John "Jack" Kent Trammell (born January 23, 1964) is a college professor and was the Democratic candidate in the 2014 general election for

Virginia's 7th congressional district Virginia's 7th congressional district is a United States congressional district in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The district is currently represented by Democrat Abigail Spanberger, first elected in 2018. 2016 redistricting The Virginia ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, which was held on November 4, 2014. Trammell faced

Dave Brat David Alan Brat (born July 27, 1964) is an American academic and politician who is the dean of the Liberty University School of Business. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 7th congressional di ...

, who defeated incumbent

Eric Cantor Eric Ivan Cantor (born June 6, 1963) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented Virginia's 7th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2001 to 2014. A Republican, Cantor served as House Minority ...

in the Republican primary; and

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

nominee James Carr. Both Trammell and Brat are professors at

Randolph–Macon College Randolph–Macon College is a private liberal arts college in Ashland, Virginia. Founded in 1830, the college has an enrollment of more than 1,500 students. It is the second-oldest Methodist-run college in the country, and the oldest in continu ...

Early life and education

Trammell was born in Berea,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

, in the infirmary on campus at

Berea College Berea College is a private liberal arts work college in Berea, Kentucky. Founded in 1855, Berea College was the first college in the Southern United States to be coeducational and racially integrated. Berea College charges no tuition; every adm ...

where his parents were attending as an undergraduate married couple. He spent time as a child in Kentucky, and then

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

when his father was at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, and as an adult moved to central Virginia. His family ancestry dates back to the

American colonial period The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centur ...

, when Thomas Trammell immigrated to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in 1671, arriving at the port of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

as an

indentured servant Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an " indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensation or debt repayment ...

. Trammell was a political science undergraduate at

Grove City College Grove City College (GCC) is a private, conservative Christian liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1876 as a normal school, the college emphasizes a humanities core curriculum and offers 60 majors and 6 pre-profession ...

, where he earned his B.A. He then received advanced degrees or certificates in education, special education, history education, and research methodology, including Master's and PhD degrees from

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...

, also taking classes through the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

Professional career

Trammell has worked in the procurement area in state government, and as a special education and history teacher in central Virginia's public schools. He currently works at

as the Director of Disability Support Services and as an associate professor of

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

. Trammell has authored over 20 books, including works of

nonfiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

, and

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

. He writes in many diverse areas ranging from education to history, and has written a number of columns on the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

for ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...

''. His latest book, ''The Richmond Slave Trade: The Economic Backbone of The Old Dominion'', was published in 2012. He is currently the president of the Blue Ridge chapter of the Virginia Writers Club. Trammell has focused his professional career on helping people cope with disabilities.

Politics

1980s and 1990s

Trammell's involvement with the Democratic Party began at Grove City College. He worked for the

Michael Dukakis Michael Stanley Dukakis (; born November 3, 1933) is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history a ...

presidential campaign in 1988 and on

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

presidential campaigns in Kentucky, where he also wrote local position papers and statewide editorials.

2014 midterms elections

Trammell ran for Congress in 2014, to represent the Virginia 7th Congressional district, which is in the

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, area of the state, facing

. He was selected during the weekend of June 7–8, several days before the Republican primary, during a conference call among Democrats of the district. According to Trammell's website, his platform focuses on the need for educational reform, including special education and greater access to college, student loan relief, job creation, accountability in massive public private projects like the expansion of

U.S. Route 460 U.S. Route 460 (US 460) is a spur route of U.S. Route 60. It currently runs for 655 miles (1,054 km) from Norfolk, Virginia, at its parent route U.S. Route 60 at Ocean View to Frankfort, Kentucky, intersecting its parent route once ...

, and basic healthcare for every American. Trammell was defeated by Brat, with James Carr finishing third.

Personal

Trammell and his wife Audrie reside on a farm in Louisa County near

Mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. ( ...

, with several horses, sheep, and other animals. Jack has three grown children, while Audrie has four.

Books

* ''Return to Treasure Island'' (2000) * ''Math in History'' (2001) * ''Conversations in History - Historical Events & the People Who Starred in Them'' (coauthored with Joe Gorman) (2005) * ''The Postsecondary Student Survey of Disability-Related Stigma: Development of a Disability Stigma Measurement ''(2009) * ''Down on the Chickahominy: The Life and Times of a Vanishing Virginia River'' (2009) * ''Appalachian Dreams'' (2011) * ''The Richmond Slave Trade: The Economic Backbone of The Old Dominion'' (2012) * ''The Fourth Branch of Government: We the People'' with Guy Terrell (2016)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Trammell, Jack Living people American political scientists Grove City College alumni People from Berea, Kentucky Randolph–Macon College faculty Virginia Commonwealth University alumni Virginia Democrats 1964 births People from Louisa County, Virginia