James Nunnally (politician)

Nunnally was born in Dumas, Mississippi, on January 15, 1945, the son of James Bartlett and Virginia Joyce (née Anderson) Nunnally. He attended Northeast Mississippi Junior College and then the University of Mississippi, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in education, and he became a public school teacher.^[1]

He narrowly defeated incumbent representative Leland J. Grisham in the 1971 Democratic primary runoff.^[2] He went on to represent Northeast Mississippi in the Mississippi House of Representatives for sixteen years. In March 1987, the Supreme Court of Mississippi ruled that Nunnally, along with several other state legislators and public officials, had committed conflict of interest ethics violations by working as public school teachers while holding public office. Though he said he would end his public teaching career to continue as a state legislator, Nunnally lost the primary runoff that fall to Joe Mitch McElwain.^[3][4][5]

In 2011, he fell short in an attempt at returning to the state house seat he previously held. He took 49.6% in the first round of the Democratic primary, then lost 48%-52% to Jody Steverson, who would become a Republican after being re-elected in 2015.^[6][7][8] Nunnally died in Ripley, Mississippi on January 6, 2025, at the age of 79.^[1]