| J. R. Gray | |
| Office: | Secretary of the Kentucky Labor Cabinet |
| Governor: | Steve Beshear |
| Term Start: | January 2008 |
| Term End: | November 30, 2010 |
| Predecessor: | Office created |
| Successor: | Mark S. Brown |
| State House1: | Kentucky |
| District1: | 6th |
| Term Start1: | January 1, 1995 |
| Term End1: | December 2007 |
| Predecessor1: | Richard Lewis |
| Successor1: | Will Coursey |
| Term Start2: | January 1, 1976 |
| Term End2: | January 1, 1989 |
| Predecessor2: | Richard Lewis |
| Successor2: | Richard Lewis |
| Birth Name: | James Rhyman Gray |
| Birth Date: | 17 July 1938 |
| Birth Place: | near Eddyville, Kentucky |
| Death Place: | Benton, Kentucky |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Spouse: | Yvonne |
| Children: | 2 |
| Residence: | Benton, Kentucky |
J. R. Gray (July 17, 1938 – May 11, 2022) was an American politician in the state of Kentucky. He served in the Kentucky House of Representatives as a Democrat from 1976 to 1989 and from 1995 to 2007.[1] [2] He was appointed Secretary of the Kentucky Labor Cabinet in 2008, by governor Steve Beshear and served until his retirement in November 2010.[3] [4]
Gray was first elected to the house in 1975 after incumbent Richard Lewis resigned from the house in order to join the executive staff of governor Julian Carroll.[5] In 1988 Lewis ran for the house again and defeated Gray in the May primary election.[6] Gray won election to the house again in 1994 after Lewis did not run for reelection.[7]
Gray completed his journeyman apprenticeship at Youngtown Sheet & Tube in Gary, Indiana. He was employed at the Calvert City B. F. Goodrich. After a few years working at B. F. Goodrich, where he served as a steward & as the Directing Business Agent of the Machinist & Aerospace Workers “IAM,” District Lodge 154 Calvert City for twenty years.[8]
Gray and his wife Yvonne lived in Benton from 1963 until the time of his death. They had two children, Randy and Teresa.[9]