James Clayborne Jr. (born December 29, 1963) was a member of the
Illinois Senate
The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the I ...
representing the 57th District from his appointment in 1995 until 2019.
The 57th District, located in the
Metro East region includes all or parts of
Freeburg,
Belleville,
East St. Louis,
O'Fallon,
Madison Madison may refer to:
People
* Madison (name), a given name and a surname
* James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States
Place names
* Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
,
Fairview Heights,
Shiloh and
Scott Air Force Base
Scott Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in St. Clair County, Illinois, near Belleville and O'Fallon, east-southeast of downtown St. Louis. Scott Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the ...
.
At the time of his retirement, Clayborne was the second highest-ranking member of the Illinois Senate as the Senate Majority Leader. On September 21, 2017, Clayborne announced he would not run for reelection in 2018. He was succeeded by
Christopher Belt.
Early life and career
Senator Clayborne was born and raised in East St. Louis.
After graduating from East St. Louis High School,
he earned a Bachelor of Science from
Tennessee State University
Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...
and later a law degree from the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, ...
.
While at the University of Miami, he met his future wife Staci, with whom he now has four sons.
He went on to serve as an assistant state’s attorney in
St. Clair County as well as a child support prosecutor, a supervisor in the St. Clair County Juvenile Abuse and Neglect Division, a supervisor in Felony Probation Revocations and a felony prosecutor.
He also was one of 50 attorneys selected nationwide to participate in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's National Law Institute in Quantico, Virginia.
He later chose to enter private practice
Illinois Senate
In 1995, Clayborne was appointed to complete the term of longtime Senator
Kenneth Hall and was later elected in his own right in 1996.
In 2009, he became the Senate Majority Leader after finishing second to
John Cullerton
John J. Cullerton (born October 28, 1948) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Illinois Senate, representing the 6th district from his appointment in 1991 to 2020. He served as President of the Illinois Senate from ...
in the race for Senate President.
Clayborne is the current chair of the Assignments Committee as well as the committees on Energy, Executive Appointments, Insurance, Public Pensions & State Investments and the subcommittees on Governmental Operations and Constitutional Amendments.
Clayborne also served as a
delegate to the
2012 Democratic National Convention
The 2012 Democratic National Convention was a gathering, held from September 3–6, 2012, at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, in which delegates of the Democratic Party nominated President Barack Obama and Vice Pres ...
.
Clayborne was succeed in the Illinois Senate by Christopher Belt and as Majority Leader by
Kimberly A. Lightford.
References
External links
Biography, bills and committeesat the Illinois General Assembly
**By session
99th98th97th96th95th94th93rdIllinois Senate Majority Leader James F. Clayborne Jr.legislative website
Senator James F. Clayborne Jr.at Illinois Senate Democrats
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clayborne, James Jr.
1963 births
20th-century African-American people
21st-century African-American politicians
21st-century American politicians
African-American state legislators in Illinois
Democratic Party Illinois state senators
Living people
People from Belleville, Illinois
Tennessee State University alumni
University of Miami School of Law alumni