Tommy Gollott Explained

Tommy Gollott
State Senate1:Mississippi State
District1:50th
Term Start1:January 1980
Term End1:January 2020
Succeeded:Incumbent
Office2:Member of the Mississippi House of Representatives
Term Start2:January 1968
Term End2:January 1980
Birth Name:Thomas Arlin Gollott
Birth Date:29 September 1935
Birth Place:Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S.
Alma Mater:University of Southern Mississippi
Spouse:Zelma Jackson
Residence:Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S.
Occupation:Businessman, transfer & storage company
Successor1:Scott DeLano
Office:President pro tempore of the Mississippi State Senate
Predecessor:Pud Graham
Successor:Travis Little
Term Start:January 2, 1996
Term End:January 2000

Thomas Arlin Gollott (born September 29, 1935) is a businessman and former state legislator in Mississippi. A Democrat, he served as a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives and Mississippi Senate before becoming a Republican in 2007. He represented the 50th District from 1980 to 2020.[1] He had served continuously in the Mississippi Legislature from 1968, when he sat as a state representative, which he served until his election as state senator in 1979. He had been a Democrat until 2007, when he switched his affiliation to Republican.[2] [3] In September 2017, he became the longest-serving member of the Mississippi Legislature in history.[4] He retired from the Senate in 2020, after deciding not to run for another term.[5]

In 1996, Gollott was elected the president pro tempore of the Mississippi State Senate for the 1996-2000 term.[6] He was the first president pro tempore from the Gulf Coast region since Merle F. Palmer in 1968.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Tommy A. Gollott District 50 - Harrison Republican . Mississippi State Senate . 2013-07-26.
  2. News: Gollott switches to GOP. WLOX. 2007-03-02 . 2013-08-21.
  3. News: Jimmie E. Gates. Biloxi Republican Tommy Gollott longest-serving Mississippi legislator in office. The Clarion-Ledger. 2013-02-25. 2015-10-14.
  4. Web site: PEER Member, Senator Tommy Gollott, Reaches Milestone as Longest Serving Legislator. 2022-01-18. www.peer.ms.gov.
  5. Web site: Kessie. Brad. Johnson. Annie. Mississippi's longest-serving lawmaker announces retirement. 2022-01-18. WLOX. en.
  6. Web site: 1996-01-03 . Enterprise-Journal from McComb, Mississippi . 2024-08-17 . Newspapers.com . en-US.