Jim Summerville is a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 member of the Tennessee Senate

Tennessee Senate

The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the Tennessee state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly.The Tennessee Senate, according to the state constitution of 1870, is composed of 33 members, one-third the size of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Senators...

 for the 25th district, encompassing Dickson County, Giles County, Hickman County, Humphreys County

Humphreys County, Tennessee

Humphreys County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2000, the population was 17,929. The 2005 Census Estimate placed the population at 18,212. Its county seat is Waverly.-Geography:According to the U.S...

, Lawrence County, and Lewis County.

Biography

Jim Summerville was born on October 27 in Dickson, Tennessee

Dickson, Tennessee

Dickson is a city in Dickson County, Tennessee, United States. It is part of the Nashville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 12,244 at the 2000 census.-Demographics:...

. He received a B.A. in Political Science

Political science

Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

 from the University of Tennessee

University of Tennessee

The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...

 in 1969, an M.A. in English Literature from the University of Iowa

University of Iowa

The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

 in 1972, and an M.A. in American History from Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

 in 1983. He teaches an adjunct instructor in the Department of Languages and Literature at Austin Peay State University

Austin Peay State University

Austin Peay State University is a four-year public university located in Clarksville, Tennessee, and operated by the Tennessee Board of Regents. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools .-History:...

.

He is a member of the National Association of Scholars

National Association of Scholars

The National Association of Scholars is a non-profit organization in the United States that opposes multiculturalism and affirmative action and seeks to counter what it considers a "liberal bias" in academia...

 and the Tennessee Eagle Forum

Eagle Forum

Eagle Forum is a conservative interest group in the United States founded by Phyllis Schlafly in 1972 and is the parent organization that also includes the Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund and the Eagle Forum PAC. The Eagle Forum has been primarily focused on social issues; it describes...

. He attends a Presbyterian church in Dickson.

He supports Rick Perry

Rick Perry

James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...

for Republican primary of the presidential election of 2012.

Contributing writer

• American National Biography (Oxford, 1999)
• Encyclopedia of Local History (Altamira, 2000)
• Historical Dictionary of the Gilded Age (M.E. Sharpe, 2003)