Jay Reedy is an American politician, farmer, and locksmith from the state of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. A Republican, Reedy has represented the 74th district of the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

, covering

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, Humphreys, and Montgomery Counties, since 2015.

Career

Prior to being elected to office, Reedy held a number of jobs, including cattle farmer, locksmith, army reserve officer, and Houston County election board commissioner. In 2014, Reedy ran for the 74th district of the

, challenging Democratic incumbent John Tidwell, who had held the seat since 1997. After handily winning the Republican primary, Reedy narrowly defeated Tidwell in the general election with 52% of the vote. Reedy won re-election in 2016 and 2018 with increasingly dominant margins, and faces no opposition whatsoever in 2020. In 2019, Reedy vied to replace Glen Casada as

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

, but lost in an intra-caucus vote to fellow Republican Cameron Sexton. In 2023, Reedy supported a resolution to expel three Democratic lawmakers from the legislature for violating decorum rules. The expulsion was widely characterized as unprecedented.

Personal life

Reedy lives in Erin with his wife Vickie; they have 3 children.

References

Living people Republican Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives 21st-century American legislators Year of birth missing (living people) Austin Peay State University alumni People from Houston County, Tennessee 21st-century Tennessee politicians {{Tennessee-politician-stub