Michael McLendon (born November 14, 1963) is an American politician and insurance producer who has served in the Mississippi State Senate from the 1st district since 2020.

Early life and education

McLendon was born in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

and later moved to

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, where he attended Oakhaven Baptist Academy in

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

. He graduated from

Northwest Mississippi Community College Northwest Mississippi Community College is a public community college in Senatobia, Mississippi. It was founded in 1928. As of August 2008, Northwest's enrollment exceeds 7,100 students. There are approximately 3,000 students on the Senatobia ca ...

and

Memphis State University } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

Career

McLendon worked as an insurance agent for

Farm Bureau The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), also known as Farm Bureau Insurance and Farm Bureau Inc. but more commonly just the Farm Bureau (FB), is a United States-based insurance company and lobbying group that represents the American agr ...

Insurance of Tennessee for 19 years, before later joining Lipscomb & Pitts Insurance in 2013. In the same year, he ran for the Hernando City Council and became a

councilmember A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

for Ward 4. In 2019, he ran for election to the Mississippi State Senate to represent District 1, which represents part of DeSoto county. He finished second in the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

primary and came first in the Republican primary runoff election. He won the general election uncontested. He ran uncontested in 2023. For the 2024 session, he serves as the Chair for the State Library Committee and is a member of Insurance, Appropriations, Education, Environment Prot, Cons and Water Res, Gaming, Labor, Veterans and Military Affairs, and Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

Personal life

He is a member of the Methodist Church. He is married to Vickey Blythe McLendon and has two children, Dr. Hunter McLendon and Sadler McLendon. On June 5, 2023, McLendon was arrested in Foley, Alabama and charged with “DUI combined with substance.”

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLendon, Michael 1963 births 21st-century American legislators American businesspeople in insurance Insurance agents Living people Mississippi city council members Republican Party Mississippi state senators Politicians from Dallas University of Memphis alumni