James Kee (April 15, 1917 – March 11, 1989) was an American politician. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, he served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

for

West Virginia's 5th congressional district West Virginia's 5th congressional district is an obsolete district existing from 1903 to 1973. While the district's bounds were changed over the years, for most of its existence it was focused on Bluefield, West Virginia, Bluefield and the coal pr ...

from 1965 to 1973, succeeding his mother

Elizabeth Kee Maude Elizabeth Kee (née Simpkins; June 7, 1895 – February 15, 1975), known more generally as Elizabeth Kee, was a U.S. Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician. She was the first woman elected to Congress from West Virginia. S ...

. His father John Kee served in the same House seat from 1933 to 1951.

Life and career

Kee was born in

Bluefield, West Virginia Bluefield is a city in Mercer County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 9,658 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Bluefield WV- VA micropolitan area, which had a population of 106,363 in 2020. Geography Bluefie ...

. He was the son of John Kee, who represented the Bluefield-based

5th District District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to: Europe * District 5 (Zürich) * District 5, Düsseldorf * V District, Turku * Districts of Malta#District 5, District 5, an electoral district of Malta * Districts of Malta#District 5 2, Distric ...

from 1933 until his death in 1951, and

, who succeeded her husband in Congress and served from 1951 until 1965. James Kee served as his mother's administrative assistant from 1953 to 1965. When his mother decided not to run for re-election in 1964, he ran for his mother's old seat and won, serving in the 89th through the

92nd U.S. Congress The 92nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1971, ...

from January 3, 1965 to January 3, 1973. Kee voted in favor of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Civil Rights Act of 1968. After West Virginia lost a seat in the House of Representatives as a result of the 1970 U.S. Census, Kee's 5th District was merged with the Huntington-based 4th District, represented by fellow Democrat

Ken Hechler Kenneth William Hechler (September 20, 1914 – December 10, 2016) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented West Virginia's 4th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1959 to 197 ...

. The state legislature intended to force Hechler, a firm opponent of the Democratic Party machine, out of office; indeed, the new district contained 65% of Kee's former territory even though it retained Hechler's district number. However, Hechler made the most of his strong union ties and routed Kee in the primary. Kee was a resident of Fayetteville, West Virginia until his death in

Montgomery, West Virginia Montgomery is a city in West Virginia, along the Kanawha River. Most of the city is in Fayette County, with the remainder in Kanawha County. The population was 1,280 at the 2020 census. From 1876 to 1890, the town was called Coal Valley Post Of ...

on March 11, 1989 at the age of 71.

References

James Kee
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations o ...

United States Army Air Forces officers People from Fayetteville, West Virginia People from Bluefield, West Virginia 1917 births 1989 deaths Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni Military personnel from West Virginia Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from West Virginia 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American Episcopalians {{WestVirginia-politician-stub

Life and career

See also

References