Jim Ross Lightfoot

Jim Lightfoot
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 3rd district
In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1997
Preceded by	Dave Nagle
Succeeded by	Leonard Boswell
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa's 5th district
In office January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1993
Preceded by	Tom Harkin
Succeeded by	Fred Grandy
Personal details
Born	(1938-09-27) September 27, 1938 Sioux City, Iowa, U.S.
Political party	Republican

James Ross "Jim" Lightfoot (born September 27, 1938) is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa.

Biography

Early life

Lightfoot was born in Sioux City, Iowa on September 27, 1938 and was raised on a farm near Farragut, Iowa, where he graduated from high school in 1956.

Career

Lightfoot served eight years in the United States Army and United States Army Reserve. He began his adult career working for IBM as a customer engineer, and was eventually transferred to Tulsa, Oklahoma. He then worked as a city police officer.

Returning to his native Iowa in the early 1960s, Lightfoot became a broadcaster on KMA (AM) radio, the flagship station of May Broadcasting Company. While at KMA, Lightfoot was also well known as a rodeo announcer and sought-after speaker for various organizations’ events.

He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1984, after five-term incumbent Tom Harkin gave up the seat to make a successful run for the United States Senate. Lightfoot served there for six terms, compiling a mostly conservative voting record. During his last term, he served as chairman of the subcommittee of the United States House Committee on Appropriations which funded the Treasury Department, Postal Service, White House and other federal agencies. Lightfoot also spent eight years on the United States House Transportation Subcommittee on Aviation dealing with transportation issues. He holds commercial pilot and flight instructor ratings, which have allowed him a wide perspective on the aviation industry.

In 1996, conforming to a promise to only serve twelve years in Congress, he left his seat to run for the Senate against Harkin. His entry into the race came in March, very late in the election cycle. At a severe financial disadvantage, Lightfoot lost the race, after strong pre-election campaigning on Harkin's behalf by then President Bill Clinton, who carried Iowa by eight points in the presidential election.

In 1998, at the request of the Republican Party, he ran against then state senator Tom Vilsack for Governor of Iowa. Lightfoot led in polling for most of the campaign, but Harkin's campaigning on Vilsack's behalf enabled Vilsack to win narrowly.

In December 1998 Lightfoot joined Forensic Technology, Inc. as Vice President. Lightfoot also serves on the company's Board of Directors.

Lightfoot was Senior Policy Advisor for Federal Government Relations, with the Washington, D.C., office of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney. He was a non-attorney professional in the firm's Federal Government Relations Section.

In 2009, Lightfoot started his own consulting firm Lightfoot Strategies

Lightfoot’s personal and professional awards include the Oscar in Agriculture Award, Jason Award, AOPA Hartranft Award, FAA Excellence Award, Honorary ATF Agent, the National Association of Police Organizations TOP COPS Award and Secret Service Director's Award. He serves on the board of directors for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) NCMEC named Lightfoot Emeritus Director in 2006.

Personal life

Lightfoot and wife Nancy reside in White Oak, Texas. They have four children.

References

• The Political Graveyard
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Appearances on C-SPAN

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Iowa
1st	W. Thompson Miller Henn A. Hall S. Curtis J. F. Wilson McCrary Stone McCoid B. Hall Gear Seerley Gear S. Clark Hedge Kennedy Kopp Eicher Martin Schwengel Schmidhauser Schwengel Mezvinsky Leach Nussle Braley Blum
2nd	Leffler L. Clark J. P. Cook Thorington Davis Vandever Price Smyth W. Wolf Cotton Tufts Price Farwell Murphy Hayes G. Curtis Lane Rumple Wade Dawson Pepper Vollmer Hull Letts B. Jacobsen W. Jacobsen Talle L. Wolf Bromwell Culver Blouin Tauke Nussle Leach Loebsack
3rd	Allison Donnan Ainsworth Burdick Updegraff Henderson Birdsall Pickett Connolly Sweet Robinson Willford Gwynne Gross Grassley Evans Nagle Lightfoot Boswell Latham Young
4th	Grinnell Loughridge Walden Pratt Deering Weller Fuller Sweney Butler Updegraff Haugen Biermann Talle Le Compte Carter Kyl Bandstra Kyl N. Smith Ganske Latham King
5th	Kasson G. Dodge Palmer J. Wilson R. Clark W. G. Thompson J. Wilson Frederick Kerr J. Hamilton Cousins Good Cole Thurston Le Compte Cunningham N. Smith Scherle Harkin Lightfoot Grandy Latham King
6th	A. Hubbard Pomeroy Orr Loughridge Sampson Weaver Cutts J. C. Cook Cutts J. C. Cook Weaver Lacey White Lacey D. Hamilton Kendall Kirkpatrick Ramseyer Dowell Utterback Dowell Goodwin Cunningham Gilchrist J. I. Dolliver Coad Hoeven Greigg Mayne Bedell Grandy
7th	Kasson Cummings E. Gillette Kasson H. Smith Conger Hays Hull Prouty Dowell Wearin Jensen Hansen Scherle
8th	McDill Sapp Hepburn Anderson Flick Hepburn Jamieson Towner Evans Thurston Gilchrist Hoeven
9th	Orr Oliver Carpenter Pusey Lyman Reed Bowman Hager McPherson W. Smith Green Vincent Swanson G. Gillette Harrington Narey
10th	Holmes J. P. Dolliver Conner Woods Dickinson Gilchrist
11th	Struble Perkins Thomas E. Hubbard Scott Steele Scott Boies Campbell
AL	Hastings and Leffler
Terr	Chapman A. Dodge