Jim McClendon (born January 10, 1943) is an American

optometrist Optometry is the healthcare practice concerned with examining the eyes for visual defects, prescribing corrective lenses, and detecting eye abnormalities. In the United States and Canada, optometrists are those that hold a post-baccalaureate f ...

and politician. A Republican, he has served as a member of the

Alabama State Senate The Alabama State Senate is the upper house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabama. The body is composed of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, with each district conta ...

from the 11th District since November 5, 2014 and was previously a member of the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...

, where he represented the 50th District from 2002 to 2014.

Early life and education

McClendon was born in Mobile, studied as an undergraduate at

Birmingham Southern College Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, and earned a bachelor's degree and a Ph.D. from the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

. He served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Medical Service Corps in Vietnam from 1968 to 1971.

Career

After his military service, McClendon taught clinical optometry at the

University of Alabama, Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a Public university#United States, public List of research universities in the United States, research university in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Founded in 1969 and part of the University ...

and then entered private practice. He has been president of the Alabama Optometric Association.

Political career

In November 2002 McClendon defeated

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Marilyn Quarles in the 50th District for election to the Alabama House of Representatives; he represented the district for three terms, until 2014. In November 2014 he was elected to represent the 11th District in the State Senate, and has held that position since January 2015; he was re-elected in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

. In 2016 and 2019, he put forward a state lottery, a perennial legislative proposal that would require an amendment to the state constitution. In May 2019, he voted for the Human Life Protection Act, which makes

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

a crime in the state at any stage in a pregnancy, with no exemptions for rape or incest. Later that month, McClendon said on the Matt and Aunie morning radio show that cancer patients can just buy

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

on the street if they need it.

Personal life

McClendon is married and lives on a farm in St. Clair Springs.

References

Living people Republican Party Alabama state senators Republican Party members of the Alabama House of Representatives University of Houston alumni Birmingham–Southern College alumni American optometrists 1943 births 21st-century members of the Alabama Legislature {{Alabama-politician-stub