William Clancy Denny Jr. (August 22, 1930 – January 25, 2025) was an American politician who 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 ...

from 1988 to 2020. He was the

floor leader A parliamentary leader is a political title or a descriptive term used in various countries to designate the person leading a parliamentary group or caucus in a legislative body, whether it be a national or sub-national legislature. They are thei ...

of the Republicans in the house from 2012 to 2020.

Life and career

Denny was an alumnus of the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

and worked as a business executive and

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

. He was Senior Vice President of Southeastern Operations of a multi-national banking corporation. Elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1988, he served District 64, encompassing

Hinds County Hinds County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. With its county seats (Raymond, Mississippi, Raymond and the state's capital, Jackson, Mississippi, Jackson), Hinds is the most populous county in Missis ...

and Madison County. He served on the Apportionment and Elections as chairman, and as member of the appropriations, congressional redistricting, constitution, Judiciary A, Judiciary En Banc, legislative reapportionment and municipalities committees. In November 2019, Denny was defeated by Shanda Yates. The race was extremely close, with Yates winning by a margin of less than 150 votes (50.8% to 49.2%), and results took nearly two weeks to certify. His term ended on January 7, 2020. Denny was married to Sue Rose Johnsey, and they had four children. He was Catholic. Denny died in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

, on January 25, 2025, at the age of 94.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denny, Bill 1930 births 2025 deaths Republican Party members of the Mississippi House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Mississippi Legislature