Halford served on the county commission in Gibson County, Tennessee, for six years from position one in the 19th district.[3][4] Kenny Flowers was appointed by the commission to fill the vacancy created after Halford left the commission to serve in the Tennessee House of Representatives.[5]
On March 7, 2008, Halford announced that he would seek the Republican nomination for a seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives from the 79th district to succeed Representative Chris Crider who was retiring after being elected as mayor of Milan, Tennessee.[6] He defeated Mark Renfroe in the Republican primary and defeated Democratic nominee Jim Ryal in the general election.[7][8] During the campaign he had raised over $35,899 against Ryal's over $18,970.[9]
Halford won reelection in the 2010 election against Joe M. Shepard, the former mayor of Gibson County.[10][11] Halford won reelection without opposition in 2012, 2016, and 2020.[12][13][14] He defeated Democratic nominee Bobby Barnett, a member of the Humboldt, Tennessee city council, in the 2014 election.[15][16] He defeated Democratic nominee Gregory Frye in the 2018 election.[17]
Speaker Cameron Sexton appointed Halford to serve in the National Conference of State Legislatures.[3] During his tenure he served as secretary of the Agricultural committee, vice-chair of the Bill Review committee, and on the Health and Human Resources, and Ethics committees.[18]
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