James E. Bruce

{{Short description|American politician}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name =James E. Bruce

| image=

| image_size=160px

| caption =

| state =Kentucky

| state_house =Kentucky

| district = 9th

| term_start = January 1, 1964

| term_end = January 1, 2007

| predecessor = John M. Dixon

| successor = Myron Dossett

| office2=

| term2=

| constituency =

| majority =

| party = Democratic

| birth_name=

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1927|8|17}}

| birth_place =Morristown, Tennessee

| death_date={{Death date and age|2008|11|2|1927|8|17}}

| death_place =Hopkinsville, Kentucky

| profession =dairy farmer

| residence =

| relations=

| alma_mater=University of Tennessee

| spouse =

| religion =

| children=

| website =

|branch=

|serviceyears=

|rank=

|battles=

|allegiance=

}}

James Edmond Bruce Sr. (August 17, 1927 – November 2, 2008) was a politician in the American state of Kentucky.

Bruce was the son of William Witt and Mossie (née Sharpe) Bruce, having been born in Morristown, Tennessee.{{cite book|title=Christian Co, KY -|author=Turner Publishing|date=1991|volume=2|publisher=Turner Publishing Company|isbn=9781563110689|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OOEQpGl-mukC&pg=PA56|page=56|accessdate=2015-07-10}} In his early years, he attended the University of Tennessee and helped his father on the family's dairy farm. After the family sold the farm in 1940, they relocated to Christian County, Kentucky where they maintained another farm, and upon his father's death in 1975, James assumed operations of it.

He was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1963 as a Democrat, representing the 9th electoral district. Among the many committees he served on was the Banking and Insurance Committee, which he chaired. Upon his exit from the house in 2007, he was the longest-served state representative in the history of Kentucky. Upon his retirement in 2006 he was honored in the United States House of Representatives by Rep. Ed Whitfield.{{cite web|url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r109:E28SE6-0133:|title=Congressional Record - 109th Congress (2005-2006) - THOMAS (Library of Congress)|publisher=thomas.loc.gov|accessdate=2015-07-10}}{{Dead link|date=August 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} He was succeeded by Republican Myron Dossett.

He married Jane Forbes Garnett in 1952 and had three children. They lived in Hopkinsville.{{cite web|url=http://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=41198|title=Our Campaigns - Candidate - James E. "Jim" Bruce|publisher=ourcampaigns.com|accessdate=2015-07-10}} The James E. Bruce Convention Center in Hopkinsville is named in his honor. In 2006, Bruce was hospitalized due to the effects of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy, which he had been suffering from for a year.{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=266&dat=20060118&id=xAUxAAAAIBAJ&pg=1352,1375252|title=Kentucky New Era - Google News Archive Search|accessdate=2015-07-10}} He died at the age of 81 at his home, of natural causes, in 2008.{{cite web|url=http://www.kentuckynewera.com/multimedia/video/news/article_2d79f0ec-bcfc-56e4-bb17-7636b01a64fd.html|title=Longest serving state legislator James E. Bruce dies | News | kentuckynewera.com|publisher=kentuckynewera.com|accessdate=2015-07-10}}