Billy Nicholson (born February 5, 1948) is an American politician and former

insurance agent Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

from

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. He served as a member of the

Mississippi House of Representatives The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi Legislature, the lawmaking body of the U.S. state of Mississippi. According to the state constitution of 1890, it is to comprise no more than 122 members elected for ...

2000 to 2012 for the 78th district. In February 2009, he changed his party affiliation from the Democratic to the Republican Party.

Early life and education

Nicholson was born in Union, Mississippi on February 5, 1948. He attended East Central Community College and graduated from

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

Career

From 2000 to 2012, Nicholson represented the 78th District, which includes portions of Neshoba, Newton, and Scott counties. In 2003, he was the secretary for the Mississippi Legislative Conservative Coalition. He switched parties in February 2009 based on several factors: philosophical reasons; the Democratic Party threatening to deny his certification in future elections after his endorsement of a national Republican candidate; and his disapproval of President Obama's stimulus bill. He explained that he had wanted to delay the switch until he retired from his career as a

State Farm Insurance State Farm Insurance is a group of mutual insurance companies throughout the United States with corporate headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois. Founded in 1922, it is the largest property, casualty and auto insurance provider in the United ...

agent.

Personal life

Nicholson is married to the former Betty Gail Williams and has two children. He is of

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

faith.

References

1948 births Living people People from Union, Mississippi Mississippi Democrats Mississippi Republicans Members of the Mississippi House of Representatives Mississippi State University alumni Baptists from Mississippi East Central Community College alumni 21st-century members of the Mississippi Legislature {{Mississippi-politician-stub