James J. Lyons Jr.

James J. "Jim" Lyons Jr. is an American politician who is the chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party and represented the 18th Essex district in the Massachusetts House of Representatives for four terms.[1] He was a member of the Judiciary Joint Committee and the Public Health Joint Committee.

Jim Lyons
Chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party
Assumed office
January 17, 2019
Preceded byKirsten Hughes
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
from the 18th Essex district
In office
January 2011 – January 2019
Preceded byBarbara L'Italien
Succeeded byTram Nguyen
Personal details
BornArlington, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
EducationBrandeis University (BA)

Political career

State representative

On November 2, 2010, Lyons upset incumbent representative Barbara L'Italien. He was sworn in on January 5, 2011.[2] Lyons's legislative priorities often focused on anti-abortion issues, fighting the Opioid epidemic, and advocating for local aid. He derailed a bill that would have added a gender-neutral option to Massachusetts driver's licenses, forced the state reveal that it gave out $1.8 billion in public assistance to undocumented immigrants, and led an unsuccessful effort in the state legislature to remove Salem Superior Court Judge Timothy Feeley from the bench.[3][4][5][6] He served as Ted Cruz's Massachusetts campaign Chairman during the 2016 Republican presidential primary.[7] Lyons was upset in the 2018 election by Democrat Tram Nguyen.

State party chairman

On January 17, 2019 Lyons was elected chairman of the Massachusetts Republican Party, defeating incumbent party treasurer Brent Andersen by a vote of 47 to 30. A conservative, Lyons did not have the support of the moderate state party establishment led by Governor Charlie Baker. Lyons also did not have the support of Donald Trump's Massachusetts campaign chairman, Vincent DeVito, who had endorsed Andersen in a public letter sent to supporters of Trump on May 31, 2016.[3][8]

References
  1. Massachusetts Legislature profile
  2. Laidler, John (2010-11-07). "New 18th rep vows to cut budget, taxes". Boston.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  3. Cotter, Sean Philip (January 17, 2019). "Conservative ex-state Rep. Jim Lyons wins Mass GOP chair". Boston Herald.
  4. "Lyons, other pols push for judge's removal". www.lowellsun.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  5. Reporter, Christian M. Wade Statehouse. "Lawmakers renew effort to impeach judge". Salem News. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  6. "Bill to oust Salem judge over immigrant drug dealer's sentencing dies in House". Boston Herald. 2018-07-31. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  7. "State Rep. Jim Lyons Named Chairman of Ted Cruz' Presidential Campaign In Massachusetts and disliked Trump | Your Tewksbury Today". www.yourtewksburytoday.com. Retrieved 2018-12-12.
  8. Dwinnel, Joe (January 17, 2019). "Jim Lyons wins upset victory as MassGOP chairman". Boston Herald.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Kirsten Hughes		 Chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party
2019–present		 Incumbent
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