James Hubert Bilbray (May 19, 1938 – September 19, 2021) was an American politician, lawyer, and postal executive who served as the

U.S. representative 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

for

Nevada's 1st congressional district Nevada's 1st congressional district occupies most of Nevada's largest city, Las Vegas, as well as parts of North Las Vegas and parts of unincorporated Clark County. Before the 1980 census, Nevada was represented by a single at-large congres ...

from 1987 to 1995. He was a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

Early life and education

Born in Las Vegas in 1938, Bilbray graduated from Las Vegas High School and attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, from 1959 to 1960. He received a Bachelor of Arts in government and public administration from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

in Washington, D.C., in 1962 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the Washington College of Law in 1964. He served in the Nevada Army National Guard from 1955 to 1956 and in the United States Army Reserve from 1957 to 1963.

Career

Bilbray practiced law and was deputy

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

of Clark County from 1965 to 1967. He was then chief legal counsel in the Clark County

juvenile court A juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's court, is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgements for crimes that are committed by children who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal s ...

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 Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he ran for the United States House of Representatives in 1972 against conservative incumbent

Walter Baring Walter Baring may refer to: * Walter Baring (diplomat) (1844–1915), English diplomat who served as Minister Resident and Consul-General to Uruguay *Walter S. Baring Jr. Walter Stephan Baring Jr. (September 9, 1911 – July 13, 1975) was a Unit ...

, a fellow Democrat who was disliked by his party's establishment. Bilbray won the primary and was expected to win the general election, but Baring surprised him by endorsing the Republican nominee, David Towell, who upset Bilbray in a close race. Bilbray made a comeback in 1980 when he was elected to the

Nevada State Senate The Nevada Senate is the upper house of the Nevada Legislature, the state legislature of U.S. state of Nevada, the lower house being the Nevada Assembly. It currently (2012–2021) consists of 21 members from single-member districts. In the previ ...

, where he served from 1981 to 1987, and also became chairman of the Taxation Committee and a member of the Judiciary Committee. He successfully ran for the

U.S. 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

in 1986 for the seat being vacated by Harry Reid, who made a successful run for the U.S. Senate in the same election. He served as chairman of the

Small Business Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to ap ...

Subcommittee on Taxation, Tourism and Procurement and was also a member of the

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

, Armed Services and Intelligence committees. Singer Cher with Representative James Bilbray and his wife

Bilbray lost his re-election campaign in the 1994

Republican Revolution The "Republican Revolution", "Revolution of '94", or "Gingrich Revolution" are political slogans that refer to the Republican Party (GOP) success in the 1994 U.S. mid-term elections, which resulted in a net gain of 54 seats in the House of ...

, losing to Republican opponent John Ensign by less than 1,400 votes. Bilbray appeared to be well on his way to reelection until news surfaced that reports surfaced that one of his aides stood to make a huge profit from lands legislation sponsored by Bilbray. 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 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) is a process by a United States federal government commission to increase United States Department of Defense efficiency by coordinating the realignment and closure of military installations following the end o ...

and in 2006 was appointed a member of the

Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service The Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service is the governing body of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The board oversees the activities of the Postal Service, while the postmaster general actively manages its day-to-day o ...

by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

for a term ending in 2015. He resided in Las Vegas until his death in 2021. James H. Bilbray Elementary School in Las Vegas is named in his honor.

Personal life

Bilbray and his wife Michaelene had three daughters: Bridget Bilbray Phillips who was the first principal of James H. Bilbray Elementary School, Erin Bilbray-Kohn who unsuccessfully ran for U.S. House in Nevada's 3rd district in 2014, and

Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod Shannon Mary Bilbray-Axelrod (born 1973) is a Democratic member of the Nevada Assembly. She represents the 34th district, which covers parts of the western Las Vegas Valley. Biography Bilbray-Axelrod was born in Las Vegas in 1973, and graduated ...

, a member of the Nevada Assembly since 2017. They also had one son, Kevin. He was a cousin to

Brian Bilbray Brian Phillip Bilbray (born January 28, 1951) is an American Republican politician who represented parts of San Diego County in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2001 and again from 2006 to 2013. Bilbray was Chairman of the House ...

, a two-time Republican congressman from Southern California. Bilbray died on September 19, 2021, at the age of 83.

References

External links

Biography at the United States Postal Service

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20061007145513/http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/article.php?id=DNW2006100501 Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ballbr>James H. Bilbray Elementary School
*
Nevada Senate Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilbray, James Hubert 1938 births 2021 deaths American University School of Public Affairs alumni Nevada lawyers Nevada National Guard personnel Democratic Party Nevada state senators Politicians from Las Vegas University of Nevada, Las Vegas alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Nevada Washington College of Law alumni Military personnel from Nevada 20th-century American politicians