John Ray Clemmons (born July 14, 1977) is an American politician from the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. A member of the Democratic Party, he serves in the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

, representing the 55th district, in West Nashville.

Early life

Clemmons was born and raised in

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon ( ) is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metro ...

, and attended Lebanon High School, graduating with honors in 1995. In 1999, he earned a

bachelor of arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in history from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where he was a member of the Columbia lightweight

crew A crew is a body or a group of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchy, hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the ta ...

team. He received a

juris doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the University of Memphis Law School in 2006. His wife Tamara and he have three children and live in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. Clemmons is a civil litigation attorney.

Political career

In 2014, Clemmons defeated

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

Gary Odom, for the 55th district in the

in the Democratic primary with 54% of the vote. Clemmons was unopposed in the general election. Clemmons was unopposed in for re-election in the primary and general elections in 2016, 2018, and 2020. In a 10-candidate race, Clemmons finished fourth in his run for mayor of Nashville in the 2019 Nashville mayoral election. His campaign focused on public education, affordable housing and infrastructure. In 2022, Clemmons was rated 92% by the

National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML ) is a social welfare organization based in Washington, D.C., that advocates for the reform of marijuana laws in the United States regarding both Medical cannabis in the United St ...

. In January 2022, Clemmons criticized the McMinn County school board's 10-0 decision to remove the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

-winning

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

novel '' Maus'' from its curriculum for eighth-grade English classes. Clemmons called the decision counterproductive, saying that without access to the personal accounts of survivors of the Holocaust, children will lose empathy for others.

References

External links

Legislative website
*Sam Zern (February 3, 2019)
"Q&A with John Clemmons, the state representative challenging David Briley for Nashville mayor,"
''Vanderbilt Hustler'' *Tommy Crouse (July 31, 2019)
"Meet the mayoral candidates: Rep. John Ray Clemmons; Clemmons promises transit referendum,"
News Channel 5, Nashville. {{DEFAULTSORT:Clemmons, John Ray 1977 births 21st-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly Columbia College (New York) alumni Columbia Lions rowers Democratic Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Living people People from Lebanon, Tennessee Politicians from Nashville, Tennessee University of Memphis alumni