouri Senate against incumbent Republican Doug Libla, and is unopposed in the Democratic primary. On November 8, 2016, Libla won re-election with 69.35% of the vote.