About Beth

Beth (Killough) Chapman was born in Greenville, Alabama in 1962. She had her first experience campaigning for her cousin who was a City Councilman and a paraplegic. "Back then there were no wheelchair ramps or handicap accessible buildings. He couldn’t go door to door, so my older cousin would drive me and I would go door to door handing out campaign literature. My first true taste of politics was when a dog bit me on the leg while I was campaigning. I should have known then how hard it would be," Chapman says in good humor.

Beth also got a good dose of public service by going to the Butler County Courthouse every day after school to wait for her mother to get off work. "I loved public service. I loved just being in the courthouse, seeing the process and meeting all the people," Chapman says.

After graduation from high school, Beth attended the University of Montevallo where she received her B.S. degree. She was an officer in the Student Government Association, a Class Senator, Class Favorite, Dean’s List, and a member and officer in various honor societies.

After graduation from Montevallo, Beth went to work as Director of Special Events for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and eventually became the state Executive Director. She contributed one decade of her life to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation mission of raising research funds for terminally ill children.

Beth entered graduate school while holding a full-time job and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Honor Society and others.

During that same time (1988), she married James Chapman. They have now been married for seventeen years.

They have two sons, Winston Taylor Chapman, named for Winston Churchill and William Thatcher Chapman, named for Margaret Thatcher. "Being a mother is the hardest job I’ve ever had and I’ve had some hard jobs," Beth says. "It’s a great privilege and awesome responsibility God gives us when he gives us children."

In 1995, Beth became a cabinet member for then Republican Governor Fob James. She was the first woman in state history to ever serve as a Governor’s Appointments Secretary. She became his Appointments Secretary, where she served for almost two years. She assisted the Governor with over 1,500 appointments to state boards and commissions including 38 judgeships and various other elected official appointments.

In 1996, Beth left the Governor’s staff to start her own business, Beth Chapman and Associates, LLC. She has worked with such notable figures as Charlton Heston and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in his U.S. Senate race against Hillary Clinton.

Beth utilized her company to work with many nonprofit children’s charities such as the Court Appointed Special Advocates, the D.A.Y. Program (Developing Alabama’s Youth) and the Owens House, Shelby County’s Child Advocacy Center.

In the fall of 2000, Beth accepted a job, as Press Secretary for Lieutenant Governor where she worked closely with the Alabama Senate.

In November 2001, she launched her own first-time statewide campaign for State Auditor, defeating three opponents in the Republican Primary, coming from behind by 16 points to beat a former statewide elected official and defeated the virtual Democrat incumbent by more than 75,000 votes.

Beth and her staff have experienced phenomenal success producing historic 96% perfect audits of state agencies with 25% percent budget cuts. Better results with less of the taxpayer’s money – that’s good government. That is Beth Chapman’s leadership, work ethic and proven experience.

Beth is extremely active in the Shelby County community. She has served an active member of the Alabama Republican Party State Committee. Beth has received many honors & awards and has served on various boards and committees, she was unanimously appointed by the Shelby County Commission to serve on the Planning and Zoning Board, has been a member of the Southern Women’s Committee of Fifty, was appointed to the Republican Women’s Leadership Council in Washington, DC by Congressman Spencer Bachus, graduated from Leadership Shelby County and received the Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Montevallo. Beth was elected twice statewide as a George W. Bush Delegate to the Republican National Convention and was elected unanimously as a member of Alabama's 2004 Electoral College.

Beth has received numerous awards for her patriotism and public service from various organizations such as the Alabama National Guard, veterans organizations and the Employee Support for the Guard and Reserves national organization.