James Bilbray

Infobox_Congressman
name = James H. Bilbray
small

date of birth= birth date and age|1938|5|19
place of birth= Las Vegas, Nevada
death_date =
death_place =
state = Nevada
district = 1st
term_start = January 3, 1987
term_end = January 3, 1995
preceded = Harry Reid
succeeded = John Ensign
party = Democrat
spouse =
profession = Politician, Lawyer
religion =

James Hubert Bilbray (born May 19, 1938) is an American politician and lawyer from Nevada.

Born in Las Vegas, Nevada, Bilbray graduated from Las Vegas High School and attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas from 1959 to 1960. He received a B.A. in government and public administration from American University in Washington, D.C. in 1962 and a J.D. from the Washington College of Law in 1964. He served in the Nevada Army National Guard from 1955 to 1956 and in the Nevada Army Reserves from 1957 to 1963.

Bilbray practiced law and was deputy district attorney of Clark County, Nevada from 1965 to 1967. He was then chief legal counsel in the Clark County juvenile court from 1967 to 1968 and was an alternate municipal judge in Las Vegas from 1978 to 1980. He became licensed to practice law before the Nevada Gaming Commission and the Nevada Gaming Control Board in 1970. A Democrat, he served in the Nevada State Senate from 1981 to 1987 where he was chairman of the Taxation Committee and was also a member of the Judiciary Committee. He successfully ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1986 for the seat being vacated by Harry Reid who had made a successful run for the U.S. Senate. He served as chairman of the Small Business Sub-Committee on Taxation, Tourism and Procurement and was also a member of the Foreign Affairs, Armed Services and Intelligence Committees.

Bilbray lost his re-election campaign of 1994 to Republican opponent John Ensign. During that campaign, the newspapers revealed that a member of Bilbray's staff stood to profit millions of dollars from lands legislation sponsored by Bilbray himself. Bilbray lost to Ensign by 1,400 votes. He ran for his former House seat in 1996, but lost in the Democratic primary to state Senator Bob Coffin.

After leaving Congress, Bilbray joined the law firm of Kummer, Kaempfer, Bonner and Renshaw as of counsel in 1996 where he has specialized in dealing with local, state and federal issues. In 2001, he received an honorary doctorate of laws from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for his work in state and federal government. He was appointed a commissioner on the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission and in 2006 was appointed a member of the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service by President George W. Bush for a term ending in 2015. He currently resides in Las Vegas. James H. Bilbray Elementary School in Las Vegas is named in his honor.

Bilbray is the cousin of Republican congressman Brian Bilbray of California.

References

* [http://www.kkbr.com/02_Directory/of_counsel/bilbray.html Biography at Kummer Kaempfer Attorneys at Law]
* [http://www.brac.gov/commissioners.html Biography at the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission]
* [http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/leadership/bios/bilbray_james.htm Biography at the United States Postal Service]
* [http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/article.php?id=DNW2006100501 Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball]
* [http://ccsd.net/schools/bilbray/ James H. Bilbray Elementary School]