James Evan Dallas is a descendant of seven generations of Tennesseans. Born in Memphis in 1982, he spent most of his childhood in other states. He moved to Columbia in 2018 and previously lived in Theta (unincorporated Maury County). He is an LGBTQ activist, “Navy brat”, Kiwanian, church volunteer, and a lover of dogs, history, and gardening.
James earned a B.A. in Government from the University of Texas at Austin (the “wrong U.T.” according to family!) in 2003. He earned a J.D. from the University of Houston in 2007 and passed the Texas bar exam that year; he practiced law in Texas before moving into the Information Technology field. He currently works for Vanderbilt Medical Center as a database administrator.
James has been active in Democratic politics for 22 years. He was a volunteer for Howard Dean and John Kerry in 2004, a precinct captain and Texas state convention delegate for Barack Obama in 2008, and a 2016 Texas state convention delegate for Bernie Sanders. He has volunteered for many progressive and Democratic Party candidates over the years. He was recently elected to a second full term as Chair of the Maury County Democratic Party (2023-25) and is serving his first term as 5th District Chair on the Tennessee Democratic County Chairs Association executive board.