Randy McNally


James Rand McNally is an American politician serving as the 50th and current Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he has been the Tennessee State Senator from the 5th district since 1987, which encompasses Anderson County, Loudon County, Monroe County, as well as part of Knox County.

Early life

McNally was born in Boston and later graduated from Oak Ridge High School in 1962, obtained a Bachelor of Science from Memphis State University in 1967, and graduated from University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy in 1969.
McNally is a Roman Catholic.

Career

Beginning in the late 1960s, he worked as a pharmacist in chain drug stores. Starting in 1978 he was employed as a hospital pharmacist at Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge.
McNally has served in the Tennessee General Assembly since 1979. He was elected to the 91st through 94th General Assemblies as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives. He was a key figure in the Operation Rocky Top investigation in the late 1980s, when he worked undercover to help the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation obtain evidence on political corruption in the Tennessee state government.
He moved to the state senate for the 95th General Assembly in 1987, and has served there continuously since then. He is the former Chair of the Senate Finances, Ways, and Means committee, former Vice-Chair of the Senate Rules Committee, and a former member of the Senate General Welfare Committee and the Joint Fiscal Review Contract Services Subcommittee.
McNally was a candidate for Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Senate in 2007, but fellow Republican Ron Ramsey was elected to that position. On January 10, 2017, he was elected Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Senate by the Tennessee State Senate.

Personal life

He is a resident of Oak Ridge.