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James Dallas

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This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
James Dallas
Image of James Dallas

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments
Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

University of Texas at Austin, 2003

Law

University of Houston Law Center, 2007

Personal
Birthplace
Memphis, Tenn.
Religion
Episcopalian
Profession
Computer engineer
Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign YouTube

Personal LinkedIn

James Dallas (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Tennessee State Senate to represent District 28. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Dallas also ran for election to the Tennessee House of Representatives to represent District 64. He did not appear on the ballot for the Democratic primary on August 1, 2024.

Dallas completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

James Dallas was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Dallas earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 2003 and a J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center in 2007. His career experience includes working as a computer engineer and enterprise database administrator at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dallas has been affiliated with the Kiwanis Club of Columbia, Tennessee.[1]

Elections

2024

See also: Tennessee State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for Tennessee State Senate District 28

Incumbent Joey Hensley defeated James Dallas in the general election for Tennessee State Senate District 28 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Joey Hensley
Joey Hensley (R)
 
74.8
 
74,286
Image of James Dallas
James Dallas (D) Candidate Connection
 
25.2
 
25,086

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 99,372
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Tennessee State Senate District 28

James Dallas advanced from the Democratic primary for Tennessee State Senate District 28 on August 1, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of James Dallas
James Dallas Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
3,874

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 3,874
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Tennessee State Senate District 28

Incumbent Joey Hensley advanced from the Republican primary for Tennessee State Senate District 28 on August 1, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Joey Hensley
Joey Hensley
 
100.0
 
16,642

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 16,642
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Dallas in this election.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

James Dallas completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2023. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Dallas' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am a Tennessee native who returned to the Volunteer State in 2018 to be closer to friends and family. I have lived in Columbia for almost six years.

I am an IT professional and a non-practicing attorney. I earned a B.A. in Government from the University of Texas at Austin in 2003 and a law degree from the University of Houston in 2007. I was previously a write-in candidate for Maury County Commission in 2022 and a candidate for city council in Galveston, Texas in 2010.

I am a member of Grace Episcopal Church in Spring Hill and church volunteer.

I have been the Chair of the Maury County Democratic Party since 2021. I am a progressive activist and have been active in Democratic Party politics and social justice work since 2001.
  • The Republican supermajority in the General Assembly is out-of-touch with ordinary Tennesseans, is beholden to lobbyists and culture war extremists, and it is time for a change, y'all.
  • We must protect public education in Tennessee from privatization and budget cuts.
  • We must put the health and safety of Tennesseans ahead of partisan bickering and corporate interests.
Protecting and Improving Public Education

Access to Affordable, Local Health Care
Sensible Gun Safety Laws
Protecting Tennessee's Natural Environment

Protecting the Privacy and Civil Rights of All Tennesseans

"On Liberty" by John Stuart Mill

"Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis

"The Tragedy of the Commons" by Garrett Hardin
A willingness to admit when they are wrong, and a tendency towards honesty.
I am an educated person, and I am very diligent.
Listen to people's problems, understand which problems must be prioritized, and to work to solve those problems.
I want Tennessee to be the warm, comforting place that I remember it to be when I was a child.
The first historical event that I remember was the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion in January 1986. I was about 4 years old at that time.
I worked as a cashier and a dishwasher at a Burger King on Ft. Henry Drive in Kingsport, Tennessee. This was a summer job in the summer of 1998 (about 6 weeks), the summer between my sophomore and junior years of high school.
I am currently working through "Tasting History", a cookbook by Max Miller. It's an interesting book about the history of cuisine, including a recipe from a Maury County native.
Mr. Scotty on the U.S.S. Enterprise.
"This is Why" by Paramore
Weight loss and time-management.
The ideal relationship should be one of respectful assertiveness on both the part of the governor and the legislature.

I believe that the governor should be an advocate for all of the people of Tennessee, as well as for the civil servants in the executive branch; and the governor should propose a cohesive budget and articulate a clear vision for improving government services and improving our state's laws. I feel that Governor Lee has sometimes done that, and then backed down under pressure from the leadership of the General Assembly. While it is certainly right and appropriate for the General Assembly to push back on the governor, I frankly feel that Gov. Lee has not been the sort of strong leader that our state needs.

Tennessee is growing rapidly, and its economy is changing in ways that it never has before. Managing and accommodating this growth is the biggest challenge our state faces. We also still live with the legacy of being a Southern state, and that means that we have fundamental issues of equity that have for too long been deferred.
I believe it can be, at least to a point. I think it's important that legislators understand the limits of their office as well as the tools that can be used to make change. If legislators don't have a good bearing on what their job is, it becomes too easy for lobbyists and other interested parties to "boss" them around.
I believe it's fundamental to build relationships with people, including other legislators, and across party lines.
State Senator Matthew Stephenson, who represented Washington County in the 1830s, and who was an early advocate for the abolition of slavery in Tennessee.
I don't know, but if I did it would likely be at the county level.
I've had many conversations in the past few years as county party chair. One particular conversation was with a woman I had never met before, who opened up to me about her daughter's abortion.
A piece of string goes into a bar, the bartender says "we don't serve your kind here," the piece of string goes out into the parking lot, beats and ties himself up, and then goes back in. The bartender says, "didn't I tell you, no string allowed." The string says "no sir, I'm a frayed knot."
The legislature should oversee the use of emergency powers. I feel that the General Assembly may have overly-restrained the governor after the backlash to the COVID-19 lockdowns, and I think that these restrictions on the governor's power could make our state vulnerable in the next pandemic. However, I believe this an issue where good people will have to engage in forward-thinking compromise.
I believe that compromise is necessary and desirable most of the time, particularly when it relates to things like budgets where splitting the difference is easy. However, there are some issues that cannot be reasonably compromised away -- for example, ones related to basic human dignity and respect, as well as matters of defending constitutional principles.
I would propose to repeal the Kelsey-Durham law that prohibits the Governor of Tennessee from accepting federal Affordable Care Act funds to expand TennCare. Even Republicans know that this law was a mistake, and that we need to accept expansion of TennCare (our state Medicaid program) to ensure that working people, particularly in rural areas, have access to health care.
If I am fortunate enough to serve, I would very much like to sit on committees where I can leverage my experience in a way that will benefit the people of southern Middle Tennessee.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

James Dallas campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Tennessee House of Representatives District 64Withdrew primary$0 $0
2024* Tennessee State Senate District 28Lost general$31,996 $26,954
Grand total$31,996 $26,954
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also

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External links

Candidate

Tennessee State Senate District 28
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    Personal

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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on December 28, 2023


    Current members of the Tennessee House of Representatives
    Leadership
    Speaker of the House:Cameron Sexton
    Majority Leader:William Lamberth
    Minority Leader:Karen Camper
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    Tim Hicks (R)
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    Tim Rudd (R)
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    Ed Butler (R)
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    Jay Reedy (R)
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    Ron Gant (R)
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