Jimmy Duncan

John James Duncan Jr. (born July 21, 1947) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1988 to 2019. An attorney, former Criminal Court judge, and former long serving member of the Army National Guard, published author and newspaper columnist. He is a member of the Republican Party.

Early life, education, and legal career Duncan was born in Lebanon, Tennessee, in Wilson County, Tennessee. His "paternal grandparents were small-acreage farmers in Scott County, which in 1861 left Tennessee, refusing to follow the Volunteer State into the Confederacy, and declared itself 'the Free and Independent state of Scott.'" Duncan's parents were Lois (Swisher) and John Duncan Sr., who "hitchhiked into Knoxville with five dollars in his pocket,' and after an education at the University of Tennessee was elected mayor of Knoxville and then congressman."

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections Duncan's father, John Sr., who had represented the Knoxville, Tennessee based 2nd District since 1965, died in June 1988. Jimmy Duncan won the Republican nomination to succeed him. He ran in and won two elections on November 8, 1988. The first election being a special election for the balance of his father's 12th term, followed by a regular election for a full two-year term following his father's term. He was re-elected every two years from then until his retirement from a district that had been held continuously by Republicans (or their antecedents) since 1859, and by a Duncan since his father was first elected in 1964. He never faced a serious or well-funded challenge for reelection, and was reelected without major-party opposition in four consecutive elections (1994 through 2000). For four the general elections from 1990 to 2000 Duncan's primary challenger came from an independent candidate or a member of the Libertarian Party. On the occasions he did face major-party opposition, he only dropped below 70% of the vote twice, during the special and regular elections in 1988, while surpassing the 80% threshold 5 times and once exceeding 90% of the total vote.

In 2017, he announced he would not seek re-election in the 2018 election for Tennessee's 2nd District, and would instead retire. His eventual replacement Tim Burchett, who was the Knox County, Tennessee Mayor at the time announced his intention to run for the seat shortly thereafter.

Electoral history

Year Winning candidate Party Votes Pct Opponent Party Votes Pct 1988

1990

Peter Herbert Independent 15,127 19.41% 1992

1994

Various Independent 13,545 9.51% |1996

|1998

Various Independent 11,642 11.36% |2000

Kevin J. Rowland Libertarian 22,304 10.65% |2002

|2004

|2006

|2008

|2010

|2012

|2014

|2016

Tenure

Duncan with President George W. Bush and U.S. Senator Bill Frist aboard Air Force One in 2001 U.S. Senators Kay Hagan, Bob Corker, Richard Burr, Lamar Alexander, and Congressmen John Duncan (third from right), Heath Shuler with among others, Dolly Parton, at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2009 Duncan voted against authorizing the 2003 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. He was one of the most conservative Republicans to do so. Duncan later remarked that the Iraq War vote had been

[The War in Iraq was] a tough one for me. I have a very conservative Republican district. My Uncle Joe is one of the most respected judges in Tennessee: when I get in a really serious bind I go to him for advice. I had breakfast with him and my two closest friends and all three told me that I had to vote for the war. It's the only time in my life that I've ever gone against my Uncle Joe's advice. When I pushed that button to vote against the war back in 2002, I thought I might be ending my political career. Duncan voted, along with three other Republicans, to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq by April 2008 on July 12, 2007.

On March 10, 2010, Duncan again joined three other Republicans in voting for the removal of troops from Afghanistan. Duncan and Ron Paul were the only members of Congress to vote for the removal of troops from Afghanistan and against all recent bailout and stimulus bills.

He has criticized neoconservatism and supports a non-interventionist foreign policy.

Duncan was a member of the Liberty Caucus, a group of libertarian-minded congressional Republicans. Other members included Walter B. Jones of North Carolina, Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland, Scott Garrett of New Jersey, and Jeff Flake of Arizona. A former neighbor of his district, Zach Wamp of the 3rd district, also belonged to the group during his tenure in the House.

Duncan voted against the Wall Street bailout. In a column he explained his vote stating he "thought it would be better in the long run not to adopt the socialist approach." The American Conservative Union gave Duncan a 96% score for his voting record in 2013, higher than any other federal Representative in Congress from Tennessee.

The Family Research Council has rated Duncan as a 92% or above since 2002

In April 2016, Duncan endorsed Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination.

On 5 January 2017, he was one of only four Republicans to oppose the House's resolution 11 condemning the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334.

Controversies In February 2017, Duncan refused to hold any town halls in his district after the election of then recently inaugurated President Donald Trump. Duncan said that he preferred one-on-one meetings rather than town halls, adding that he was not willing to give a platform to "extremists, kooks and radicals."

Misuse of campaign funds In 2017, Duncan was accused of misuse of campaign funds for using them to pay his son almost $300,000 over the course of five years, for work not done or for fees that were too high. Duncan denied the charges.

However his son, John Duncan III (R) a Knox County Trustee, pled guilty to a felony charge of official misconduct for handing out bonuses to his own staff for training they had not received. Duncan III resigned from office and was given one year of probation. His charges are now expunged.

Retirement from Congress On July 31, 2017, Duncan announced that he would not run for reelection in 2018, citing to spend more time with his family.

Committee assignments Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Vice Chair) Subcommittee on Aviation (Former Chair) Subcommittee on Highways and Transit (Former Chair) Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Transportation and Public Assets Subcommittee on National Security

Caucus memberships Congressional Friends of Scotland Caucus (Founding Co-chairman) Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus Liberty Caucus United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus Sportsmen's Caucus Veterinary Medicine Caucus Congressional Constitution Caucus Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus U.S.-Japan Caucus

Post-congressional career Following his retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives Duncan published a book about his life and career titled "From Batboy to Congressman." He also is a regular columnist for a newspaper in Knoxville.

Personal life Duncan and his wife Lynn ( Hawkins) were married in 1978. They have four children and eight grandchildren. Lynn died in August 2021. He married Vickie Dowling in May 2022.

He is also the brother of Tennessee State Senator Becky Duncan Massey. After retiring from Congress, Duncan relocated from his home in Knoxville to Bean Station in neighboring Grainger County.