James R. Bennett

Who is James R. Bennett?

James R. "Jim" Bennett is a Republican politician from Alabama.

He served as secretary of state of Alabama, having been appointed to fill a vacancy in 1993 and subsequently elected to two terms in his own right in 1994, as a Democrat, and 1998, as a Republican. Prior to his appointment as Alabama's 49th Secretary of State, he had served for the previous decade spanning 1983 to 1993 as a member of the Alabama Senate. From 1978 to 1983, he served as a member of the Alabama House of Representatives.

Following his tenure as secretary of state, he was appointed as commissioner of the Alabama Department of Labor in the Cabinet of Governor Bob Riley in July 2003 and reappointed by Gov. Robert Bentley in January 2011. He retired in 2012.

Bennett is a graduate of Jacksonville State University, from which he received a Bachelor of Science degree, and the University of Alabama, from which he received a Master of Arts. Bennett is a brother of the Epsilon Nu Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia at Jacksonville State University. In 2006 he was named a Signature Sinfonian by the national fraternity for his public service career.