Jim Chapman (politician)
American politician
James Louis Chapman (born March 8, 1945) is an American business and political leader. From 1985 to 1997, he served as Democratic congressman representing the Texas's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. His home town was Sulphur Springs.
Early life
Chapman was born in Washington, D.C. He attended public schools in Sulphur Springs; he received an undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of Texas at Austin (1968) and a J.D. degree from the Southern Methodist University School of Law in Dallas, Texas (1970).
After a stint in private practice, Chapman became the District Attorney for the Eighth Judicial District of Texas from 1976 to 1985, during which he achieved a 99 percent conviction record and a national reputation as a tough, law and order prosecutor. Chapman served in leadership roles with the Texas District and County Attorneys Association and the National District Attorneys Association. Later, he set up his own practice and was senior partner of the law firm of Chapman, Price, Hughes & Bauer. He also became chairman of a local community bank.
Congressional career
Chapman was elected in 1985 as a Democrat in the 99th Congress during a highly visible special election to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of U.S. Representative Sam B. Hall. He defeated the Republican choice, Edd Hargett, a former professional football player, by just over 1,900 votes.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1385199. VIAF identifies the subject as 261002770. The Library of Congress control number is no2012096349. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1945, 1985, 1997 and 1968.
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This entry incorporates text from “Jim Chapman (politician)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.