Jimmy Duncan (politician)
- For other usages of the name John Duncan, see John Duncan (disambiguation).
John James Duncan, Jr. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee's 2nd district | |
| Assumed office November 8, 1988 | |
| Preceded by | John Duncan, Sr. |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Lynn Duncan |
John James Duncan, Jr. usually known as Jimmy Duncan, (born July 21, 1947) is a Tennessee Republican politician, representing Tennessee's 2nd congressional district (map), based in Knoxville.
Duncan was born in Lebanon, Tennessee. He graduated from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1969 with a Bachelor of Science degree and subsequently received a Juris Doctor degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. in 1973 and was admitted to the bar that same year. He was an attorney in private practice until he became a state court judge in Knox County, Tennessee, where he served from 1981 to 1988. He also served in the Army National Guard from 1970 to 1987.
He was first elected to Congress in 1988, in a special election to succeed his late father, John Duncan, Sr. and elected to the seat for a full term in his own right the same day. He has been re-elected every two years since then from a district that has been held continuously by Republicans since 1857. He has never faced a serious or well-funded challenge for reelection and was reelected without major-party opposition from 1994 through 2000.
Duncan voted against authorizing the War in Iraq based on opposition to what he believed to be an unnecessary foreign involvement. He also opposed and voted against a June, 2006 House declaration in support of the war.[1] He was one of the most conservative Republicans to do so.[2] The Family Research Council rated him as a 92% or above since 2002[2]and the NRA has rated him in equally positive terms.[2] He is a frequent contributor to Chronicles, a magazine associated with the paleoconservative movement. Duncan and Ron Paul were the only two Republicans to vote against funding for the Iraq War on May 24, 2007.[1] Duncan voted, along with three other Republicans, to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq by April 2008 on July 12, 2007.[2]
Duncan is a member of the Liberty Caucus (sometimes called the Liberty Committee), a group of libertarian-minded congressional representatives from both sides of the aisle.[3] Congressman Ron Paul hosts a luncheon for the Liberty Caucus every Thursday. Other members include Walter B. Jones of North Carolina, Virgil Goode of Virginia, Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland, Scott Garrett of New Jersey, Zach Wamp of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona.[4]
Duncan expressed support for Ron Paul, but will endorse Fred Thompson because "there's just not a majority of the Republican Party that's going to support somebody like [Paul] at this point" for the 2008 presidential race.
References
- ^ NWSource.com
- ^ a b c Vote-smart.org
- ^ "The Liberty Committee". Retrieved 2007-06-24.
- ^ Caldwell, Christopher (2007-07-22). "The Antiwar, Anti-Abortion, Anti-Drug-Enforcement-Administration, Anti-Medicare Candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
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External links
- U.S. Congressman John J. Duncan, Jr. — official House site