John McGlennon

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John J. McGlennon is an American politician of the Democratic Party, a professor at the College of William and Mary, and a member of the Board of Supervisors of James City County, Virginia. On the Board, he represents the Jamestown District and once served as Chairman of the Board, a rotating position. McGlennon is a native of New York, but has lived in the Commonwealth of Virginia since the 1970s.

McGlennon has been with the College of William and Mary since 1974 and served as the Chairman of the Government Department from 1993-2003. Professor McGlennon received his BA from Fordham University and went on to obtain both his MA and PhD from Johns Hopkins University. He specializes in United States politics with a special focus on the South and Virginia. He has many publications to his credit, including two books: The Life of the Parties: A Study of Presidential Activists, with Alan Abramowitz and Ronald Rapoport, co-editors, (University of Kentucky Press, 1986) and Party Activists in Virginia, with Alan Abramowitz and Ronald Rapoport (Institute of Government, University of Virginia, 1981).

McGlennon ran for Congress as a Democrat in 1982, almost defeating the Republican incumbent, Herbert Bateman, in a year that was bad for the Republican Party nationally. McGlennon ran again in 1984 against Bateman, but lost by a larger margin. In 1997 he was elected to the James City County Board of Supervisors. Since then he has run two more times, and won at the polls both times (only once did he have an opponent). He is married to Terry McGlennon, with whom he has two sons.