Michael John Gray (born June 30, 1976) is a farmer, businessman, and politician from

Woodruff County, Arkansas Woodruff County is located in the Arkansas Delta in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The county is named for William E. Woodruff, founder of the state's first newspaper, the Arkansas Gazette. Created as Arkansas's 54th county in 1862, Woodruff Count ...

. He represented a rural area of the

Arkansas Delta The Arkansas Delta is one of the six natural regions of the state of Arkansas. Willard B. Gatewood Jr., author of ''The Arkansas Delta: Land of Paradox'', says that rich cotton lands of the Arkansas Delta make that area "The Deepest of the Deep ...

in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 2015 to 2017. Gray served as chair of the

Democratic Party of Arkansas The Democratic Party of Arkansas is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Arkansas. The current party chair is Grant Tennille. History Early statehood Arkansas began its statehood with a strong Democratic dominance in politics ...

from 2017 to 2021.

Early life

Gray largely grew up in the Augusta School District, but graduated from Searcy High School. He earned an

Associate in Arts An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The f ...

from Arkansas State University Beebe. He briefly attended the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

in Fayetteville and earned his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

with an emphasis on

logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

from

Arkansas State University Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osa ...

in Jonesboro. Gray later earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law.

Career

After graduation, Gray returned to Augusta to work on the family farm, known as Wakefield Partners, with his wife and mother. A third-generation family farm, the operation spans of cotton, corn, peanuts, rice, and wheat. The group was named the 2014 Woodruff County Farm Family of the Year, an honor previously bestowed on his parents in 1984. Gray won election to the Augusta City Council in 2010, and focused on budgeting and reducing municipal spending. In October 2013, Gray announced his candidacy for the Arkansas House of Representatives District 47 seat held by term-limited Democrat Jody Dickinson. His campaign announcement described a focus on rural issues, and his community involvement and collaborative work on the city council. Gray was unopposed in the Democratic primary and the general election, and was seated as a member of the 90th Arkansas General Assembly. The House Democratic Caucus elected him Minority leader, Democrats held 35 of 100 seats in the House. He voted for Arkansas Works (

Medicaid Medicaid in the United States is a federal and state program that helps with healthcare costs for some people with limited income and resources. Medicaid also offers benefits not normally covered by Medicare, including nursing home care and per ...

expansion in Arkansas) twice and was a vocal supporter of the measure. In March 2017, Gray won election to the unpaid position of Chair of the

. He replaced the retiring Vince Insalaco for the remainder of his four-year term, defeating Denise Garner by a 120–107 vote. Gray campaigned on a return of focus to economic and rural issues. He was re-elected to full term as Chair in 2018. Gray was narrowly defeated in his November 2018 re-election bid for the House District 47 seat by

Bald Knob Bald Knob is the highest summit of Back Allegheny Mountain in Pocahontas County, West Virginia and is part of Cass Scenic Railroad State Park. At an altitude of above sea level, Bald Knob is the third-highest point in West Virginia and the Alle ...

businessman and retired state bureaucrat Craig Christiansen.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Michael John 1976 births 20th-century Methodists 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Methodists American United Methodists Arkansas city council members Arkansas Democratic state chairmen Arkansas lawyers Arkansas State University alumni Businesspeople from Little Rock, Arkansas Farmers from Arkansas Lawyers from Little Rock, Arkansas Living people Members of the Arkansas House of Representatives People from Woodruff County, Arkansas Politicians from Little Rock, Arkansas William H. Bowen School of Law alumni